How do you make loose leaf tea?

05/12/25 5:19pm

This post was sourced from submitted reader questions and posted by wikiHow Editorial Staff, based on our article: How to Brew Loose Leaf Tea .

Expert Comments

Nicole Wilson
Tea Expert

05/12/25 5:21pm

To make loose leaf tea, start with fresh water that is filtered, ideally. Make sure that you have a way to control the temperature of your water, since different teas need different temperatures to get the best taste out of them.

When you brew loose leaf tea, make sure you can effectively remove the leaves from the water. If the leaves are left in the water too long, they'll over-extract and make the taste more bitter. I recommend using an infuser basket, which is kind of like a strainer. They come in a lot of different forms, but they’re often made out of stainless steel or a mesh to allow you to catch the tea leaves without having lots of pieces of your cup.

The main advantage with loose leaf tea is that you have the ultimate control over how your tea tastes. With tea bags, they're pre-measured. You're not necessarily in control of how much tea you're using. Adjusting the amount of tea that you use helps you make your tea either stronger or milder. Also, loose-leaf tea tends to be higher quality than a lot of tea bags.

View hidden comment

Reply to Post