BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?

Subject: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:23 AM

Following on from the bacon butty discussion the subject of cups of tea came up.

I can use tea bags for convenience (Ringtons in my case) but I do like a pot made with loose tea in a morning.

We also offer a pot made with tea bags and a spoonful of Earl Grey with our egg beans and chips on a Friday night.

Camping at a festival - tea bags.

Anywhere outside the UK - coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:41 AM

Loose PG. Accept no substitute.

Earl Grey is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. It's cruel to put cuddly little bergamots in your tea.

Tea butties, anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:45 AM

I was taught that cuddly or not - the bergamots would be killed painlessly once boiling water was poured over them.

Bit like lobsters to whom I understand they may be distantly related.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:53 AM

The right sort of bread, buttered - butter! - and dunked into hot white tea!


Yummmmmmm! Who cares whether loos or bag...

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: kendall
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:02 AM

If you know how to do it, Lobsters can be dispatched quite humanely.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:05 AM

And bergamots?

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:11 AM

So...it's basically a discussion between the merits of free-range tea or stuff that's been raised in a factory, huh? Well, we members of PETT (People for the Ethical Treatment of Tea) feel that if you MUST consume tea you should at least insure that it is given every opportunity to live its life as Nature intended and humanely CUT ITS THROAT so that it bleeds to death before you use it to satisfy your perverted appetite. Or whack it in the head with shovel. PETT doesn't care as long as you slaughter it humanely. Of course, we advocate and lobby against the cruel treatment of tea, against the unnatural genetic engineering of "blended teas", and we often have PETTing parties involving young Hollywood starlets to raise money for our cause.

FREE THE TEA!!

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: alanabit
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:15 AM

Earl Grey is a delight, but I can't drink the stuff too early in the morning. Those dust bags, which we use in the UK, contain the bitter dust, which I would prefer to throw away. It definitely has to be a high quality Ceylon tea for me. Something like Ceylon Nr.4, which has a nice fruity flavour. The bigger the tea leaves the better. You can always brew up with a tea egg. In England you usually have to drink the stuff with milk and sugar, because it is so bitter!

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:33 AM

I never buy tea bags. Once I started drinking loose tea regularly I found I couldn't drink the tea-bag tea. Confining tea in bags is a lot like keeping a bird in a cage. Believe it or not, I even take a tea pot and a jar of loose tea when camping and festivaling. I actually blend my own because I love Darjeeling but it's a little too weak so I mix it with Assam. Since I like smoked food I thought I ought to try blending with a bit of Lapsang Souchong, but Tesco doesn't sell that loose.

I heard something on the radio the other day about China tea and decided I ought to give green tea another try. The only time I tried it it was too bitter for me but there is a much greater variety around now that it is trendy. Of course....no loose green tea in Tesco. Anyone know anything about white tea? They had that in Tesco....in bags.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:42 AM

Loose and fresh for company or hubby's treat. Varieties accordingly. But usually for me, teabags for convenience. Doesn't matter-- mine's half milk anyway, hot or cold. If I want a REAL treat it's not tea from loose tea, but coffee.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:45 AM

Earl Grey smells lovely, but tastes like horse manure. Assam, Darjeeling, Lapsang Souchong, to this Turkish-cofee-trained palate taste like so much boiled water.

And loose tea has the same effect on me as bits of tobacco between my teeth form when I smoked roll-ups. I can see no attraction in it - it's quaint, but like so many other quaint things you find in England(say, separate hot and cold water taps or old creaking four-poster beds) it's impractical.

No - IF I have to have tea (and I only feel like it about a dozen times a year), it has to be a nice strong Yorkshire Tea bag.

Given a choice - a cafetiere of strong Columbian for me, please.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:47 AM

You can make tea from coffee? I didn't know that.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Desdemona
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:50 AM

I really think of tea bag tea vs loose tea as two separate drinks...I'll use a tea bag for convenience if I'm in a hurry (PG Tips or Harrogate), but the fact of the matter is that nothing starts the day in so fine and luxurious a manner as a whole pot of fresh Ceylon tea, the stronger the better. I had white tea once; it wasn't my (oh, forgive me) er, cup of tea, as it were, but then I'm generally a "black tea with a bit of milk" type. That said, I often like a pot of Lapsang Souchong when I'm working, which I always take plain. I agree that outside the UK it's relatively difficult to find a decent cup of tea unless you make it yourself, which puts me in mind of the great Ginger Baker lament on the subject...

Thirstily...

~D

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Greg B
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:51 AM

White tea--- the veal of tea.

Plucked before its time.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: redsnapper
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:51 AM

Earl Grey is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.

My feeling too. I prefer loose tea but usually drink teabag tea... Scottish Blend for the soft water at home and Barry's (Green Label) for the rest of the world.

