High-quality, loose-leaf tea offers tremendous variety, more healthy properties, and a better taste than most tea-bags offer. The
aroma and taste of loose-leaf tea offer sensory pleasures no bagged tea can match. According to scientific research, high-quality,
fresh, whole-leaf teas may be up to 300% healthier than low-grade teabags. Most of us have only encountered the mass-produced teabags
we see on grocery store shelves. This is unfortunate because teabags are typically the cheapest, poorest form of tea.
With most
commercial tea-bags, a low-grade product is ground into dust and packaged in the standard thin-paper box and plastic wrap--which does
little to protect the nutritional value of the leaves. Nearly all of the teabags found on grocery store shelves are well-past their
prime; the small bits of tea infuse unevenly in hot water so the resulting brew may have more caffeine and less healthy benefits.
Additionally, many companies use cheap, synthetic chemicals to flavor their tea. Unfortunately, these artificial chemicals are not
required by law to appear on the labels, so we may not even know what we're drinking!
Loose leaves unfurl in the cup and release
the full flavor of the tea, so when filling your own tea bags, or using tea balls, be careful to not overfill.
Storing Loose
Tea
Loose tea should be stored in a cool, dry, airtight, opaque container. Tea tins with tight-fitting lids are ideal. Do not store
loose teas in the freezer or refrigerator.
