A typical weekend tradition for MOH and I is to enjoy our mornings with a nice cup of freshly brewed tea.
We enjoy choosing between different loose leaf blends, depending on our mood. And there's a TON to choose, ranging from soft mellow flavors that you'd normally find in green tea varieties, like our jasmine pearl, to something bold and assertive, like our vanilla mint chai. No matter what our selection, morning tea time is a great time for us to reset and calibrate ourselves for the day to come.
MOH and I actually used to be purely bagged drinkers. We never thought there was much of a difference between loose leaf or bagged tea. It wasn't until we purchased some loose oolong leaves that we noticed a substantial difference in the aroma and taste of the tea.
Tea as it turns out, is not all created equal. Bagged tea tends to contain tea extracts that are more processed and lower quality compared to loose leaf. If you compare rough blends together (a loose leaf Jasmine tea blend versus its bagged counterpart), you can see the difference with your naked eye.
Comparing loose leaf versus bagged tea is probably similar to freshly brewed coffee to stale, day old coffee. There's still the taste that's reminiscent of something in a dream, as if this sorta tastes like green tea...? But it's nowhere near as fresh, aromatic, and crisp tasting as you'd like. If you compare loose versus bagged tea, you will notice that bagged tea often tastes more bitter and has this off-putting aftertaste that clings to your mouth.
Taste aside (though a big factor), nutrients can also be affected by processing. Loose leaves tend to be closer to the true source of tea (often containing whole dry leaves) and maintain the natural vitamins and nutrients found in the leaves, whereas bagged teas contain the processed, bits of leaves, that all get compressed together into a nice doggy bag. As a result, some of the nutrients can get lost through the packaging process.
Whether you're an avid tea drinker, or enjoy the occasional afternoon intermission of tea, trying loose leaf blends is worth a try. You'll find that there's a ton of suppliers that do loose leaf varieties, and several membership services that do tea subscriptions where you get a different blend every few weeks. Hopefully you'll appreciate the immense taste behind these loose leaf blends and become a convert, like me!
This weekend was daylight saving's time, where we turn our clocks one hour back. Major downside - loss of sleep. The upside? There's a higher chance of doing evening runs where the sun is still up and shining in all its glory.
Happy end of weekend, everyone, and happy eating all!
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