loose tea or not loose tea that is the question

[Sparrow]

Loose leaf made using a scissor-type tea ball.

[Stitchawl]

I'm with Sparrow. Scissor-type tea balls and loose leaf tea is the usual method in this house. There are times when we'll use tea bags but only when pressed for time or when having to drink Prisoner Tea (floor sweepings like Lipton...)

I can buy paper tea bags in all the supermarkets here, both for individual cups and pot-sized, but prefer to use cloth if I'm given the choice. Plain silk makes the nicest teabag.

Daithi, you can order any kind of Tea you'd like from 'Baltimore Tea and Coffee,' located, oddly enough, in Baltimore. You can find them on the net, they ship quickly, and carry some of the finest blend, blenders, and varieties I've ever come across. Loose tea is MUCH cheaper than coffee, and a lot cheaper than tea bags. Just be careful not to use too much tea per cup. By the cup, half a spoon-full is good. In the pot, one spoon-full for each cup plus one extra for the pot! DO NOT BOIL THE TEA!! Boil the water, let it stop bubbling, then pour it into the cup. Many purists will say to pre-heat the cup or teapot first.

Stitchawl

[RWood]

Well, there's Lipton tea and then there's everything else. Call me a snob ("You're a snob!") but I like Lipton tea the best. It makes great iced tea. I never bother with hot tea except as a way to make good iced tea. Sometimes I make sun tea; but, mostly I just make it with hot water and then chill it and serve over ice. Wonderful stuff.

Bags of loose? Bags! They even have a large single bag form of Lipton that makes a whole pitcher using just one bag. Simple and neat. Besides, who likes picking tea leaves out from between your teeth like they were grape peels in Thunderbird or other high-end wines.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by RWood

Besides, who likes picking tea leaves out from between your teeth like they were grape peels in Thunderbird or other high-end wines.

ooooooo.............Thunderbird.

Brings back memories of a very young and foolish DGma.................

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by RWood

Well, there's Lipton tea and then there's everything else. Call me a snob ("You're a snob!") but I like Lipton tea the best. It makes great iced tea. I never bother with hot tea except as a way to make good iced tea. Sometimes I make sun tea; but, mostly I just make it with hot water and then chill it and serve over ice. Wonderful stuff.

Bags of loose? Bags! They even have a large single bag form of Lipton that makes a whole pitcher using just one bag. Simple and neat. Besides, who likes picking tea leaves out from between your teeth like they were grape peels in Thunderbird or other high-end wines.

I like Raspberry Iced Tea made with loose raspberry tea leaves, sugarless raspberry syrup, and bottled water. Oh yum!!

[GeoffC]

so loose, mine's powdered .....

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

so loose, mine's powdered .....

Originally Posted by RWood

Well, there's Lipton tea and then there's everything else. Call me a snob ("You're a snob!") but I like Lipton tea the best. It makes great iced tea. I never bother with hot tea except as a way to make good iced tea. Sometimes I make sun tea; but, mostly I just make it with hot water and then chill it and serve over ice. Wonderful stuff.

I love iced tea -- and especially sun tea.
However, mine has to have lots of sugar. Basically, I'm looking for tea flavored Kool-Aid.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I like Bodum's tea presses - they're sort of a cross between cafetierres and teapots:

[Stitchawl]

This might sound heretical to most, (it did to me until I tied it,) but have you ever tried drinking a cup of plain hot water, boiled for tea but without the tea? I know... it sounds pretty weird. I had a colleague who used to drink this with her meals and I used to laugh at her all the time. All she would say is "try it yourself."

She never argued. She never defended. She'd just say "try it yourself." After about 6 months of watching her and laughing, I finally tried it myself... These days I drink it often. Not as often as tea, but I do drink several cups per week. Try it yourself...

Stitchawl

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

This might sound heretical to most, (it did to me until I tied it,) but have you ever tried drinking a cup of plain hot water, boiled for tea but without the tea? I know... it sounds pretty weird. I had a colleague who used to drink this with her meals and I used to laugh at her all the time. All she would say is "try it yourself."

She never argued. She never defended. She'd just say "try it yourself." After about 6 months of watching her and laughing, I finally tried it myself... These days I drink it often. Not as often as tea, but I do drink several cups per week. Try it yourself...

Stitchawl

I haven't tried that, but in my glasses/mugs of water I fill it 1/4 full of boiling water and the rest cold (too-cold water gives me stomach cramps unless I sip it really, really slowly and with very, very small sips.)

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

I like Bodum's tea presses - they're sort of a cross between cafetierres and teapots:

That's what I use, although not that exact model. They're great.

[HarryT]

Loose-leaf tea has virtually vanished from supermarkets here in the UK. My local supermarket has metres of shelf for tea bags, but only about 2 packets of loose-leaf tea on sale.

It is (in my experience) categorically untrue to make a general statement that tea-bags use poorer-quality tea. As a "nation of tea drinkers" that just wouldn't be acceptable in this country. You can of course buy very cheap tea bags, where the tea is like dust, but all the top brand-names sold here use perfectly decent tea.

[Moejoe]

If it's not Yorkshire Tea, it aint Tea I voted teabags

[HarryT]

Yes, Yorkshire and Tetley are my two favourite brands.

[Stitchawl]

I'm sitting here drinking a large mug of Yorkshire (loose leaf) tea as I type. I was introduced to Yorkshire about three years ago, and it quickly become one of my favorites! The taste is great and the price is right!

Stitchawl