Loose tea

Si_Clist

After being off the stuff for years, The Lady Wife announced last week that she fancied a cup of "proper" tea again, so I dutifully returned home from the shops with a box of PG Tips Loose Tea. Which to our surprise is sort of crumbs, or granules, as opposed to tea leaves.

Is it supposed to be like that, and if it is, what's that about? What happened to proper loose tea?

[Deleted User]

No it is not supposed to be like that. Decent quality tea will be bigger. Most of the loose tea bought from the supermarkets is not very nice. We buy ours from a specialist tea shop, or a local deli.

Si_Clist

Ah. But is loose tea still supposed to be like it always was i.e obviously bits of the leaves off tea bushes?

Farway

Si_Clist wrote: »

Ah. But is loose tea still supposed to be like it always was i.e obviously bits of the leaves off tea bushes?

Yes, unfortunately bog standard loose tea these days is what we used to refer to as floor sweepings

I use Waitrose Assam, but it is more costly than floor sweepings, like twice the price and upwards

I only have one pot a day, so for a relaxing nice cuppa I suggest look in Waitrose or a specialist

[Deleted User]

I buy from this company:


https://www.hebdentea.com/


Really nice tea and they can deliver by post too

bouicca21

That sort of dust is cheapo tea, I think technically known as fannings. I've noted that even Twinings seems to have more fannings than it used to have. Since I'm fussy about my tea I now buy from a specialist shop.

Si_Clist

Farway wrote: »

Yes, unfortunately bog standard loose tea these days is what we used to refer to as floor sweepings

I use Waitrose Assam, but it is more costly than floor sweepings, like twice the price and upwards

The Lady Wife's not particularly fussed about what manner of tea she drinks as long as it's proper black tea, and she prefers it weak, so given that a little will go a long way, should I just push the boat out and get some of that? Is "Assam" what might at one time have been considered yer ordinary tea?

bouicca21

Assam is strong. If weaker tea is preferred, try Ceylon. Lighter still is Darjeeling.

I suspect the nearest equivalent to what you think of as 'ordinary' tea is English Breakfast, which is a mix of Assam and Ceylon.

Si_Clist

Thanks for that bouicca21, it's very useful to know. I got some of Waitrose's Assam this morning and The Lady Wife reckons it's a lot more like

I did notice that when I made her a brew with PG bloomin' Tips, what I chucked out looked exactly like coffee grounds, whereas this Assam stuff actually looks like drowned tea leaves. It even smells like tea too, which t'other crap stuff didn't

LadyDee

I buy Yorkshire Tea loose tea - available from most of the supermarkets. They also do a hard water version.

C_J

I buy from here (they do mail order) : https://cardewoxford.co.uk/pages/teas