The tea bag was invented in 1908 by accident. A merchant sent samples in small silk pouches and customers, not knowing any better, dunked the whole thing in hot water. It caught on. A century later, it's the default — and tea has never quite recovered.
What's Actually in Most Tea Bags
The majority of commercial tea bags contain CTC tea — Crush, Tear, Curl. It's a mechanical process that breaks whole leaves into tiny uniform pieces designed to brew fast and strong. The speed is the point. The flavour is not.
Fine tea bags often contain what's called "dust" — the smallest particles left after processing. It extracts quickly, tastes bitter if brewed even slightly too long, and has almost none of the nuance of a whole leaf.
What Loose Leaf Actually Does
A whole tea leaf needs room to unfurl in water. As it opens, it releases its compounds slowly and in sequence — first the lighter aromatics, then the body, then the finish. Bag tea skips this entirely. The compressed particles dump everything at once.
The result with loose leaf: more complexity, less bitterness, and a cup that rewards a second steep.
Making the Switch
You don't need a ceremony or specialist equipment. A simple mesh strainer or an infuser works perfectly. Measure about a teaspoon per cup, use water just off the boil (or cooler for green), and brew for the time that suits your taste.
It takes thirty seconds more than a bag. The difference in the cup is not small.