2oz Tea = Too Much
Most days I wake up and think, “Excellent, another day for another cup of tea.” I don’t have many vices, but tea is the one thing I’m willing to spend a pretty penny for without blinking.
That said, though, I’d like to throw some tea math around, because there are times when I’d rather not purchase a 2oz bag of loose leaf tea. Let’s take a look at some numbers here.
According to The Tea Table, you can usually get about 10–15 cups of tea (6 fluid ounces, if you’re using a standard tea cup) from an ounce of loose leaf tea, depending on how strong you like your tea. This means that 2oz of loose leaf should net you around 30 cups of tea, maximum. (Supposedly.)
I’m going to convert ounces into grams because the Metric system is superior and makes sense. 2 ounces = about 57 grams. A teaspoon of loose tea is approximately 3 grams (according to Adagio’s “Goal: Perfect Cup” article). This means that a 2 ounce bag of loose tea = 57 grams / 3 grams = 19 teaspoons. So technically, even Tea Table’s is a little off. We’ll go with 19 (8 fl oz) cups of tea if you only use one teaspoon of loose leaf per cup of tea, without resteeping.
So we’ve got a min of 19 cups of tea and a max of 30 cups of tea, single steep.
This is excellent, because that means you can potentially have a cup of tea every day for a month if you’re going by the Tea Table’s numbers, and at least a cuppa for each weekday if we’re going by math.
But let’s take a step back. If you’re buying high-quality tea, you’re more than likely able to brew some leaves multiple times without losing too much flavor. Even steeping your tea twice with the minimum 19 teaspoons will net you 38 satisfying cups of tea.
On top of that, if you’re already a tea connoisseur, chances are you have a cabinet full of tea at home. If there’s anything I’ve learned the hard way, it’s that a lot of places out there can provide some high-quality teas — and it’s not often that I’ll leave with just one type. I’m also the kind of person that is vocal about my love of tea, so I’ll often get some tea as gifts, too.
This essentially means that the tea cabinet is suddenly full of teas that cannot possibly be enjoyed within the proper time period. Sure, teas can last for a fair amount of time, but if you’re getting the good stuff, it’s best to have that at least within 6 months to a year, depending on what you’ve got. Like cars, good tea will depreciate…in taste…if you let it sit too long.
This is why I like getting 0.5–1 oz of tea leaves. Tea subscriptions like Rosali Tea and Teabook get it. There’s only so much tea a person can enjoy each month. Rosali gives you the option of getting three 1 oz packages of different teas, and you can opt to pause your subscription for a certain amount of months while you finish up what you’ve got. Teabook gives you a month’s worth of single-serving packets of loose leaf tea, which can often be finished in due time if you have one every day. Plus, you’re getting two different varieties in addition to a fancier one.
Most places will give you a tasting, but the real question is, are you able to brew the tea the same way the tea shop does it for you? This is why it is important for me to get a sample of the tea leaves before I make the hefty commitment of purchasing some loose leaf teas. There are so many teas in the world that I’ve yet to try, and I’m not ready to stick to one kind of tea for months on end.
What it all comes down to, of course, is your own personal preference. Have a tea that you’d love to drink every day? Excellent! Purchasing in 2 oz each month will give you lovely cups of tea every day and as fresh as you can get it. Prefer to have a variety of teas? That’s when the potential of smaller packages becomes clear.
No matter what you do, though, just remember to enjoy that cuppa.
