This is the season to be jolly! Yeah! Christmas is here once again!

There’s no hope of fluffy white snow falling on our shores, as the only thing we have falling on our heads is just rain and more rain in *hic* sunny Singapore! However, a little of wet weather is never going to dampen our christmas spirit isn’t it? We’re still going to throng down Orchard road for the very last minute xmas shopping for gift exchange, as well as meet up with friends and family for the yearly get togethers to indulge in the jolly festivities!

Here’s wishing everyone an early Merry Christmas from the team at Essential Brew! =)

P.S. By the way, we’re on facebook too! Come join our cosy group!

More likely than not, a layman’s idea of brewing good tea would be to dump a teabag into a cup and then pour hot water on to it, and voila, a few mins of immersing the teabag later, you would have of cup of hot tea! However, if you consider the fact that what is usually contained in a typical teabag are actually tea fannings(the tiniest pieces of broken leaves usually of the lower grades), you are really losing out on the enjoyment of savouring quality teas that can only be brewed from loose leave tea!

Granted, I’m not saying that all teabag teas are made from poor quality teas as some excellent teas can also be found in teabag form, but nevertheless, there are other mitigating factors that makes tea brewed from loose tea leaves superior.

One factor I can think of is that the brewing of good tea require space for the tea leaves to expand. If you have ever brewed Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea before, you would have witnessed the tiny rolled balls of tea unfurling in the hot water, which allow all surfaces of the tea leaves to steep and release its essential chemicals and oils, the basis for the enchanting flavour of tea. However, in the constricted space of of a tea bag, the process of expanding of the tea leaves is largely restricted, hindering the release of its full flavours!

Other than missing out flavour-wise, brewing tea from teabags also means that you miss out on the experience of watching poetry in motion as the tea leaves unravels in a beautiful dance. There are many kinds of quality chinese tea that are rolled into various forms(some are even handcrafted and tied up into various interesting shapes), and viewing how the different tea leaves unfurls can heighten the experience of enjoying quality tea as much drinking the tea itself!

Also, in a typical tea bag, although quality tea might be used, it would usually contain broken up pieces of tea leaves rather than whole tea leaves due to the size of the teabag. This increases the likely hood that the tea leaves might be stale as there is greater surface for the essential oils found in the tea leaves to evaporate leaving the tea lacking in taste and nutrition when it is brewed.

With the above factors in mind, next time you think of relaxing over a cup of good tea, try brewing from quality loose leave tea rather than settling for just a tea bag. Check out our premium loose leaf teas once, and I’m sure you’ll never go back to your usual teabag teas ever again! =)