gvillecreative said 2011-03-09 20:12:36 -0500

Loose vs Bag: Will it be different? (RoT Raw Plantain Coconut)

Based on Steepster reviews, I bought the RoT Plantain Coconut Raw Green Rooibos in bags (which is what they had at the store). I really like this tea and have already used up quite a bit.

I noticed on the RoT site that they sell this in a loose leaf variety too online: http://www.republicoftea.com/plantain-coconut-green-bush-full-leaf/p/V02133/

Will the loose leaf be a better quality, with a more potent flavor? I really like this but want a stronger coconut.

10 Replies

Spot52 said 2011-03-09 22:45:23 -0500

My guess would be, there is no difference. And I agree that the coconut flavour should be stronger.

threewhales said 2011-03-09 23:09:31 -0500

My daughter recently purchased a loose leaf tea that we had previously only had as a bagged tea. The difference is remarkable. Much fresher in taste. I am glad she finds the tea of a good quality because she had to buy an entire pound to get the loose leaf.

gvillecreative said 2011-03-10 08:27:03 -0500

That’s the same boat I’m in (1lb needed). Which one did you try loose leaf after trying bagged? I really like their loose leaf— sometimes, it’s even too strong.

Uniquity said 2011-03-10 11:00:19 -0500

I made the plunge with Harney’s Vanilla Comoro recently – Buying a 1 lb bag after enjoying their teabags. I can’t eloquently argue why, but I would almost always pick loose over bagged.

brandy3392 said 2011-03-09 23:29:45 -0500

Normally the loose version of a tea will be much more flavorful than the bagged version. This will probably be especially true with Republic of Tea products, because I find their tea bags to be under filled and normally full of mostly “tea dust”. But with a green rooibos based tea, I’m not sure there will be much difference. Since green rooibos doesn’t really get crushed or need room to expand, I wouldn’t think this tea suffers too much from being bagged.

Spot52 said 2011-03-10 14:45:42 -0500

That’s kinda what I was assuming. The only difference would be the amount, and that could potentially be remedied by using two bags. But who knows, freshness may come into play.

Chef8489 said 2011-03-10 16:41:45 -0500

RoT loose is far superior to their bag tea. I just am not font of all the dust that they make their bags out of.

Mel said 2011-03-10 18:38:04 -0500

I prefer loose over bagged for the price difference! You get more for your money with loose. I dig that. Plus, I think it does TASTE better.

Sarah Ruthven said 2011-03-11 11:33:29 -0500

I think it is essential to drink flavored teas in loose-leaf. When it is loose you have total control of what goes in your cup. Especially if you want a stronger coconut taste then you can pick out a few extra coconut pieces and put it in the cup. I like citrus brews personally and with loose-leaf you can control yourself how much of the chunks of citrus go in each brew.

Crocuta said 2011-03-12 16:14:05 -0500

I’d really like to try that one, but $31 for a pound of tea that I may or may not like is pretty risky.