How to Make Loose Leaf Tea

Let’s learn how to make loose-leaf tea and why it’s an easy skill you should learn. 

Loose-leaf tea is just as it sounds – dried, loose leaves of the tea plant or herbs (in the case of herbal teas and floral teas). 

If you haven’t had loose-leaf tea before, you’ll love the deep, rich flavors it has. If you’ve had tea bags, loose-leaf tea is more fresh and fragrant than tea bags.

Loose-leaf tea is wonderful to experiment with and make your own flavors. It’s easier to brew a stronger or less strong cup to your liking than with tea bags.

Loose tea is the best kind to purchase and will get you a perfect cup of tea when you know how to prepare it. 

Jump to:

• Loose Leaf Tea vs Tea Bags
• What You’ll Need to Make Loose Leaf Tea
• 1. A tea infuser, also known as a tea strainer
• 2. A good tea kettle
• 3. Use Fresh Water
• 4. A Coffee or Teacup
• How to Make Loose Leaf Tea: Step-by-Step Guide
• How Much Loose Leaf Tea Per Cup?
• How to Drink Loose Leaf Tea
• Common ways to enjoy tea
• How to select loose-leaf tea 

Loose Leaf Tea vs Tea Bags

Tea bags are simple because you add them to a hot cup of water and let it steep. Loose-leaf tea is thought of as more complicated because you have to measure the dried tea leaves and add it to something to brew it before adding it to water. This added step gets a bad rap, but it’s quite simple.

Loose-leaf tea, or whole-leaf tea is usually hand-picked and sold within a year to remain fresh and provides a higher quality of the tea than bags. Bagged tea may be on the shelf for a few years although the shelf life varies.

Loose tea is generally a higher grade than the tea in bags and results in a stronger flavor profile for a delicious cup of tea.

What You’ll Need to Make Loose Leaf Tea

Here are a few things you need to make a great cup of tea from loose-leaf tea. 

1. A tea infuser, also known as a tea strainer

Here are some types of tea infusers.

• Tea ball – A tea ball is perhaps the most common infuser. It’s a stainless steel ball with holes and hangs from a little chain to infuse the tea into the warm water. You can usually find fun and cute designs.
• Reusable tea bags – If you love tea bags, investing in a few reusable tea bags might be a good idea. You can fill the canvas bags with your favorite loose-leaf tea, close them, and brew as if it were a tea bag.
• Mug with strainer/infuser attachment – You can buy a mug that has a simple infuser built right in. These are nice for storage and are an easy way to brew loose-leaf tea in one contraption. It can also be fun to watch the tea bloom in the tea mug, if you get a glass one.
• French press – A French press is usually associated with coffee, but you can make a great cup of tea using a French press.

2. A good tea kettle

A tea kettle is a great way to heat the water for your tea and there are many fun tea kettles. An electric kettle makes heating water extra easy, but there are various traditional tea kettles that heat on the stove, including a glass teapot, ceramic, or stainless steel one. 

Just make sure the teapot you get can be heated on your stove as some are only for electric stoves.   

3. Use Fresh Water

You’ll want to use filtered cold water for your tea. Tap water can contain minerals and chlorine, which will alter the tea flavor. Good filtered water is essential for the best cup of tea, whether using tea bags or loose tea.

4. A Coffee or Teacup

Grab your favorite cup to add your brewed tea into. Tea is more enjoyable drinking from a teacup or mug you love. 

How to Make Loose Leaf Tea: Step-by-Step Guide

These instructions will work no matter which type of tea you’re brewing.

First, heat your filtered water. Ideal temperatures will be between 210 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit for herbal teas and black teas and 180 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit for green teas and oolong tea. 

While your water is heating, add your loose-leaf tea into the infuser and add the infuser to your mug. 

Next, pour your hot water over your infuser and let your tea steep. As a general rule, you can steep your tea for 1-5 minutes. The total steeping time will depend on your personal preference for strength and the instructions that came with your tea. 

For a stronger brew, you’ll steep a bit longer. 

Some herbal teas may require more than 5 minutes of steeping time. 

How Much Loose Leaf Tea Per Cup?

Generally, when you buy loose-leaf tea there will be instructions on the bag for how much tea to use per cup. I suggest following those amounts. 

But a good rule of thumb is to use 1 teaspoon of tea for 8 oz of water (one cup) and 1 large tablespoon for a pot of tea.

How to Drink Loose Leaf Tea

If you’re familiar with drinking tea at all, you’ll know how you like it. You drink loose-leaf tea the same way you drink tea from tea bags. 

You’ll discard the tea leaves once your tea has the strength of your preference. Then drink it as-is or add in your favorite cream and sweetener. 

Common ways to enjoy tea

I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t suggest enjoying your tea with a delicious scone. It’s the best way to enjoy your tea. A cream scone is delicious with just about any tea flavor. 

And I would suggest trying a fruit-flavored scone, like these lemon poppy scones or these blueberry scones with a tea latte.

If you prefer to add something to your tea when drinking, here are some ideas. 

• Make a tea latte – The chai tea latte and a matcha latte are very common because they’re delicious. With a little sweetener and milk, a tea latte can be a lovely morning drink, iced or hot.
• Add a little sweetener – Honey is wonderful in tea, but regular sugar is also great.
• Add milk or cream – If you like your tea to be a bit creamy you can add cream or milk. It’s not as common with herbal tea, though. Some herbal teas like turmeric tea are very good with milk. The stronger the tea, the better it is with a little cream or milk.

How to select loose-leaf tea 

If you have a tea store nearby, I highly recommend visiting. You can take in all the wonderful smells of various teas and pick your favorite. A good quality tea is very important. 

Select tea with the following qualities:

• Select tea that smells strong and pleasant. If the tea smells good, the odds are that it will taste good.  
• If you’re buying online from somewhere you haven’t tried, or have a recommendation for, I suggest getting a sample before buying a large amount of tea. 
• Larger tea leaves, or whole leaves, are generally of higher quality, but you can often find high-quality broken tea as well. 

It’s also important to properly store loose-leaf tea. Be sure to store in an airtight tea storage container, away from direct sunlight and other strong-smelling foods, like onions. 

When trying loose-leaf tea, get creative mixing flavors. For example, a good black tea is delicious with a vanilla herbal blend or a fruity herbal blend. Play with different flavors to make your own personalized tea blend.

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