Pricing may scare you at first! Just remember you only need a couple of ounces to begin with and you can get 2-3 steepings out of a single tsp of high quality leaves. So, you'll get 15-30 cups out of that two ounces.

Yeah, same idea. Little metallic strained with a chain and/or hooks onto the side of your glass. Can also find them in "spoon" form.

Its understandable. I was raised in the Southeast US and I have seen/done my share of tea sins before I was aware. lol. Really, just a kettle and a little metal steeper are all you need. Use a tsp or so of tea and don't let it steep more than 2-3 minutes. Sweeten as desired.

You can assure it's freshness by actually observing it and storing it properly. Also, you can dry out leaves that have been steeped once and reuse them. And bagged tea is typically ground and grainy. Loose leaf tea allows for pieces of fruit, flowers and whole spices. (I'm talking actually pieces of star anise and all spice, etc.) Finally, traditional teas from the cultures where tea leaves are grown are almost always loose leaf (or loose powder, for matcha) and they were designed to be best experienced in that form.

Also, if you enjoy tea, eventually invest in an electric kettle. None of this heating a mug in the microwave nonsense. Or, heavens forbid, do not BOIL a bag of black tea on the stove. It makes the tea gods sad.

Entirely preference. Most important thing is knowing how hot and how long to brew each type of tea. The rest is preference.

Worked at a tea shop chain once and had to memorize a bunch of facts about the different types of tea and their benefits. Tea is wild, man. Loose leaf ftw