Rishi Tea

Rishi Organic Loose Leaf Tea

Plasticproof Excellent $$$Our price tier

Loose-leaf eliminates plastic tea bags entirely. A 2019 McGill study found a single plastic tea bag releases 11.6 billion microplastic particles per cup. Learn more in our plastic tea bag article.

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No bag means no bag plasticThe plastic is in the bag, not the tea.

Certified organic leafGrown without synthetic pesticides.

Brew path is leaf and waterWith a steel or glass infuser.

See exactly how we verify this

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Why it's safe for your family

Loose-leaf tea removes the tea bag entirely, which is the only part of a cup of tea that can be made of plastic.
Many bags marketed as paper are heat-sealed with polypropylene, and premium pyramid sachets are frequently nylon or PET mesh — brewing either means steeping plastic in near-boiling water.
Rishi's teas are certified organic, so the leaf itself is grown without the synthetic pesticides used in conventional tea growing.
Brewed in a steel or glass infuser, the entire brew path is leaf, water and an inert vessel — no plastic anywhere in it.

Quick specs

Format

Loose leaf — no bag

Certification

Certified organic

Plastic in brew path

None

Best brewed with

A steel or glass infuser

What to avoid instead

The swap here is bagged tea, especially the pyramid sachets sold as premium. Those meshes are commonly nylon or PET, and the paper ones are often sealed with polypropylene — either way something plastic sits in water just under boiling for several minutes.

Research finding

A 2019 McGill University study published in Environmental Science & Technology steeped plastic pyramid tea bags at 95°C and found a single bag released roughly 11.6 billion microplastic and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles into one cup. (source)

How we verify — and what we don't

Straight answer: we're a research team, not a testing lab. Here's exactly what our rating is based on — and what it isn't — so you can weigh it honestly.

What we check

What the product is made of, from the maker's own specs and product listing.
Whether any part that touches you or your food uses PTFE, PFAS, plastic, or a coating that can degrade.
Peer-reviewed research on how that material behaves when heated, scratched, washed, or worn.
Known failure modes — how the product actually breaks down in a real home.

What we don't do

We have not chemically tested this specific unit in a lab.
We don't take payment to rate a product higher — there is no sponsored placement.
We don't show star ratings or "trusted by thousands" counts we can't stand behind.

What gets a product rejected

Anything that adds a known microplastic, PFAS, or off-gassing source — a non-stick coating, a plastic surface against food or skin, vinyl/PVC — is downgraded or cut. We only list what clears that bar.

Don't take our word for it — check the sources yourself The peer-reviewed study we cite

Common questions

Do I need special equipment?

You need something to hold the leaf — a stainless steel basket infuser, a glass teapot with a built-in strainer, or a French press all work. Avoid the cheap nylon-mesh infusers, which reintroduce exactly the plastic you removed by leaving the bag behind.

Is loose leaf more expensive?

Per cup it is usually cheaper than comparable-quality bagged tea, because you are not paying for the bag, the string, the tag and the individual wrapper. Good loose leaf also re-steeps — many of these teas give a decent second cup from the same leaf.

Are all tea bags plastic?

No. Some brands use unbleached paper with no plastic heat-seal, and a few use genuinely compostable materials — but you generally cannot tell by looking, since the sealing polymer is invisible. If you want the certainty rather than the research, loose leaf sidesteps the question entirely.