Loose Leaf Tea - obsession? and looking for tips (no pun intended)

[rzb]

Looking for advice from experienced drinkers of loose leaf tea:

I started buying loose leaf tea fairly recently, first from a supermarket then, in a turn of events which surprised me greatly, from an online whole foods health store.

I was blown away by the difference in taste and overall enjoyment and am entirely enamoured by the whole shebang - I have dug out my tea pots and tea cosies, gone through various strainer and infuser technologies (eventually settling on a tea colander type thing with handy lid / saucer), purchased tea caddies and repurposed clean jars to store various teas, and begun to wonder why I ever bought tea bags in the first place. I've just bought some nettle tea which has made me wonder whether this is becoming a (healthy?) obsession.

Dear people who've trod this path before me: will I ever return to buying standard boxes of tea bags from a supermarket, or is this a one-way journey, and if so, where does it lead to? Have you any recommendations for things I should try? What's your favourite tea, and where do you get it from?

Thankyou, thankyou in advance.

Was brought up on loose leaf and continued. No teabags in my house. Only have them when out and will nor ally have coffee, because yes, you can taste the difference.

My standard tea is Kenya blend from Sainsburys.

I like the vanilla rooibus from Leaf Tea Shop. They do samplers so you can try things cheaply.

If you want to read about tea, the novelist Courtney Milan has a weekly email newsletter which is mostly about tea. I've got some good ideas from it, though have to find UK stockists.

I’m all for loose leaf breakfast tea! My go to is M&S Extra Strong Tea. I even make a pot for the builders… they love it 🤣

I dunno a mixture of teabags and loose leaf.

Fortnums do excellent tea which is often cheaper than e.g. whittards.

I have a friend who likes bird and blend but the whole shop smelt like lush for tea which I just couldn't cope with.

Not proper tippy tea but m and s gold blend is a super cheap and tasty loose leaf for just "tea tea"

I use teapigs everyday brew. I only drink teabag tea at work, because it's easier

How funny I was just eyeing up some herbal teas from https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/

I haven't tried them out yet, but they have won many taste awards.

My parents are loose leaf-ers, and after many shared holidays , my best advice is to travel with a tea strainer as holiday cottages don't usually have one

I found some really nice ones in a local East European shop.

Birchall’s tea is our day to day tea - think it is called Great Rift or something similar. Also Fortnum’s English Breakfast and Royal Blend.

@HarpQuartet Yes! My pair of stackable tea colander things with handy lids/saucers will be travelling with us everywhere. I may also have to get some more for our children, who are becoming somewhat leaf-curious, and one to live at work. They're such handy little things (the tea colanders, not the children, at least not yet).

@Olika Good call, thankyou. I shall go exploring my local shops on a rainy day.

I was brought up on loose leaf tea. I still leave the dregs of my tea instinctively to avoid a mouthful of leaves. We never bothered with a tea strainer, too much faff.
Until I left home our tea was delivered by a man in a fancy van ( Ringtons) and kept in a lovely tea caddy.

We also had a super coffee tasting shop where you could buy any blend you wanted. The beans were tasted in the shop and then ground when you bought them. The smell around the shop was intoxicating. Whenever I smell freshly roasted beans it takes me right back to my childhood.

I still buy beans and grind them in batches.
Fresh tea and coffee are such a better flavour.

Ringtone Northumbrian blend loose leaf every day here, either in a bodum tea press tea pot or a one of those little filter cups that goes inside the mug. It’s so much nicer than a teabag.

Even my favourite assam is so much nicer in loose leaf tea. I have gone back to teabags because of the faff of pot cleaning but a pot of leaf tea remains a treat worth having.

We almost always have loose leaf tea. Currently in a routine of Waitrose English Breakfast in the morning and then a blend of Assam and Earl Grey for the rest of the day.
I was brought up
with leaf tea then just carried on when I left home.

At home we only ever use loose leaf leaves - we always use Yorkshire tea. We have teapots with the infuser inside so no need to strain when pouring, etc.
We can definitely taste a difference between tea leaves and tea bags after using leaves for so long.

We have teabags in for me to take to work.

I'm a big Bird and Blend fan. They have some lovely flavours.

My every day tea is Fortnums Royal Blend. Its more expensive than supermarket tea but an absolute delight to drink. I buy a large tin every month.

Haven't used teabags for years!

We mainly drink Darjeeling. We like a 1st Flush - it's expensive but it's called the champagne of teas. Pale colour and a lovely delicate flavour. Usually drink a 2nd flush which is a bit darker with a more 'tea' flavour if you know what I mean! Never drink an autumn or 3rd flush as it tastes like builders tea and I suspect that's what goes in teabags!

Also drink Jasmine Pearl's- very expensive as the 'pearls' are leaves which are hand rolled to firm the sphere. Really delicious and refreshing. An economical way if buying them is to buy the Tea Pigs ones which are in tea bags - open the bags and tip them into a caddy as you only need one pearl per person not the 7 (or more) which are squished into a tea bag (albeit a posh one)! Last for ages..

There's a company called Nothing But Tea who have a great selection and Vahdam have some interesting teas too (their 1st Flush Darjeeling is good and not too expensive). Both companies can also be found on amazon....

Brew Tea Co - English Breakfast. (I have also tried Tea Pigs). I have their one person teapot which is very handy. But they also sell amazing teabags (using whole tea leaves) which are almost as good as loose leaf if brewed in the pot but without the hassle of scraping out tealeaves.

I have just arrived at a boutique hotel who had loose leaf tea and a proper pot waiting in the room. Such a fabulous touch.

I don’t generally do loose leaf tea for normal black tea (I can’t seem to get the strength right, which is really odd, I know).
But my favourite loose teas of other varieties are from Canton teas.

My top loose leaf teas at the minute are;
Pai mu tan ( a gorgeous fresh white tea)
Hojicha (also makes an EXCELLENT latte if you blend it finely, warm milk + honey, heavenly)
Good quality green tea
Gyokuro green tea for a special treat (it is an extremely fine tea, expensive and grown under very special conditions)
Bancha for caffiene free
Genmaicha (has to be good quality though)
And Jun Chiyabari is a lovely tea.
I also like good quality matcha, the less bitter the better. The less tasty ones can be saved by making a latte with honey.

It all requires equipment! I have a bamboo whisk, handmade chawan and gaiwan, little teacups, large teacups, various pots and strainers...

I also drink Russian caravan tea (earl grey) which has actual chunks of bergamot peel in it, a totally different ball game to cheap earl grey...

I buy from seibiantLoose leaf teas and it is an excellent little shop.

Thankyou all for the many suggestions of teas and businesses to explore. I'm looking forward to the varied brews as I test them all out.

Check out Bird and Blend, I can't walk past their shops and used to order online before one opened locally! Imperial Teas of Lincoln are also good.

I have been buying from Char for a few years - absolutely brilliant in my view, they post out the tea in a package also containing 2 little samples. This way, you get the tea you ordered, plus you can try for free some items that you might not otherwise have come across. (Promise I'm not on commission !)
https://www.charteas.com/

I also have a selection of teapots which are the "Chatsford" type where you can lift out the strainer, with all the tea leaves inside - much easier. http://www.chatsford.com/