Let’s get one thing out of the way first. I’m not a tea snob. I do know that tea tastes better when it is brewed from fresh loose leaves. I realize that to get the best taste, the leaves need room to unfurl as the steep. And I know that tea bags are often filled with stale, low quality leaf dust that bears little of the nuance and deep flavor of the whole leaf. BUT I am also a fan of keeping things simple.
Really, I can’t be bothered to get out the weighing scale every time I want to make a cup of tea. I can’t be bothered to add water to the precise temperature to the leaves (green tea does best steeped in water at below boiling point don’t you know). And I certainly am not going to faff about “awakening the leaves” before each brew. No, I just want to add water to leaves and enjoy some nice tea.
Enter the tea stick.
It’s the best of both worlds. Tea making becomes simple again and not at the expense of any flavor.
I just love it. Mine is made from stainless steep. It’s basically a large covered draw. All you do is scoop up some loose leaf tea, draw this into the hollow infuser riddled with holes to allow the how water in, and place this in a cup of hot water. Once it’s brewed to your taste take out the tea stick and enjoy your tea.
The tea stick works great with all types of tea; green, white, black and oolong. By the way if you live in Australia you should check out my favorite white teas available here.
It’s also very easy to get the used tea out of the stick and place it in the trash (or in your compost bin as I do). Then a quick rinse and you’re all set to go. Some tea sticks make this process a little fiddly, so be careful to choose a good design. I also prefer models that are completely made from stainless steel over those that have plastic parts.
Oh and mine looks great too!