How to prepare loose leaf tea

Simply grab a piece of kitchen roll and fold twice into a square. Fold out one pocket and place in your mug. (You might want to cleanse the kitchen roll first to remove any paper taste). Place the loose leaf in the kitchen roll, pour over hot water and leave to brew.

Use 1 tea bag per cup, or 1 teaspoon of loose tea per cup (6 oz.).

Compost: Instead of dumping out those steeped tea leaves, throw them into a compost pile to help nurture your garden. You can throw whole steeped tea bags in the compost if the tea bag material is made of biodegradable or compostable materials.

Simply put your tea leaves directly into the cup, pour in hot water, and steep! Drink when ready. Note: This is only for those who don’t mind bit of tea leaf bumping their lips and/or ingesting brewed leaves.

Can You Reuse Loose Leaf Tea? Yes, loose leaf tea can be reused. On average, any tea leaf, including black tea can be reused once or many times, after its first brew.

If you drink tea to enjoy the health benefits, loose leaf tea may be a better choice. The only exception is when you want tea with a higher caffeine content – tea bags may give a more caffeinated drink in a single steep than loose leaf tea.

The Extra Expenses Involved In Loose–Leaf Tea

Since you’ll have to steep your tea to allow the loose leaves to release their flavors and healthy compounds, you’ll need to purchase an infuser or strainer. These can cost anything from a few dollars all the way up to hundreds of dollars, resulting in extra costs.

Though initially, loose leaf is more expensive, the leaves can be steeped more than once. This ultimately means you are not sacrificing money for quality. According to “The Daily Tea” the recommended amount of loose tea is one teaspoon per cup of water, making many loose teas less expensive than bagged.

Loose leaf tea is good for your health

Tea has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which can contribute to your overall wellness. The primary chemicals responsible for the health claims of green tea, called catechins, are found in the highest concentrations in fresh leaves.

Properly stored, loose tea will generally stay at best quality for about 18 to 24 months. To maximize the shelf life of loose tea, and to better retain flavor and potency, store in airtight containers.

Caffeine found in coffee, tea, soda, and foods can also place a strain on your kidneys. Caffeine is a stimulant, which can cause increased blood flow, blood pressure and stress on the kidneys. Excessive caffeine intake has also been linked to kidney stones.

Green tea is often touted as the healthiest tea. It is chock full of polyphenols and antioxidants that help to boost brain and heart health. Green tea is considered one of the least processed true teas as it does not undergo oxidation. Leaves are harvested and immediately dried and rolled.

What counts towards your fluid intake? Non-alcoholic fluids, including tea, coffee and fruit juice, all count towards your fluid intake. A lot of people believe, mistakenly, that tea and coffee are diuretics and dehydrate you.

White tea, for instance, has the highest concentration of antioxidants because it is the least processed tea. By this standard, it might be considered the “healthiest” of them all. As far as antioxidants are concerned, white tea is followed by jasmine tea, green tea, then black tea.