Tea

[andrew in philadelphia]

I find herbals kind of annoying... like I'm drinking bath water.

that's the best description of herbal tea i've ever heard.

[Emily]

I find herbals kind of annoying... like I'm drinking bath water.

that's the best description of herbal tea i've ever heard.

Only someone who drinks bath water would know that.

[A.M. Thomas]

So I've been thinking about getting into loose tea.  I really like the idea of using one of those kettles where you put the tea leaves in the top.  Does anyone have experience with it?  Is it worth it?

[yesno]

I like those little metal things that you put tea into and otherwise treat like a tea bag, except that you can't microwave them.



Not those tea balls though; they suck.

There are tea kettles out there of such bad design that it staggers the imagination.  Where you need Jeeves-like skill to actually pour tea out of them without getting it everywhere.  I hate those.

[Martin]

I only use loose tea, except when I drink pg tips. (If you only use tea bags you're not cool.)

[erika]

I find herbals kind of annoying... like I'm drinking bath water.

that's the best description of herbal tea i've ever heard.

Only someone who drinks bath water would know that.

No judging. You don't judge me I judge you.

Also, this is a fun gadget for making a single cup:

[Gilly]

One thing it took me a while to learn - tea is much better if you brew it slightly shorter than you think.  Green tea bags about 90 seconds, black tea bags about 4 minutes.  The bitterness comes at the end of the brewing.

Can you explain this? I've never liked tea because of the bitterness, maybe I'll try again doing it properly. Maybe, I wasn't doing it properly at all... I always assumed you boil water in the kettle and pour the water into a cup and drop the teabag in right? So, I should take the bag out after 90 seconds for green tea? I'm a tea-a-dummy.

[crumbum]

I'm so happy there are lots of tea-loving FOTs (I realize that sounds stragely insulting).

Do you put anything in your tea? I only do when I'm drinking orange pekoe (my first-thing-in-the-morning choice), and then it's usually a bit of lemon. A slice is best but some juice from one of those little plastic squeeze thingies will do in a pinch.

I grew up putting milk in my tea, which I think is more of a British thing. Lately, though, I lost my taste for it completely and had to switch.

I'm also a huge fan of ginger tea. It's one of the few herbals I'll go near.

[angus]

So I've been thinking about getting into loose tea.  I really like the idea of using one of those kettles where you put the tea leaves in the top.  Does anyone have experience with it?  Is it worth it?

Totally worth it, but you need to buy great tea

[angus]

One thing it took me a while to learn - tea is much better if you brew it slightly shorter than you think.  Green tea bags about 90 seconds, black tea bags about 4 minutes.  The bitterness comes at the end of the brewing.

Can you explain this? I've never liked tea because of the bitterness, maybe I'll try again doing it properly. Maybe, I wasn't doing it properly at all... I always assumed you boil water in the kettle and pour the water into a cup and drop the teabag in right? So, I should take the bag out after 90 seconds for green tea? I'm a tea-a-dummy.

If ou buy bags o'tea, I use nem a couple of times, as in fill up the cup with some fresh hot water.  If I use the good stuff (loose tea) I do it right, use the egg timer and get it out of there.  The stuff in the bag is brewable a couple of time, it's pretty strong

[buffcoat]

One thing it took me a while to learn - tea is much better if you brew it slightly shorter than you think.  Green tea bags about 90 seconds, black tea bags about 4 minutes.  The bitterness comes at the end of the brewing.

Can you explain this? I've never liked tea because of the bitterness, maybe I'll try again doing it properly. Maybe, I wasn't doing it properly at all... I always assumed you boil water in the kettle and pour the water into a cup and drop the teabag in right? So, I should take the bag out after 90 seconds for green tea? I'm a tea-a-dummy.

Yes, tea gets more bitter the longer you brew it.  And the bitter sets in pretty quickly,  according to my brief experiments.

I have found that a teabag-brewed cup of standard black tea:

Is weak and watery after 2 minutes
Is great and flavorful after 4 minutes
Is bitter after 6 minutes

[dave from knoxville]

Lipton's instant and Karo.

In equal parts.

[Gilly]

One thing it took me a while to learn - tea is much better if you brew it slightly shorter than you think.  Green tea bags about 90 seconds, black tea bags about 4 minutes.  The bitterness comes at the end of the brewing.

Can you explain this? I've never liked tea because of the bitterness, maybe I'll try again doing it properly. Maybe, I wasn't doing it properly at all... I always assumed you boil water in the kettle and pour the water into a cup and drop the teabag in right? So, I should take the bag out after 90 seconds for green tea? I'm a tea-a-dummy.

Yes, tea gets more bitter the longer you brew it.  And the bitter sets in pretty quickly,  according to my brief experiments.

I have found that a teabag-brewed cup of standard black tea:

Is weak and watery after 2 minutes
Is great and flavorful after 4 minutes
Is bitter after 6 minutes

So take the teabag out of the cup after 4 minutes? I always thought you were just supposed to leave the teabag in the cup as you drank it.

[Martin]

Good God no.

[buffcoat]

One thing it took me a while to learn - tea is much better if you brew it slightly shorter than you think.  Green tea bags about 90 seconds, black tea bags about 4 minutes.  The bitterness comes at the end of the brewing.

Can you explain this? I've never liked tea because of the bitterness, maybe I'll try again doing it properly. Maybe, I wasn't doing it properly at all... I always assumed you boil water in the kettle and pour the water into a cup and drop the teabag in right? So, I should take the bag out after 90 seconds for green tea? I'm a tea-a-dummy.

Yes, tea gets more bitter the longer you brew it.  And the bitter sets in pretty quickly,  according to my brief experiments.

I have found that a teabag-brewed cup of standard black tea:

Is weak and watery after 2 minutes
Is great and flavorful after 4 minutes
Is bitter after 6 minutes

So take the teabag out of the cup after 4 minutes? I always thought you were just supposed to leave the teabag in the cup as you drank it.

You really are a tea-a-dummy.  The good news is, you must really like tea to have been drinking bitter swill all these years.  You're going to find heaven, my friend.

Orrrrr... you may discover that you have no tastebuds.