Alright I'm getting into loose leaf teas, hit me with your recommendations

Have a browse on Bird & Blend – I'm too broke for fancy tea nowadays, but they have so many types and flavours to try. You can get small bags of tealeaves just to get a taste for them before you commit to a full tin. And they send you sample teabags to try with every order.

They also do advent calendars which could be a good way to try a bunch of stuff!

My favourites were Earl Grey Creme and Monkey Chops. 🍌

Sadly unavailable right now but my personal favorite is “They China Food!” from Adagio’s fandom blends.

If you’re looking for something interesting and different that’s a good place to look in general.

I'd say find a local tea shop and get small amounts of a couple different types. The tea that makes it to western markets is usually pretty low quality, black teas are the most likely to be decent. There isn't gonna be a huge quality difference between brands either. If you want really good stuff, you gotta order online from specialized sellers, usually from asia.

Also, ditch the tea ball thingy and get a steeping basket or steep straight in the pot, the leaves don't have room to expand in there and you don't get good flavour.

I can try to recommend something more specific based on which flavours you like the most (earthy, woody, chocolate, malty, fruity, floral, vegetal, grassy, nutty etc.)

Russian country tea. It’s a blend that has some lapsang souchong and other black teas so it’s a little smokey but not too much. Great in fall and winter.

Gunpowder green. Bolder green tea with a unique rolled preparation.

Ti Kuan Yin. A high quality oolong tea that has aging time and techniques between green and black but unique flavors. I love it with honey.

Pu’erh. A fermented tea. Tons of unique flavor in it. Comes in black and green varieties. Maybe try a small purchase to see if you like the fermented funky flavors.

I brew all my loose leaf multiple times, you can easily get 3-5+ steeps from good loose leaf. They say don’t wait more than 5-6 hrs between brews as mold can form in the wet but drained leaves.

Difficult to go wrong with almost anything from Bird & Blend.

Puer is delicious, strongly flavourful, can't really be oversteeped and has a wide flavour range.

Someone else already mentioned alishan oolong - any high mountain taiwanese oolong is a good choice. Tie guan yin (tyeh gwan yin - iron goddess of mercy) is another popular oolong.

Local tea shop near my house sells me Alishan Secret Garden High Mountain Oolong which is heavenly.

https://floatingleaves.com/