The Guide to Drinking Loose Leaf Tea
Loose-leaf tea is considered to be the best to make the perfect cuppa. Jam-packed full of flavour and taste, loose-leaf tea is very popular among serious tea lovers. They provide tea enthusiasts with a very high-quality tea that everyone will love. There are so many reasons why loose-leaf tea is preferred, but the key reason is the variety of flavours is greater. Plus, the leaves are much bigger than in tea bags meaning they retain their flavours better which provides a high-quality taste.
Here at High Teas London, we aim to source new, exciting, rare and much-loved loose-leaf teas from around the world. Established in 2008 by one of the UK’s leading tea experts, and taken over in 2019 by father and daughter team Simon & Tash, High Teas London showcases one of the largest and most diverse tea inventories in the UK!
Discover our guide to drinking loose-leaf tea in this blog and see what we have to offer you with our expansive tasty teas from around the world.
How to brew loose-leaf tea
Depending on how you like your perfect cuppa will affect the way to brew loose-leaf tea. Whether you prefer a strong, flavourful taste or a slightly weaker but tasty brew, there are multiple ways and methods to enjoy tea that you can try.
Strained loose-leaf tea
This method of brewing loose-leaf tea provides you with a stronger and more flavourful taste to fully enjoy our various array of teas from across the world. You will need a good tea strainer to extract the most flavours from your tea for a lovely, yummy cuppa.
To make a classic tea, you will need a good-sized teapot for the tea leaves to marinate in, giving you the perfect taste. Start by boiling freshly drawn water in your kettle. As the kettle is boiling, add your chosen tea leaves to your teapot, the number of leaves needed depends on which type of tea you use. Once the kettle has boiled, leave it to cool for a few minutes to stop the tea from burning upon contact with the water.
After this, gently pour the water into the teapot, allowing it to circulate through the leaves. The length of time you let it steep for will also vary depending on the type of tea you are using. You can follow the instructions in our brewing guide for the temperature of the water and the length of time you need to steepen. To get the most from your tea leaves, it is best to steepen your tea a second time and add an extra minute to the steeping time, as the tea needs longer to draw out the flavour. Now your tea has brewed perfectly, you can pour the tea into your favourite cup and saucer or much and enjoy!
The best tea strainers for loose-leaf tea
Here at High Teas, we provide the best tea strainers for your loose-leaf tea. Integrated into our filter teapots, this straining solution creates an easy, seamless way to brew the perfect cuppa. Due to the strainer coming with our teapots, you can have an all-in-one solution for steeping your tea. Our filter teapots give you optimal flavour from any type of tea leaves, leaving you with a strong tasty tea. Once you use our tea strainers, you won’t go back!
In-cup infuser loose-leaf tea
Using the in-cup infuser method for drinking loose-leaf tea offers a convenient way to use loose-leaf teas for a single cup. This method of brewing tea uses fewer tea leaves, therefore giving a slightly weaker, but still delicious, taste. This taste is perfect for one single cup and not a teapot. All you need to do is pop in a smaller quantity of tea leaves into the infuser and let it steep for a certain amount of time, depending on which leaves you are using. This method of brewing follows the same steps as the strained loose-leaf tea technique, but instead of a teapot, use the infuser and a cup.
Loose-leaf tea bags
Loose-leaf tea can now be enjoyed in tea bag form! Tea bags are hugely popular amongst tea lovers, avid drinkers and the more leisurely drinkers. They are simple and convenient to use and have become a staple for everyone. However, a standard tea bag doesn’t give you optimal flavour and can be quite weak. Having loose-leaf tea bags extracts the best taste from the leaves while being easy to use and convenient!
Our tea bags ensure that you get the same taste and experience our loose-leaf teas give you. Due to being in a pyramid bag, the tea can move more freely in the water to release more of its flavours when brewing. This shape also allows us to add more tea per bag and the leaves are less likely to get crushed, closely mimicking what happens to tea leaves in an infuser or teapot.
To create the perfect cuppa with our tea bags, all you have to do is boil your water and leave it to cool for a few minutes. Add the tea bag to your cup and pour the water in, leaving it to brew to your desired strength! You can also make your tea in a teapot using the bags. Depending on how much tea you want to make, will depend on how many bags you add to the water to give optimal taste for every cup!
