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.