Yorkshire Tea is OK too and I will take a pot of PG if desperate.

RS
Life is too short to drink inferior tea

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:15 AM

Oolong loose is my favorite but I usually go with herbal peppermint in bags.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:18 AM

You can make tea from coffee? I didn't know that.

Actually you can-- single-serve coffee "bags." Orful taste, but any caff in a pinch, eh?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:28 AM

I prefer to kepp a range of teabags (up to 20 or more types cycling thru various makes and flavours!) so I can have a wide differing sweep of styles to choose from according to my mood and time of day, eg a Breakfast Tea usually has a higher Caffeine content so I prefer them earlier in the day, and something like a Darjeeling at night. I also like 'Chai' - love the spices! Now there are several readily obtainable styles of Chai around too. I quite like White Tea, it's ok in the evening.

If I had loose tea, most of it would go off before being drunk, and I would have about 10 times the storage space used...

All said though - if someone is making a pot, I'll usually be willing. Prefer most teas with milk, no sugar. Chai must have milk, no sugar. I also like the differing styles of Green Tea including both Chinese and Japanese - no milk or sugar.

I do like only occassionally some of the loose teas with other junk added - there is a local mixed 'Christmas Tea' - smells just liek Grandma's Christmas Cake...

BTW, apparently now there is a tea that has been blended to taste like Chamopagne - if you like flat Champagen of course...

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:17 AM

The key is actually freshness, as with all good foods. I believe you have a better chance of getting good fresh ingredients if you buy your tea loose, rather than bagged.

As a one cup at a time drinker, I am a great fan of tea infusers, which keep most of the leaves out of my teeth.

For those of you who are in it strictly for the taste but not the caffeine, you can dip the infuser for about 10 seconds in hot water and then move it directly to your brewing vessel, be it cup or pot.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:31 AM

Here is an excellent example of what PETT is all about!

tea

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:35 AM

I tried brick tea once by accident - it smashed the cup and tasted lousy...

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:40 AM

I keep seeing boxes of Yorkshire tea and I'm puzzled. I've travelled through much of God's own county, but I'm buggered if I've ever seen any tea gardens clinging to the sides of the moors! Maybe they grow the stuff underground in old mine workings...

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:41 AM

I can buy Irish Breakfast Tea and English Breakfast Tea, but no lunch or dinner or supper teas. There IS a tea called "Teatime" though.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Megan L
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:42 AM

Aye Scottish blend for speed and oolong for a relaxing cuppa.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: GUEST,282RA
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 12:33 PM

Bags are easier but I prefer it loose.

My favorite is lapsang souchong--a black tea that roasted ina bamboo basket over burning pine where it absorbs the smoke--giving the tea a very distinctive flavor that I am utterly obsessed with. I love Russian Caravan too.

I use a pot at work but when I get low, I switch to an infuser or tea ball and make it by the cup.

The water has to be boiling though. Tea isn't good that hasn't been steeped in boiling water.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 12:52 PM

An elderly lady of my acquaintance used to buy boxes of tea bags and then cut each tea bag open with scissors and pour the contents into a tea caddy ... I think she was missing the point somehow ... possibly?

Earl Grey is the most disgusting stuff ever!! It's like the proper stuff which has been doused in cheap perfume - yuck!!

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: John J
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 12:57 PM

No contest, loose leaf tea every time.

JJ

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 01:21 PM

I only began drinking much coffee in the last 6-7 years. For 40 years I drank tea, and seldom from a tea bag. I used to bet people that they could set up 10 cups of tea, with ONE made from a bag, and that I could detect the paper flavor.

Note: I am in the USA, and used to live in Kansas, where it took some looking to find decent tea. I began with "Dutch Garden" brand...(golden tins and many varieties)...and eventually found Twinings and a couple others...like Fortnum & Masons...and one place that sold loose tea from bins. I tried them all, preferring the black teas over the green (Pan Fired, Basket Fired, Young Hyson...etc.)...I do not and WILL not put milk in any tea. Some black teas profit from a bit of sweetner, but some are best left 'pure' (Jasmine, Oolong)...

Once I moved to the East coast, I was able to find a wide variety of both tins and stores which sold loose teas in bulk, though, sadly, with Starbucks on every corner, there are far fewer tea outlets now.

I enjoy Assam, Darjeeling(several varieties), Keemun, Yunnan, "Russian Caravan"...(a blend, but ok), "Prince of Wales" and "Queen Mary's" from Twinings,"Ching Wó" ...and even some flavored teas in moderation..(usually mixed...not full strength), like "Earl Grey"..which is popular in Turkey as Tomurcuk (I have a tine without the 'Earl Grey' I.D. on it..). I like Jasmine and/or Lichee flavors in moderation (often in an Oolong base)...and even tried Rose Petal...interesting, but not for everyday!...and yes, I will drink Lapsang Souchong at times..though not at the strength I once had a fellow from Magagascar demand when I was working at a Coffee House in Kansas..."make it double strength next time!"

