Loose Leaf Tea Is Better Than Tea Bags Because Real Tea Tastes Better Than Microplastics

I can’t read the future, but Keats & Co. tea leaves makes me more optimistic about it. By Caitlin Hofmeister

Reading Tea Leaves: This Cuppa Is Going To Be Delicious! 

Did you know tea is… leaves? And not just leaves, but little sticks and seeds too! In stories where characters read tea leaves to see the future, I always thought it was like looking into the bottom of a beach pail. The tea was like the wisps of sand that missed out on becoming a castle. The dregs. 

And I love tea, but I understand why some people dismiss it as nothing more than “hot, dirty water.” When I look at a tea bag, that’s what I see: a sachet of powder, that’s not unlike dirt. 

But it turns out, tea is not supposed to look or taste like dirt! I started researching loose leaf tea when I learned that a lot of tea bags I thought were compostable actually have plastic in them, either to make the tea bag stronger or in the glue holding the bag together. 

To be fair, several tea companies have committed to keeping plastics out of their tea bags, but you could just skip the bag altogether. 

Loose leaf teas are made of actual whole leaves and while bags are convenient, they’re frequently filled with the leftovers: broken leaves and powdery remnants that tea makers didn’t choose for the loose leaf varieties in the first place. 

So with loose leaf tea, you’re already starting with a higher quality leaf and then brewing the tea outside of a bag allows the tea to expand more and infuse more flavor into the tea. It tastes better. 

When I started brewing loose leaf tea, it kind of broke my brain how much the leaves expand. I use the Keats & Co. strainer and put in as much as a typical tea bag could hold, but when I pour water over it, it expands to much more than a tea bag could ever hold. 

It sounds almost silly, but brewing loose leaf tea makes me feel more in touch with nature. My current favorite tea is Sweet Briar Botanical, and when I brew a cup, I can see the pink peppercorns and the blue cornflower. There are flowers and seeds in there!

I get now why characters in stories would read tea leaves: there’s a whole world at the bottom of that teacup! And it’s actually compostable! 

I can’t read the future, but taking a minute to brew a cup of loose leaf tea and savor the first sips definitely makes me more optimistic about the day ahead. And choosing a tea that’s not only made of flowers and herbs (and definitely no plastics), but also supports tuberculosis treatment, definitely makes me more optimistic about the world in the future.