Loose leaf tea is great. Not only does it tend to brew a better beverage than most of the prepackaged stuff, it tends to be less expensive too.
I buy most of my tea in Boston's China Town. There the best bang for your buck is Gunpower (tons of pun intended). This green tea is darker than most and packs a flavor punch that black coffee purists, like myself, will appreciate. Best of all, 250 grams (8.82 ounces) cost me $0.99.
Brewing loose leaf a cup at a time is easy with the help of a tea ball or other similar tool. When it comes to iced tea, however, the point is to make it in bulk. Since I only own one tea ball, I had to get creative.
This summer I experimented making loose leaf sun tea freeform. In other words, I tossed in a handful of leaves, filled the pitcher with water and tossed it on the deck to brew. After a day in the sun, I then used my wire strainer to remove as much of the leaves as possible. The process was messy at best, not to mention that even with a dishwasher cleaning the tools was more than a pain.
I should mention here that you can purchase empty tea bags and make your own. Paying more for my super cheap tea though is not my favorite option.
So the other day, after I failed to fashion a massive tea bag from a coffee filter, it dawned on me. Why not use the leaves as you would coffee grinds? Imagine how easy, and fast, it would be to fill up the auto drip, plop in a filter and some tea leave and mash the on button! Now I must admit that I was skeptic that this method would result in a descent brew... but boy was I wrong.
The quality of the coffee pot method is contingent on a couple factors. First of all, make sure the machine is clean. The gunpowder tea is strong enough to mask any coffee taste that may have made it through, but I would definitely run some white vinegar and a lot of water through before brewing my more subtle Syrian flower tea.
In the end, I had plenty of tea to pour into mason jars and stick in the fridge, and a little left for a hot cup of *BANG*. All in all an incredibly successful experiment. Go ahead. Do try this at home.
