I love tea, particularly loose teas. For years I was a coffee-only girl, but my mother slowly got me hooked on tea after it became apparent that I had a serious coffee addiction and the amount of caffeine I consumed in a day wasn’t doing my health any favors! I now drink about 2 to 5 cups of various teas throughout the day, especially as the weather starts to get a little colder. I look forward to starting my day with a cup of PG Tips tea (just my “everyday” tea–but I have quite a few other favorites with Earl Grey probably at the top!)–it’s definitely become a calming morning ritual!
For quite some time I’ve been using disposable tea bags to brew the loose tea in. But not only was it starting to get a bit expensive, but I felt it was slightly wasteful. I’ve used other things like tea-balls and such for brewing single cups, but always detect a slight metallic taste from the metal ones. (Yuck!) So rather than continue to (literally) throw money away and also add to our garbage, I decided to make some reusable tea bags! I found instructions here and here (I like the idea in the second tutorial on adding a bead to the strings for weight!) and found they are super simple and were a snap to put together.
Gathering up the supplies from around my sewing room.
I gathered up some loosely woven unbleached muslin, cotton string, thread and a few random beads (per the second tutorial’s suggestion–a good one I found!). I cut out quite a few bags, but ended up playing with the construction of them, so I ended up only with about a dozen. One thing I tried was serging the edges, but I didn’t like that it was actually taking longer to serge these tiny little bags than just to do it on my sewing machine! Oh well–not everything can look as pretty on the inside. I made these “production style”, which meant it cut down on the time spent fiddling. I also finally found my teenage obsession with quilting (not that I really ever made one!) coming in handy–I remembered watching quilt shows that demonstrated the idea of chain piecing fabric blocks together, and that really helped me blaze through these!
“Production line pressing”–rather than pinning each channel as the tutorial instructed.
Applying my tiny bit of quilting know-how to sewing a large quantity of these bags.
The stack grows…
A note on washing and such: I pre-washed my muslin and then washed all the little bags by hand again after construction (before I used them to brew tea). I figure going forward I will just have a little spot to let the contents dry a bit, toss that, and then wash the lot of used bags once a week (which is partly why I made so many!). Does anyone else use reusable tea bags and have tips?
Finally: what is your favorite tea? I’m always on the lookout for some new blends to try!
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Firstly, I love your new blog layout! These washable tea bags are such a great idea. I tend to avoid loose tea as it seems like such a nightmare to brew just one cup, but you present a very feasible option. My favourite tea is Clipper White Tea with Vanilla. I could drink 10 cups of it a day; it’s so soothing. I worry about staining my teeth though, so tend to drink just one or two cups a day.
What a great idea. I never used reusable tea bags before but am thinking about trying it now! I drink a lot of tea. One of my favourite blends is lady grey I think. Yumm.
Mint Julep!! It’s very soothing and very delicious!
That’s really a great idea, and I have a friend who’ll love getting something like this for Christmas! One of my favourite teas is Twinings Organic. It’s slightly like PG, but less bitter. I also like Kusmi’s Prince Vladimir, but one of my all-time classics are peppermint tea!
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Reusable tea bags? I have never heard of them before, but it does seem like a neat idea. I usually use shop~bought tea bags or a metal tea ball. Mind you, I have never noticed a metalic tang, so they work just fine for me.
I love the green tea based blends ~ Japanese Cherry Blossom tea is delightful! A good basic is Jasmine Green Tea as well. So yummy. ^__^
xox,
bonita of Depict This!
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This is really a great idea! All my favorite teas come loose, I’m not very fond of disposable tea bags. I normally use a little tea house infuser (like these: http://store.dereuzegourmetmarket.com/5514.html), but the reusable tea bags would be great when having visits, or even as a gift as suggested on the other sites. I’m loving it! And thinking about playing with the bag shape… What about little t-shirt shaped tea bags? Maybe the weight on the string could be a metal piece with the shape of a coat hanger…? Haha! You just triggered my imagination…
Oh, and my favorite tea is Mariage Frères’ Marco Polo Rouge!
Sorry, the link got wrong… It shoul be these image: http://www.amazon.com/Tea-Infuser-House-Drip-Tray/dp/B000NL0Z1U
what a fabulous idea!!!
