Best Loose Leaf Teas Available In The UK!

Explore The World Of Loose Leaf Teas

Whilst teas are becoming more well-known, such as White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Black Tea, Red Tea etc., people often ask, "I'm new to loose-leaf tea. What's the best tea I should try?" or "what's the best green tea?". To answer these questions, we often need more context around the tea drinker's experience to date and their taste preferences. And whether they prefer to try loose-leaf tea to leaf tea bags. However, we can make a few suggestions to help you find the best loose tea.

What Is The Best Loose-Leaf Tea To Drink?

This question might seem very bold to answer, but in the context of trying loose-leaf tea for the first time, we will endeavour to give some guidance. The first point is that the different tea types, such as Green Tea, Black Tea, do not refer to various tea bushes. The difference between White, Green, Oolong and Black Tea is how the leaves are processed. Tea leaves plucked from a tea bush could be made into White Tea or Black Tea. The manual process of manufacturing tea leaves changes their tea type, chemical structure, and appearance. The second point is that once tea leaves are plucked and processed, they are graded depending on their size and quality. Tea merchants will buy different types and grades of tea leaves determined by their ultimate use. For example, most classic black tea bags from supermarket stores contain tea leaves often referred to as CTC grades or Fannings, Fine or Dust. These leaves are from the finest siftings used to create blends for tea bags requiring a quick brew. Of course, supermarket tea bags are fine; you still drink tea, but they are designed for speed and yield little flavour. The tea will become more astringent or 'stew' quickly.
Another factor to consider is where the tea has been grown and at what altitude. Mass-produced tea is most often grown at low altitudes, so the plucking and manufacturing of tea leaves can be done mechanically. Tea bushes planted at high altitudes grow much more slowly and, as a result, produce tea leaves with much more flavour.

Where To Start?

When considering the best tea to drink, we suggest trying higher-graded and high-grown teas. Suppose your tea experience has only ever been supermarket black teas. In that case, we recommend starting with one of our Breakfast Tea blends. Each Breakfast blend combines leaves from various tea-growing regions picked at peak season to give the best flavour. As the grade of these leaves is much higher, so is their size. When brewing larger-leaf tea, the leaves need longer to infuse and release their flavour. So to get the best tea experience, you need to leave the leaves in water for longer. How long you let your tea brew is a preference for many, but a tea preparation guide is shown for each tea on the product page.

If you're looking for a tea gift that's perfect for beginners, we have a range of Discovery Tea Boxes available in both loose leaf and pyramid tea bags.

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