The Ultimate Cold Brew Showdown
Loose Leaf vs Tea Bags
The great debate! Can you cold brew tea bags, or do you have to use loose leaf tea? Let's settle it once and for all.
Can You Cold Brew Tea Bags?
Yes, absolutely. Tea bags cold brew just fine. The process is identical: drop a few tea bags into a pitcher of cold water and place it in the fridge overnight.
Because tea bags usually contain broken tea leaves ("dust" and "fannings"), the surface area is much larger, meaning they actually extract faster than loose leaf tea. You'll likely have a full-strength cold brew in 8 hours instead of 12.
Why Loose Leaf is Ultimately Better
While tea bags are convenient, the primary reason you are cold brewing is for a phenomenally smooth, complex flavour. The "dust" inside most mass-produced tea bags is the byproduct of tea production. It's flat, often stale, and lacks nuance.
Loose leaf tea contains the whole tea leaf. When cold-brewed, these whole leaves slowly unfurl, releasing complex aromatic oils, subtle floral notes, and a deeply naturally sweet profile. A cold brew made with high-quality loose leaf tea is a gourmet beverage; a cold brew made with a generic tea bag is just a slightly better version of standard iced tea.
Make the switch to loose leaf
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