OH! This is the most lovely of projects!! Thank You bunches for sharing, Casey! : )
I love this project! I am currently enjoying Tulsa Tea, also called Holy Basil Tea. It is very popular in India and has many, many healthful properties. I also enjoy the taste very much.
Well, look at what you did!! How interesting! I think I will have to put this project on my list of things to do. I say this after I’ve just received a shipment of 1000 disposable tea bags.
I must say, Harney & Sons carries some of the best teas I’ve tasted. I think my all-time favorite is Elyse’s Blend.
Oh, and just think, you can find some cute, little dishes/saucers to keep those “used” tea bags in until wash time! What a chance for a nice decorative touch.
Mom
I love, tea, too! I use a lot of loose tea, but with a basket infuser so there’s no metallic taste.
My favorite is the Earl Grey Crème from Upton Tea Imports.
http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=TE01&begin=0&parent=Teas%3EMiscellaneous%3EFlavored&category=Earl+Grey&sortMethod=0&categoryID=43
I’m sure you have your own favorite go-to tea companies, but just in case you haven’t heard of them, here is one of my favorite companies. And they aren’t just for tea. I was able to buy ingredients to make my own lotions and lip balm.
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com
I generally use tea balls, although we have a couple of decorative strainers for when I’m just making a single cup. I drink loose leaf tea almost exclusively anymore. I have a good friend who owns a tea shop called Through the Looking Glass, and she carries only loose leaf teas. I buy almost everything from her. She has all kinds of lovely things. Some of my favorites are Moon Over Madagascar (black tea with Madagascar Vanilla beans), Lazy Afternoon (black tea with a sort of peachy flavor to it. I don’t remember what all the blend contains exactly), and almost all of her fruit/herb teas. She ships too! I really like these reusable tea bags though. They’d be great for taking to work.
http://www.shelbyvillelookingglass.com/
I am with you on the tea balls, I always thought they gave loose tea an odd taste. I actually use a compostable paper tea bag (from T-Sac, they really do break down — with the tea still in them! — just fine in the compost). But these are so lovely! I may have to trade up!
Trader Joe’s English Breakfast Tea. Although, it comes in disposable bags, which defeats the purpose of this post, but if you ever need to switch back for some reason (traveling, maybe?) I highly recommend it! It comes in a box of 48 bags for around $3.
My favorite tea is a signature blend from the local tea house: lavender and honey bee pollen. It smells heavenly and is a dream to drink! Love your tea bags! I have to try this myself : ) Thanks for sharing!
Those are so cute! Hehe… I use the metal tea balls currently… i didn’t notice a metallic taste but I love my tea super light so I don’t keep it in the hot water for very long. I love white tea… pretty much any. My absolute favorite is Rishi Peach Blossom.
I love this idea! This is wonderful, I definitely want to try this! I think your idea of letting the contents dry, dumping it, and then washing the bags once a week sounds like a fine plan. The only thing I can think of is leftover tea discoloring other things in the wash? I bet if your rinsed the bags quickly right before they went in the washing machine it would be a non-issue.
I keep coming back to the basic black teas – there is something so comforting about them!
Great idea, and as always, great images for the mini-tutorial! You’re such a clever girl!
I’ve been away from the net for a while – just noticed your new “look” here. It’s lovely!
Those are adorable! And a great idea for Christmas gifts.
My favourite loose tea is Cream Earl Grey. It takes like there’s milk already in it, soooo good.
I love you Casey! This is such a wonderful idea, and I love that it’s so sustainable and not wasteful! Plus, you make it look so elegant.
I’m always reading your blog! Keep it up girl!
I have to say, your pictures are always so beautiful. You have a really wonderful eye for color, composition, and how to make EVERYTHING look beautiful.
It’s a great idea to make reusable tea bags. I use a tea basket strainer, and I just picked up this fancy toy from Teavana. It’s so cool!
http://www.teavana.com/Tea-Products/Tea-Makers-Infusers/Teavana-Perfect-Tea-Maker-32oz.axd
I bought their Earl Gray Creme and it’s my favorite of that type to date but it’s SO expensive.
My favorite Earl Gray so far is from Fortnum and Mason.
My absolute favorite everyday tea is the Bond Street English Breakfast from Upton Tea. I love Upton, and love ordering different samples to try
http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?UTid=3910-11-6637967&afterCart=/shopcart/item.asp&itemID=TB10
What a great idea! I never thought of making reusable bags.