Teabrew filters
Teabrew filters offer the best of both worlds for any tea drinker. They have the speed and convenience of a tea bag, but they allow you to choose from the vast range of loose-leaf teas we supply. Depending on the size of the filter, you may be able to get multiple uses out of the bag. All you need to do is pop the tea leaves into a teabrew filter and add them to boiling water, leaving it to steep until you achieve the strength you love.
French press tea
For a rich tea flavour, you can use a French press for your tea leaves. A French press isn’t just for the coffee enthusiasts out there! Tea lovers can gain a strong cuppa as the French press lets the leaves float freely to fully infuse into the water. Plus, it’s really simple to use for tea! Just add the desired amount of loose-leaf tea to the French press and pour over hot water! Let it steep for as long as you like, depending on the type of tea will depend on how long you leave it. Once ready, press down the plunger slowly so that you separate the leaves from the liquid.
Cold brew
Perfect for the summer months, tea leaves can be used for yummy, iced tea. Cold brewing gives loose-leaf tea a refreshing twist and extracts a smoother flavour from the leaves. This reduces the bitterness which is perfect for ice! Just put your choice of tea leaves into a pitcher of cold water and allow it to steep in the fridge for around 6-12 hours. Once done, strain the leaves and serve over ice.
Tea blending
When drinking loose-leaf tea, you can experiment with tea blending to create unique flavours. You can experiment with combining tea leaves and adding spices, dried fruits and spices to craft a blend you love. Experiment to your heart's content and you may just make the best brew you have ever had before!
At High Teas, we have some tea blending options ready to use so you don’t have to blend them yourself! These blends are created to combine the perfect types of tea, giving you a blended tea that works. Our Darjeeling/Assam blend is a popular option, combining two great tea regions of India. It’s a refreshing, warming and comforting tea that will have your taste buds tingling.
Gong Fu Cha
Gong Fu Cha is a traditional Chinese method that translates to “making tea with skill”. This method of tea brewing showcases the patience and skill of steeping to gain various flavours from your tea leaves at different stages of the steeping process. Using a small teapot is ideal for this method to extract the most flavour from the tea leaves. Add a large amount of tea leaves to the pot of water and carry out short steeps. These steeps can last from 10 seconds to 1 minute each. After each short steep have a taste of the tea to experience the changing taste!
Our large selection of China teas is the perfect loose-leaf tea to use for this method. Experiment with various teas of China to find your favourite and see how the taste evolves throughout the brewing process.
Milk first or last?
The big question is when do you put in the milk? Before or after putting in your tea? If you are brewing in a mug, you should put the milk in first. This is because black tea (your traditional tea) needs to have freshly boiled water to infuse properly. When you put milk into infusing tea, you lower the temperature of the water, so a proper infusion cannot take place. However, if you are brewing your tea in a pot, you should consider putting in milk last so you can judge and monitor the strength of your tea before adding the milk. However, this question is a matter of personal preference.
Benefits of drinking loose-leaf tea
There are multiple benefits of drinking loose-leaf tea, particularly when it comes to physical health. Loose-leaf tea provides our body with antioxidants that aid with a plethora of health-related issues. We have listed just some of these benefits so you can see just how much tea leaves can do!
- Combats oxidative stress & free radicals: This is due to loose-leaf tea being rich in antioxidants like catechins and polyphenols.
- Helps with a range of cardiovascular issues: This is due to the various compounds found in tea leaves.
- Aids digestion
- Improves brain health
- Supports the immune system
- Reduces stress and anxiety.
Where can you buy loose-leaf tea?
High Teas of London truly is the place to go for one of the most diverse and largest tea inventories in the UK. You can explore what the world has to offer for quality, flavourful teas. From the teas of Africa all the way to the teas of Japan, you can truly experience a vast array of loose-leaf tea that allows you to explore the world and different cultures through tea! At High Teas, we provide tea enthusiasts with new tea experiences they haven’t tried yet, meaning there is always something new to try! We also welcome new tea drinkers or people who are stuck in a rut and want to venture their tea horizons. Our customers can taste, experiment and fall in love with worldwide loose-leaf teas.
As well as teas of the world, we offer classic teas in loose-leaf form, such as our English breakfast tea. We have a variety of herbal teas and fruit teas too as well as the highly popular loose-leaf green tea!
Contact us for any questions you may have about loose-leaf tea, and we will get right back to you. Whether you’re a tea connoisseur or a complete newbie, we are always happy to help with anything you may need.