About the only time I regularly use tea BAGS is in Summer, to make iced tea, as it is much more convenient, and cold tea doesn't affect the taste buds as strongly..(maybe it numbs them slightly)..but even then I will use the best bags I can find, and often mix in some good loose tea in a tea ball to give the blend some character.

In my area are many Asian stores which sell a lot of tea with little or no English labels...some are excellent, and some are...well...once I bought an 'interesting' tin, and discovered it was a medicinal thing that old Chinese grannys would make their kids take...yuck..

Tea is amazing...there is a much wider flavor variety than coffee...though I have gotten fond of good coffee lately....and coffee 'grabs' you....it really is addictive.

*sigh*...I can only absorb so much caffeine...and I don't like pure de-caf anything....

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:06 PM

Refresh................lol

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:09 PM

The choice between loose and bagged has become pretty much academic in my area, as I've been unable to find any local source that still stocks loose tea, and my rate of use does not support purchasing in quantities appropriate for minimum economical order sizes from the few reasonably convenient web/mail order sources.

My observation some years ago when I actually did drink a fair amount of tea was that "I can taste the paper" when bags are used. While this may convey the "effect," I believe it's really the result of poor packaging by the remaining suppliers. The loose tea I once could get easily came in a "sturdy" container that was virtually air-tight when opened and reclosed. The bags may come in a "cello" bag, but often are in a simple cardboard box. The bags are intended to look like they protect the contents, but are seldom "hermetic," so they might as well package the bags in an old sock.

My conclusion is that anything available in my area will be SWP - Stale When Purchased, and if it's lain around loose on the floor long enough one might as well boil a piece of paper. It tastes about the same.

Small remnants of some loose tea in tins that I purchased "a while back" still make a reasonably decent cup. (I don't have enough of any of it left to make a pot.) I believe these were purchased ca. 1980 and are still "good" although not really fresh.

I've tried removing the contents of a few recently purchased bags to see if the brewing made a difference and find nothing to brew that resembles tea. Looks like floor dust. Not identifiable as a vegetable product. Tastes the same as if the bag is soaked (with or without the contents).

A sad situation, that hopefully is somewhat a local thing; but as long as the retail market is patronized by those who think a pretty package and an extortionate price means it has to be good and they must have it - there's little hope of change here.

A "certain other person in the house" drinks a lot of iced tea, from "instant powder." It is becoming increasingly difficult to find even that, since all available sources stock only the "with lemon flavor" which she detests. (The "lemon flavor" conceals the absence of "tea flavor" and permits a cheaper grade of floor sweepings - and a better profit - in the product, apparently. By pricing the "lemon flavored" $0.10 more - on a $3 jar - the yuppies think it must be better so that's the only thing they buy.)

I guess I'll have another cup of coffee.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:10 PM

Know what's really good? Nestea's powdered raspberry ice tea, that's what! It's even got the sugar in it. All you have to do is dissolve it in water and voila! instant non-alcoholic Budweiser, straight from the diabetic Clydesdale.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:46 PM

John...a friend who moved to the mountains of W.Va. has resorted to buying loose tea online...from places like this (this may not be her favorite..)

I am considering trying a couple of them....you 'can' pay a LOT for some special estate teas, but you can get the regular good stuff also...and tea is not 'heavy' to ship.

I can still find loose tea here, though I have to drive further now.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 03:54 PM

Lapsang Souchung served almost black is the only tea we use, and rarely.

Usually a good, bold Sumatran or Ethiopian coffee.

As someone said above, the usual tea tastes like dishwater; some value for acidifying potted plants. Like cricket, only for Englishmen.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 03:56 PM

ah, Q! You must try some better quality dishwater! ;>)

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:01 PM

Tesco does sell a very small selection of loose teas, but, of course, you can order it on line from various places such as Whittards and get it through the post.

George, your palate has obviously been wrecked by Turkish coffee! There is a world of difference between the taste of loose tea and that of bags. It's not just quaintness.

I don't know why everyone is on about ease and convenience in regard to tea bags, I don't find them any easier than loose tea. I have a Whittard's small tea-pot with filter so that I don't need a strainer and to put a spoonful of tea into that is no more difficult or inconvenient than putting a tea bag in a cup and the result is soooooo much nicer.

Strangely, I only have the tiniest drop of milk in my tea...less than will cover the bottom of my pint mug, probably less than a teaspoonful. You'd think I could do without, but that tiny little bit of milk makes all the difference to the taste. Don't know why.