I like coffee and “real” tea (that is, black, white, or green tea, but not herbal). Caffeine doesn’t affect me that much–it won’t keep me awake–but I try to stick to decaffeinated because I think it’s probably better for me over the long run, even if I don’t feel the difference. No sugar in hot tea; a spoonful in coffee. No milk in either, usually, although sometimes I’ll put a little in coffee, especially if there isn’t any sugar or the coffee is very strong.
We make two-quart batches of iced tea using two family-sized teabags of regular tea, and one or two (I use two) single-serving bags of Earl Grey. The bergamot makes the tea taste colder and more refreshing but isn’t as strong as a cup of straight Earl Grey served hot, for those who don’t like it. (I’m a confirmed Earl Grey junkie but my mother hates it, although she loves a hint of it in her iced tea.)
Those are so sweet looking! It really must be relaxing to use hand made items like that every day in place of disposable trash. My fav tea is Yerba Mate from teh Republic of Tea. You will defintiely love it if you used to be a coffee drinker!
http://www.republicoftea.com/category.aspx?c=54
I love love love this idea! I am always on the lookout to reduce waste and this is such a great idea. I also have one of those acorn-like vintage tea balls, but it’s so awkward to use…and gets really hot (has no chain-pull or handle), so fishing it out is a pain.
I really want to make and use some of these, but my current favorite tea only comes in bags (if anyone knows where to get it loose, let me know!) It is Tazo Awake tea. I have an awful coffee habit, and this is, sadly, what I brew up to “wind down” at night. LOL
Wow, what a genius idea! With the pearls, too! Very cute and vintage looking – and what a lovely cup.
I also drink lots of tea, all kinds depending on my mood, although I liked flavored ones less (so Earl Grey isn’t my… um… cup of tea). I like PG Tips in the morning and I adore Chai Tea (with or without black tea) in Winter. I’m also a fan of herbal/fruit mixtures. I usually steep my loose tea in a plastic tea sieve that came with the double-walled Bodum tea glass.
Those are adorable! I could cheerfully drink that much tea except that I end up dehydrated and get terrible headaches so I try to keep it to one or two cups a day
. I’m fairly lowbrow with my teas, however, so the ones I buy all come in disposable bags. That would be a fun Christmas gift to go with some nice tea, though!
I’ve always loved Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea. With Anna’s Gingersnaps and chilled pears in syrup, it’s an amazing everyday treat!
I really love the whole ritual of making a humble cuppa, relaxing in itself.
We have a great tea shop here in Australia called T2 which has hundreds of different teas and tisanes, they have a website http://www.t2tea.com. My faves are Choc Chip Chai, Creme Brulee and Earl Grey and in summer their Strawberries and Cream is delish as an iced tea
I love Lapsang Souchong. It is wonderfully smoky.
What a great idea. I should try that. i’ve always avoided loose tea bags. Being a southern girl I’ve always loved iced tea (not real sweet though). In that past few years I’ve developed an ummm, addiction to hot tea:) Earl Gray is my favorite. But I also love English Breakfast tea, chai, a vanilla flavored chai, orange spice. I like green teas too.
I love mornings when I don’t have to go anywhere and just have time to sit here with a cup of hot tea.
I like PG Tips too. My aunt sends us Typhoo from England which is a lot like Pg Tips. I
drink coffee sometimes too, so I tend to like my tea on the stronger side. These British teas
fit the bill! I also like a good Chai, and at the holidays I buy multiple boxes of Tazo Joy tea!
holy moly that is genius!!! my husband also loves Earl Grey! haha, my niece, parents and I are more into fruit flavored teas, or something like cinnamon tea. Those sound super easy to make! My dad just got my niece a cute little tea set, so this would be the perfect birthday gift for her….a great surprise for her to get in the mail. thanks for the great idea
I love this idea and it comes just when I was trying to figure out what to give my mom for her birthday! Perfect, thank you
I did use tea bags made out of silk organza for a while. 1 yard goes a long way, pinked the edges, tied with string. But it I tired of it, no time.
