Loose Leaf Tea vs. Tea Bags

What is Loose Leaf Tea?

In a very general definition, loose leaf tea is a tea that does not come prepackaged in tea bags.

Unlike bagged tea, loose leaf tea isn’t crushed into a teabag, allowing it to keep its flavor, aroma, and health benefits.

How do you steep loose leaf tea then? You can steep loose leaf tea with a steeping ball, infuser, french press, or strainer! Infuser pitcher’s are great too! What’s cool about this method is there’s much less waste than with bagged tea.

Loose Leaf Tea Vs. Bagged Tea

Loose leaf tea is significantly different in both flavor and quality compared to bagged teas. In addition to the quality of the tea, loose leaf tea is more environmentally friendly as well, since you can compost loose leaf tea easier, and teabags aren't required.

Keep in mind that there are different grades of bagged tea. These grades include dust, fanning, and broken leaf.

Dust & Fanning | The teabags you buy at the grocery store contain dust and fanning grades of tea. Brands that sell this tea must crush the leaves when packaging into tea bags.

Broken & Loose Leaf | Being higher quality than dust and fanning, broken leaf is still "broken" in order to fit into a more spacious tea bag. Broken leaf tea still suffers from excess waste.

Loose Leaf Tea | Loose leaf tea, also known as whole leaf tea, comes in “bulk” form, such as a bag or tin. Loose leaf tea is better for you, the environment, and your wallet! Plus, it’s tastier.

What Are The Benefits Of Loose Leaf Tea?

All teas provide some level of antioxidants, vitamins, nutrients and have anti-bacterial properties. In our “types of tea” snippet below, you can learn more about each type of tea and its health benefits!

Black Tea: Great for digestion, heart health, energy, and immunity.

Green Tea: Memory, dental health, cancer prevention, metabolism.

Herbal Tea: Sleep, immune system, inflammation (varies with herbs).

White Tea: Cholesterol, reproductive health, weight loss, brain health.

Pu-Erh: Blood pressure, stress relief, weight loss, digestion.

Oolong Tea: Diabetes, inflammation, weight loss, brain health.

How Much Loose Leaf Tea Per Cup?

Receiving a bag of loose leaf tea for the first time can be a little overwhelming. Fortunately, steeping instructions remain consistent across most brands.

You can find out how to steep your loose leaf tea via the instructions on your packaging. You’ll need 1 - 2 teaspoons for every 8 ounces of tea. Loose leaf tea can be re-steeped up to 3 times!

How to make loose leaf tea.

When you receive loose leaf tea for the first time, the thought of steeping the tea can be overwhelming. Think of loose leaf tea as tea without the teabag! It’s virtually the same, with more ways to steep depending on your taste and preference.

What Is The Shelf Life Of Loose Leaf Tea?

Loose leaf tea has a remarkable shelf life! Because of general government mandates on food, Kerusso Tea & Co. prints a 2-year expiration date on loose tea and 1-year expiration date on Matcha.