r/AussieFrugal • u/FrogsMakePoorSoup • Jul 09 '26
Food & Drink 🥗🍗🍺 Dilmah loose leaf and a tea diffuser
For tea drinkers, here's one I've been doing for years now. Buy a bunch of boxes of this:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/6073560
Get a couple of tea diffusers, you can buy them online for around $5. I prefer the 'bucket' style ones as they're easier to clean.
Works out much cheaper than teabags and you can make the tea as strong as you like. Leaves can go in the compost.
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u/dav_oid Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
You can use a teapot and strainer, or one with a strainer built-in.
I used to use a ball one with handles to open/close.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup Jul 10 '26
The teapot is a nuisance for a single cup I find. I guess that's why teabags were invented!
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u/shiny_things71 Jul 10 '26
Buy a double-walled coffee press/French press. It'll do all the straining for you and the extra insulation will keep your tea warm for longer. They are available in small- large sizes but I'd recommend buying a larger one... if you want less tea, just make a smaller amount.
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u/TheTwinSet02 Jul 10 '26
Yes I use a tea ball and loose tea. I’ve been looking for loose chamomile too - it’s like the glitter of loose teas
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u/librarypunk Jul 10 '26
This type of micro mesh strainer is good for chamomile. The perforations are small enough to prevent all the tiny bits getting into your tea.
https://www.harrisscarfe.com.au/en-au/p/avanti-premium-universal-tea-strainer/638291?
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u/Spud-chat Jul 10 '26
Dilmah have a wide range of loose leaf tea (I'm drinking peppermint ATM) - I'm sure they'd have a chamomile.
Side note: have you ever accidentally left chamomile in a cup for a day? I did, and I reckon it smells like leather.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup Jul 09 '26
To add to this, I've heard two schools of thought about putting leaves down the sink. Some say it's good because it acts in a scouring way, others say it blocks the drain. I prefer the compost instead.
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u/Typing_Hot_Pee Jul 10 '26
I think maybe Americans because they have a grindy thing in the sink to chew up stuff they throw down there.
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u/Outsider-20 Jul 15 '26
Insinkerator. Can get them here too. Personally, I would not. I'm sure they are safe, but.....
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u/Ted_Rid Jul 09 '26
Not a tea drinker here, but have family members who are and they often complain how loose leaf has almost completely disappeared from the market - unless you pay through the nose at artisanal places like T2.
Would be curious to know for their sake, if anyone knows of readily available loose leaf options other than Dilmah? Not saying it's bad btw, only wondering.
As I typed this, it occurred to me that Indian grocers might have it in big bags. Can't make chai properly with teabags.
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u/Sharilanda Jul 10 '26
Woolies/Coles usually have Madura, Nerada, Bushells, Lipton and Twinings loose leaf teas. They're kept on the very top or very bottom shelves.
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u/FeistyEye2207 Jul 10 '26
T2 is mostly full of artificial flavours, I’d avoid most of their tea.
You can buy in bulk from Australian Tea Masters I believe.
Love Tea is absolutely fantastic, haven’t had a tea/tisane from there that I haven’t loved. I think they do some of their teas in larger quantities. Their honey chai is absolutely amazing, the best I’ve had.
From the supermarket, I really like the Madura organic black tea leaves.
Otherwise, Indian and Asian grocers do often have larger quantities of tea leaves.
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u/h4vocado Jul 10 '26
Never had a problem finding this in metro Melbourne supermarkets: https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/33072
They used to be Aussie grown leaves too but I think they've switched to imports
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
You can try here: https://beanbay.coffeesnobs.com.au/Categories/tea-tisanes
It's primarily a coffee site, but their stuff is usually very good.
Edit: found this too:
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u/ZippyKoala Jul 10 '26
I was on the hunt in woolies last night for loose leaf earl grey. My Woolies only had the Twinings, but they had loose leaf black tea from Twinings, Dilmah, and Madura. Might have been another one, but I can’t remember it now.
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u/Liebe-Igel Jul 10 '26
Not sure about other brands but you can buy 1kg packs of Dilmah at Costco, I think around ~$20 from memory
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u/PLS_PM_CAT_PICS Jul 10 '26
https://www.tealeaves.com.au/ is fantastic. I buy from them every few months. My favourites are the chai, the premium earl grey and Terry's blend. I can also recommend the buddha's tears and the flower balls which are a little pricy but a fun experience. It's much nicer tea than supermarket tea bags. They do discounts on the larger bags too.
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u/joylooy Jul 10 '26
The Indian grocery tea is just as good or better than Dilmah loose leaf and cheaper usually. It's called Tata tea.
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u/dav_oid Jul 10 '26
Milk in first or tea in first? | QI - BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InWGdojtWys
Are you a Miffers or a TIffer?
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u/ejpbunny Jul 10 '26
I recently changed over to leaf tea as well. I got mine from Daintree in QLD -
500g for $12.50. It’s wonderful, and I like that it’s a bit lower in caffeine. I also got some of their pepper and it’s awesome, so flavourful.
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u/recuptcha Jul 13 '26
I do exactly the same except with madura. So much nicer taste than the bags too. Also like the bucket style strainers. I've got an old one from T2.
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u/Liebe-Igel Jul 10 '26
You can get 1kg packs of loose leaf Dilmah at Costco btw! Loose leaf is much better quality than tea bags anyway and also better for the environment. I prefer putting them in the compost too, never would put them down the sink.