Buying loose leaf tea is a very enjoyable experience. It would take many lifetimes to try them all, so enjoy each tea to its fullest! First of all, you have to decide what type of loose leaf tea you prefer. Today there are alternatives to traditional tea, including Herbal Tea and Fruit Tisanes. What's your flavor?

The tea plant leaves are used for making green tea, white tea and black tea, oolong tea and puerh tea, depending on how it is processed. Each of these varieties has specific characteristics – taste, color, and flavor. We recommend you try a wide variety of loose leaf teas before deciding which one suits your taste.

In the case of expensive loose leaf teas, such as aged Pu-erh or full leaves of Nilgiri and Darjeeling tea, there is a high risk of buying counterfeit products. It is very important to rely on a retailer that sells only genuine products. This way you can enjoy the true taste and flavor of a high quality genuine tea. There are a lot of fakes on the market, so beware.

Smell the tea

If you are in a tea shop and have an opportunity to smell the tea, then get a good smell. Most teas will taste similar to their aroma. Your nose can also detect fresh tea from old tea with a little training.Try teas that smell good, that's a good rule to start with.

Look closely at the leaves

If your buying your tea online, then spend some time looking closely at the product photos, the more details you can see in the leaf, the better. Look for color and texture. Pick up some samples if they are offered. Higher quality tea leaves are full leaf and in more demand. However, broken leaf teas have a fuller body in most cases. So once again, what's your flavor?

Pay attention to descriptions

Most tea business owners do not have the time to write a novel on each tea they list online, so pay attention to what they do say. Important clues on the astringency, body and aroma will give you a pretty good start. But a description may not compare to your taste experience at all. Get some samples of the teas you are interested in, its well worth it.

Tea accessories

Besides buying the tea, you should also focus on the teaware that you use for making or serving the tea. Certain tea varieties are recommended in specific tea cups or teapots, as the shape and material they are made of influences the taste and your style as well.