I got this through my job with British doctors in the Arabian Gulf.
I found this in Merriam Webster Dictionary online :applies to an aggregate without shape or outline and capable of flowing or fluctuating <a tremendous volume of water>.

The Island Upali Newspapers Limited Island Home Divaina Home ...33.1 Unpacked tea, coffee seeds 6% 33.2 Other tea 8% 33.3 Aromatic coffee 10% 34 Groceries, including cereals and lentils 7% 35 Fruits 10% ...
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Tea in SpainTea in Spain: The popularity of unpackaged tea was boosted by a rise in the profile ... Volume sales of unpackaged tea rise by 16% and value by 41% over the ...
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I asked a friend to make sure: فإنه قال : إن الشاي السايب (والأصل السائب) يعني الشاي غير الْمُعَبّأ ...

Tea Leaves

FITS MEANING

simple though it may appear, i want to draw your attention to a very subtle difference of what "shay sayeb" could mean, at least for Egyptians. when groceries (be it rice, macroni, lintel, peans, sugar...) are designated "sayeb", this typically means every item is piled in one big bucket or bucket-like container (metal, woody, plastic, or straw). the salesclerck/vendor packages the item variably according to the quantity a customer asks for (using scales).

now when i ask a grocer for, say, a Lipton package of tea he/she would naturally bring me one that is not bagged tea, unless i specify (often using the term "fatla" for "tea bags").

saying "sayeb" in this case would make him/her mistake it for the type described above, which is not available under brand names (rather the country of origin, the flavor, the texture...etc).

to conclude, if the asker is not sure whether the tea in question is sold in sealed typical packages (a product of assembly lines) or stored in stocks to be packaged later manually, i reassure him that "unbagged", though less familiar, would be much safer. still, the English term for "sayeb" is missing. loose tea is used exchangeably to describe "unbagged" tea (whether packed or not), but i suspect that some use "bulk" for further specification when they mean the "unpacked" one (see here--the passage under B. Imports: http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/MEETING/003/Y1420E.HTM).

here you go: loose is unbagged (esp. packed) tea; unbagged tea is both packed and unpacked, loose bulk tea is unbagged (esp. unpacked).

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Note added at 35 days (2006-06-19 11:26:14 GMT) Post-grading
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seems we've missed a plausible option: "dust tea" شاي ناعم.