There is nothing quite as lovely as drinking loose tea that has been brewed in a gorgeous pot and taken from a marvelous cup and saucer. It's very rare that I can drink my tea like this, sadly. Christmas and bank holidays are the times when I do.
Of course, on the flip side, if you don't have a pot with an inbuilt infuser drinking loose tea can be, quite frankly, a pain the backside. There is nothing more tedious and time consuming then trying to clean a pot of loose tea leaves. (This especially happens if you have a one pot as infusers never come with these).
We all have ever busy lives so have fallen into the pattern of dunking a teabag into a cup, leaving it for the shortest time possible and supping it on the run. But, this is no way to enjoy tea.
I recently opened a box of tea, (of quite expensive teabags) only to find the teabags covered in tea that resembled dust. When transferring tea from box to caddy, I can pretty much say that there was more tea in the discarded box then there was in the actual teabags. This just wasn't going to do.
There is a very handy bridge between the two. They are either called pyramids or tea temples and most tea companies now produce them. They contain loose leave tea but with the convenience of being enclosed in a bag. Normally, these bags come about half full as to allow the tea time to expand as the tea brews. However, these tea's are normally quite expensive and boxes come in small quantities only, but for me, they are well worth the money.
At the start of the year, a tea company called Chash kindly sent me an infuser. What a difference this gift has made on my tea drinking life.
Now, every day, I can enjoy loose tea and it's really wonderful to drink tea's of high quality that make for a satisfying brew. I have so many wonderful tea's sent from many different companies that the infuser is used again and again, day and night.
It's so easy to enjoy loose tea throughout the working day. You just put as much tea as you want to into the infuser, pour over hot water and let it brew. In some cases, such as Kensington Tea Company's Chinese Jasmine Pearl Superior, Green Christmas Spice or Japanese Cherry With Flowers, you can infuse the leaves up to three times, so making a cup with a infuser is just as easy as popping in a teabag.
What tea has amazed me the most though is Twinings Lady Grey. There is a difference in the flavour from brewing loose tea to teabags. The flavour, somehow, is richer, is stronger and tastier. (Of course I still love the teabags, convenient to take out to cafe's with me!).
Infusers are relatively cheap to buy. They range from £1 on Amazon up to £12, depending on what sort you want. You can get basic metal ones, or shaped ones. Comedic ones and traditional ones. Whatever your taste there is probably one that will suit you down to the ground.
Loose tea can be a little more expensive then tea in teabag form. But I honestly think it's worth it to get a decent brew. And you won't be missing out on choice. All your favourite black tea's come in loose form, there is a great amount of specialist green tea sites out there, and even white tea is available in loose tea form, too.
I have a renewed love and admiration for loose tea now that it's so easy to use on a day to day basis. Of course, on special days, the pot does come out. But I generally now stick to an infuser. Why settle for lesser quality tea when you can still drink fine tea's in a convenient way?
I have so much to learn about loose tea after years of relying on teabags. But I can't wait to experience all the flavours out there.
So, I'm off now, to brew a tea. But what should it be? Lady Grey, Gunpowder Green, Russian Caravan or Darjeeling? Choices, choices ....
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