Oh, I will definitely have to make a bunch of these. I too drink tea every day, and I don’t like the waste of disposable tea bags, but I don’t like the metal strainers either( I find they seep bits of tea into the boiling water, and they end up being this mushy stuff at the bottom of my tea cup…ewww). As far as my favorite tea goes, I used to work at a tea room (The English Tea Room: http://www.englishtearoom.com. If anyone lives in Louisiana go check it out!) so my list of teas is way too long to put everything here, but I have to say Earl Grey Cream, Rooibus Provence, and Royal Bengal Tiger teas were my favorite. I also like alot of herbal infusions as well, like Calendula, Chamomile (really good before you go to bed!), Rose Petals, and Tibetan Wild Lavender.
Don’t know what I’d do without my cup of tea!
“If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you.” ~Gladstone, 1865
Yes, I use reusable tea bags! But I also don’t mind tea balls, which I use when I make whole pots.
I like Harney & Sons’ “Tower of London” blend as well as their “Bangkok” (they maybe renamed that one now — green with the thai flavour? maybe?) quite well. I also like white tea with lavender, chamomile tisane, and mint tisane.
Casey, I like puer-hi tea, a Rishi product. It’s not cheap, but it’s supposed to break down fats after a high-fat meal. You must put it in a tea bag or a tea strainer. You can re-use each tablet several times.
I may be stealing this for Christmas!!
My favorite tea…Harney & Sons: Paris.
Wonderful photos – very evocative. I think I’ll send my mom a link as a holiday hint — she’s the sewer, I’m the knitter.
I’ve loved tea forever and got hooked on loose tea in high school with a set of those adorable small Twinings tins. I drink more green tea than black and love Japanese teas. Genmaicha, Hojika, Kukicha, Sencha and even the bitter Matcha. However, as it gets cooler I like teas with a stronger flavor and/or spices like a chai. I’m sensitive to caffeine so I stick with herbal tea after lunch. I enjoy mixes but also find single ingredients to be lovely — lemongrass, peppermint, even dried fruit makes a nice tisane. I use biodegradable tea envelopes at work and usually my ceramic strainer that came with my teapot at home. However, I’ve yet to find a replacement for my favorite ice tea – the only-available-in-individual-bags Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger.
Hehe, that’s a great idea. =] My favourite tea is Twining’s English Breakfast. Haha. That’s a bit dull but it’s true!
-Andi x
It’s the other way round for me. I was a big tea drinker in Scotland, then got turned to coffee when I lived in Wellington, New Zealand. I am now on the turn back to tea, my favorite treat tea is White Flowery Pekoe tea and my every day tea is rooibos.
I love the bag idea, usually I just use a little tea pot for one and put the leaves in loose. When I pour the tea I use a tea strainer. I am going to have a cup now!
Ooh how lovely! I’m also trying to limit my coffee intake and drink more tea instead – Earl Grey is my current obsession. When I’m trying to be good and caffeine free, my favourite is a cardamon, cinnamon and ginger blend from Pukka teas – it’s warming, calming and reviving at the same time, bliss!
OMG i love them… Its so funny, i didn’t know till the very last picture how teeny thet actually were… !! CUTENESS!
ps, love the new look
your should try aisigo teas.com. At least i think that is their web site, or something very close.lThey have so many differnt kinds. Try the earl gray brovo. The best black tea ever.
Wow–what alot of responses! Lots of tea drinkers, here.
Casey, if you love Earl Grey, than I highly recommend a tea that I discovered in a tea-room in a little town in South Carolina. It’s called Earl Grey Lavender. FABULOUS.
oooh, what a beautiful idea, I’m definitely going to try this! Love your blog btw
Johanna x
Casey, this is brilliant! I’m an avid tea drinker, and never though to make reusable tea bags (although it seems like such an obvious idea, yeah?).
Thanks for sharing, and I really like your new layout!
I love this idea, Casey! These would make lovely holiday gifts with some nice, loose tea. I’ve been looking for handmade, green Christmas ideas, and you’ve just inspired me!
That’s an amazing idea– I’ve never seen it before! I want to try that out sometime. I’ve always been in the tea camp when it comes to tea vs. coffee.
Mighty Leaf’s White Orchard is one of my absolute favourites! Definitely the tea I drink the most often, it’s so fragrant. (http://www.mightyleaf.com/loose-tea_white-tea/white-orchard-white-tea/)
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