Don't drink coffee...or only very rarely. Too much gives me a headache. If I do drink it it has to be made with all milk instead of water. (This is instant coffee of course)

Instant tea is worse than teabags. It produces 'a liquid almost, but not quite entirely unlike tea'.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:06 PM

My father, bless his departed soul, was addicted to instant iced tea in his later years...I lived too far away to de-program him.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: robomatic
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:10 PM

JohinInKansas Costco sells Japanese green tea in bags, nylon bags, so you won't taste the paper (just imbibe the long chain molecules a'seapin' while you're sippin').

I once took Earl Grey tea bags on a camping trip. While sipping it post prandially a Tennessee'n one tent over yelled "I can SMELL someone makin' that gol'durn arful Earl Grey Tea!"

A few years later I was at a cultural exchange between Americans and Russians from the Siberian area nearby. The Americans thought they were being as nice as possible to the Russians, but the only tea to drink was Earl Grey which apparently was entirely unknown and for most of the Russians a very unwelcome bit of knowledge to come by.

I've taken a liking to lapsang souchong because it's taste is so smoky and strong one tends to make it last.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:36 PM

You can find about any sort of tea you want from the Market Spice Tea shop in Seattle's Pike Street Market. I don't find a web site for them but they have an extensive order form for mail order, last time I checked.

Micca sent Moonglow a box of Yorkshire Gold a few years back (Secret Santa) and we got hooked. I can find it loose in a good grocery store here. I don't always drink it--when I can get good Yunnan tea that one really gives me a shot in the morning. I drink a lot of herbal teas during the day (too much caffeine load otherwise). Right now I have some Jasmine brewing for iced tea (green tea and jasmine).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:48 PM

Ok, 282RA, that was for the loose tea.
How about the bagged stuff?
I'm only trying to keep the thread to its subject, you understand, and some semblance of civilised discussion.
Or does that bother you?

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: GUEST,282RA
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:52 PM

282RA - two of your messages in this thread have been deleted because of their combative tone. I deleted other messages from you a day or two ago. Please be civil.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 05:00 PM

Look, my own ancestors have raped and pillaged some in their time too. I am not about to wear hair shirts about it, though I recognise the wrongs committed. "We're here 'cos we're here" as the nonsense rhyme goes. It's what we do that counts. I believe the participants of this thread to be normal people, with normal virtues and failings, but not guilty of their ancestors' sins. And they happen to like folk music and tea or coffee. And they want to talk about that, rather than about whatever came out of some old queen's nether regions, as you so graphically put it. Why does this bother you?

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 05:07 PM

Oh dear..an idiot. Time to leave this thread. It WAS an enjoyable conversation until this prat arrived. See you in another thread guys. Bye.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 06:44 PM

I agree Lynne - here is a prat.

Nice friendly discussion about tea - brought to confrontation by some Murkan with a chip (sorry french fry - sorry freedom fry).

If you really want abuse we can do abuse.

Personally I prefer to discuss tea. Or ice cream - look for the new thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 07:04 PM

Whatever happened to that old Mudcat standby 'beware of the trolls' which has stood us in good stead for so long?

282RA is self evidently an idiot of the first water, but such people will always delight in hiding behind the anonymity that Mudcat makes provision for and their demented drivelling can safely be discounted.

My partner Lynne has always insisted that we buy Yorkshire tea. This is understandable as she hails from Huddersfield (and we've heard all those jokes about the 'Yorkshire Tea Plantations' et el. - there is, I notice, now a 'Lancashire Tea' on sale which should, surely, draw forth similar comments)

And to get us truly back on topic once again - regrettably, though I consider myself well versed in tea and tea lore, I cannot discern any difference between the loose leaf or teabag variety when brewed.

There, I've said it.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 07:36 PM

282ra...that was uncalled for CRAP! The thread was not political, and it is not necessary to MAKE it so...

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:55 PM

282ra sounds like a name for an acephalic robotic failure, which he obviously is.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Joe_F
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:20 PM

I have never done a blind test of whether I could distinguish tea-bag from loose tea by the taste, but I am sure I would fail. I use loose tea because I think wet tea bags are icky. It is Hu-Kwa tea, which I buy in 1-lb cans from Cardullo's in Cambridge, MA. When I am making a mug for myself, I use a tea ball, which I can empty, invisibly, into the wastebasket under my desk. On the rare occasions when a guest wants tea, I get the teapot down off the top shelf in the kitchen.

Never tried opium.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:33 PM

Anyone who does not know that tea should be brewed no longer than 3 to 4 minutes deserves to drink tannic acid and wonder what the fuss is all about.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:08 PM

I remember sampling tea in Cape Breton. No good unless the spoon floats in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:36 PM

Wasn't it Enda Kenny wrote the Earl Grey Tea song ?? 'Is it perfume , is it Pee?'