Suggestions for loose tea newbie?

[50till25]

Hello, I'm new here and I have a question. I have been drinking bagged tea for awhile now, but I am interested in starting up with loose tea. The only thing is that as I am a student, I have both a limited budget and limited space (my apartment kitchen is tinySo I'm looking for recommendations as to the most affordable, counter/cupboard-saving

Comments

[marveen]

I favor a small teapot regardless--you can stick bags in it if you're using teabags, or the wiremesh infusers usually fit most pots.

You can just rinse everything off and let it drain after you're done, too. No soap necessary, although the tannins will build up after a while. (I wash my teapot every couple months with a plastic-net scouring pad to remove buildup, but in between it just gets rinsed.)

One of my favorite loose teas is Monk's Blend--a black tea flavored with pomegranate & vanilla, available at most specialty tea shops around here.

[tabbiewolf]

Loose tea is great because it tends to be more flavorful than commercial bagged tea, and I see you've already tried some of Adagio's teas (all of the loose ones I've had from them have been great).

If you've already got a teapot, you can get a simple metal strainer -- like this one -- or use something like cheesecloth (or even a simple kitchen cloth) and simply brew it loose in the pot and strain it into cups. You could also use paper filters, which allow you to scoop your own loose tea and make the tea as strong (or as mellow) as you prefer. I personally use the paper filters, just because it makes cleaning the teapot easier, but I have done the strainer method before. The filters also let you brew a single cup at a time =)

As for tea suggestions, there's Adagio, which has an awesome selection of sampler packs (great for someone trying loose tea for the first time; I still have a large chunk of the holiday sampler in my kitchen cabinets), and Teavana, which is located in a lot of malls across the country (with plenty of samples

[kameil]

Oh, I LOVE Vanilla Comoro!! :O

[skafunkmelt]

I'd definitely invest in some of Adagio's loose leaf tea. The sampler tins hold at least enough for 10 cups! I have a tiny little tea infuser from Ikea that cost less than $3. It probably isn't the best way to do loose leaf as the leaves probably don't unfurl as much as they should, but it works for me. I'm pretty sure that Adagio sells little bags for putting the loose leaf tea in when you don't have an infuser, so even though you're still using a teabag, the quality of the tea is better.

[rebeccafrog]

My favorite filter is the Swiss Gold filter, but if $14 is currently a little out of your price range (though it will last forever - I've had mine for over ten years), Republic of Tea has a few nice infusers, or you can get a spice ball from most kitchenware stores. It's like a tea ball, but bigger, so the tea has room to swim.

Harney & Sons is one of the few tea producers that actually puts full-leaf tea in bags. I cannot stand rooibos, but if you want to try it, Teavana stores always have a few brewed samples. It sounds like you mostly drink black tea, but you should really try greens and oolongs as well.