A surprising 96% of all tea drinkers in the UK use teabags. We want to change that!
Here are our top five reasons we think people should ditch the bags for good:

1. Loose leaf tea can be just as easy as using teabags.... but with less waste!
Lots of tea lovers use in-cup strainers. These are suitable for all teas. Just place in your cup, pour over the water and remove when ready.  Simple!
You can use the leaves again for another brew or even more.  Loose leaf tea is immediately biodegradable unlike many branded teabags which are not!

2.  Re-Steeping - Loose tea can be used multiple times after the first brew
Teabags are designed for single use but loose tea can be used again and again. In fact, you may prefer the subtleties of colour, smell and taste of later infusions. 

*This does vary depending on the type of tea.  We have found a really useful guide by Michael Chamberlain of Teahow which explains, when and how to re-use leaf tea of all varieties.

3. Teabags leak billions of plastic particles into our drinks
A recent study by McGill University proved that many commercial teabags release billions of nano and micro-particles into tea.  Whilst more research is needed to determine the long-term health effects of this, we can assume it isn't very good for you!

4. Loose leaf tea tastes better, because it is better
Some commercial teabags use the lowest grades of tea known as 'dust and fannings'.  They are also designed to offer customers the same taste and colour all year round. With loose leaf tea you can appreciate much higher quality grades such as the Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe Assams and Darjeelings along with seasonal and regional differences.

Check out our full guide to tea grading for further details.

5. Variety and versatility
Supermarkets stock a decent selection of teabags, but they are still limited compared with the depth and assortment of loose leafs sold by specialists. Plus leaf tea is incredibly versatile!.  For instance, you can create wonderful tea infused cocktails, use in baking, sauces, as a bath soak or even fertilizer in the garden! 

This list could go on and on.  We didn't even mention freshness, ethical or environmental issues which are also important considerations.

We love loose tea and want to convince more people to give it a go!