this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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And no, the microwave is not a valid option.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Take your hatchet and slash some leaves in the misty fields of Kerala. Make sure it's monsoon flush, so roughly july to september. Then, chop up an old Ginkgo Biloba that looks wise. Leave it to dry in a Kenyan plain for three years, and head for Nepal. There, you will gather the purest glacier water there is. By then, your tea leaves will be dust. Go buy some Lipton and microwave tap water, it's all you can do at this point. And, uh, teabag first

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sounds like that guy who made a sandwich from scratch: growing wheat, raising chicken etc. He said it was „okay“

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Heh, I'd like to read this

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

First step is to gather sticks under the bushes.

Start a fire using paper, newspaper, cardboard, then add sticks and make a larger fire.

Heat up water until boiling.

Add tea bags to thermos and pour the water inside. Now we have 2 days worth of hot tea.

Optional delicious step: pop popcorn

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

Thankyou for preventing microwave comments. Its an abomination

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I usually drink coffee so the water goes in before the teabag, although to be fair the teabag never goes in.

[–] YurkshireLad 65 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I put the teabag in first so the hot water will hit it and move it around and release the flavour.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's a great way to make the air inside the teabag expand but not be able to escape through the wet paper, making the teabag float on top of the water like a confused little fish that just escaped a dentist's aquarium.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

That's why you dunk it a few times until it sinks!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Tea bag first, then freshly boiled hot water.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

This is the only answer

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is how you scold the tea

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 days ago (37 children)

I'm not sure why the hate for microwaves exist. It's literally just another method for making water move fast. It has absolutely no impact on the final product, as hot water is hot water no matter the heat source.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Heating water in the mike is fine. Heating already-made tea in the mike is fine. Heating water with a teabag in it in the microwave is the vilest act.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But boiling a tea bag is wrong no matter what your heat source is.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

You're absolutely right, but I've only seen this abominable act in a microwave... and even then only on television.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Yes, this is one of the more bizarre cultural differences. I have seen people from the UK object strongly to Microwaving water.

Microwaving food definitely affects the way it tastes because it heats unevenly. Cooking foods different ways affects the outer browning, moisture levels, etc.

Heating water in a kettle on the stove, an electric kettle, a sauce pan, or a microwave doesn't change the water! If you don't want to seep tea in boiling water, then let it cool slightly first.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Lots of comments on superheating, mostly to the parent comment, but I'll put a response here.

You can avoid superheating by putting a reasonable time on the microwave based on the amount of water you're heating. Especially for something you do again and again, you should be able to quickly get experience with this.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

Common sense like this does NOT belong on the internet.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Lol at everyone in the replies inventing crazy conspiracy theories.

As someone who has microwaved tea a bunch of times because my workplace didn't have a kettle, let me bestow upon you the ~~~truth~~~:

Microwaved water is slow to boil (especially compared to a 2500 W kettle for us chad 230V enjoyers), about 2:30 for one cup IIRC and the cup will be uniformly heated including the handle which is annoyingly hot to the touch (and I'm not particularly squeamish with hot things).

Tastes the same though.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 days ago (7 children)

The teabag. Otherwise it would float on top, similarly to why you put cerial in before milk.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Teabag, honey, hot water and then milk (almond in my case)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Honey first you don't get it on the tea bag Obviously

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Set the bush on fire, toss a bucket of water on it, drink the hot bush broth drippings

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Neither. Tea bags are for chumps. It's so much tastier to use fresher loose tea leaves of whatever mix you prefer (and you can control how strong you make it, plus you end up with less waste). I just boil the water in the microwave then when it's hot I take it out and add the tea.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

unfortunately, i believe the microwave was not an option.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Does it make a difference that the tea is never in the microwave? It's only the method for heating a single cup of water, not of heating the water+tea set.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You can buy empty tea bags to fill with loose tea...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

A tea bag floats though. It's better to use the traditional balls or anything else metal that will make the tea sink so it soaks better. Alternatively, there are ceramic teapots that keep the tea leaves below the water level.

[–] recursive_recursion 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

For me:

  1. Cup.
  2. Reusable metal tea infuser.
  3. Loose leaf tea.
  4. press button on Japanese instant hot water dispenser
    • (^this was probably the best $200 I've ever spent, fucking worth every dollar).
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Microwave the water on high for ten minutes, drop the teabag in, and run for my life

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They're designed to deliver the maximum amount of flavour in ~20 seconds.

So: bag first, then just-boiled water. Wait/steep for 20-60 seconds, fish out the bag with a teaspoon and squeeze against the cup, and then milk.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (3 children)

How do you milk your teabag?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

With a come here motion with your finger(s)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

It truly is such a versatile motion

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

You will be deported from Ireland for putting the water in first.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

First the filter, then the loose leaves, then water.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

This depends on the water temperature. I boil mine, so I pour water first, wait a bit, then put the bag. If I do the other way around, sometimes the tea gets burnt and tastes too bitter, which I don't like.

I could also heat the water to a lower temperature but I don't have one of those fancy kettles with temp selection, and I usually get distracted to interrupt the kettle before it boils. But, if the water is hot enough already but not just boiled, then I'll put the bag first, then the water second.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Depends what tea I'm making. For green and white teas I will add water first (175-185F) then steep the tea bag for 3-4 minutes.

If I'm making black tea or some fruity/herbal tea, I will toss the bag in first, then pour in boiling water and steeping for 3-5min depending on preference.

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