Hi new to tea and I have a question

[trackerchick]

I was always a nestea kinda gal. We drank gallons of ice tea when I was growing up. I have been buying green and black tea bags and making ice tea either suntea or I will brew on my ice tea maker. Then I read the articles about white tea decided to try and feel like i have entered a whole new arena! I like white tea but it is hard to find in my area. I bought some from Krogers and it is in tea bags but how do I know it is really white tea? Then I went to visit my son in St Louis and went to schnucks and found the pui mu tan. I opened the packet and wow the bags are soo cool! you can see the leaves and well it doesn't take much to impress me I guess.. but to my question.. Can these be used more than once? $8.00 for a box of 15 is way more than I would normally spend. If I use it more than once will I still get some of the benefits ie antioxidants? I understand that the more it is used the more it will be diluted but I would hate to be throwing these things away after one use and find out that it could be brewed twice with no problems..Thanks in advance!!

[Artemis]

Okay, here's what I would do: (As a complete and total newb)

1) Buy an IngenuiTEA from Adagio (this is what I bought and I just LOVE it to pieces. It's really easy to use and even my dad- the seasoned tea drinker- thinks it's pretty nifty) or a similar infuser (Teavana has one, I think, although read up on them)

2) Get some sample tins (either from Adagio or somewhere else. Adagio's website is pretty easy to use and it's simple getting a good selection of teas)

3) Brew & Enjoy!

One of the good things about loose leaf tea is that you can re-steep the leaves and it's surprisingly cheap once you find what teas you like (.08 a cup? yes please!) The loose leaf teabags are a rip off (imo), as you can buy a huge tin of tea for the same price and make TONS more cups.

[Chip]

Sounds like pretty sound advice! Loose tea is the way to go. Many teas I resteep 5 or more times.

Welcome to the forum. I hope to see you around the place!

[Artemis]

Oh, hah, I didn't actually answer the question. Anyway! Feel free to PM me if you're having trouble with finding/selecting samples. As a fellow beginner, I think my blunt perspective of "it just has to taste good" will mesh well.

[trackerchick]

thanks for the quick response!! I will try the loose tea next time I buy. They only had the white tea in the little bags at the store and I have 2 boxes of them. I am going to try reusing them for a couple of times and see what happens.. living dangerously I guess!
thanks again!

[sriracha]

If you'd like one, I could send you a box of loose Bai Hao Yin Zhen which I quite like.

PM me if so. =)

[depravitea]

Once you get some leaves, try doing some very short steeps, like 10 seconds, then 20, 30, 45, 60...

The leaves last forever doing that, and you get to experience the leaf at all different levels of concentration. This is my favorite way to brew/re-steep. There is a whole ceremony accompanied with it (Gongfu), but I just do the short steeps, I'm not much on ceremony.