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] 67 points 1 week 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 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Wabbitsmiles 6 points 1 week ago

This is the way

[–] NoSpotOfGround 10 points 1 week 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 1 week ago

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

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 week ago (20 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] 30 points 1 week 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 1 week ago (1 children)

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

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

Common sense like this does NOT belong on the internet.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (9 children)

It is not simply 'just another method to heat water'. There is a significant difference between microwaving and kettle/stovetop. Microwaving risks superheating resulting in flash boiling causing an explosion of steam and boiling water. This is also why microwaved water has foam appear when inserting anything into it. Bubbles that 'should' have formed didn't and are now doing so at the nucleation points whatever you inserted provided.

That foam, while an indication the water was close to erupting, is otherwise harmless but ruins the tea/coffee for me and I'm sure others too.

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[–] AbouBenAdhem 4 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Water is much more likely to get supersaturated in a microwave, because water heats up in the middle of the container where there are no nucleation points. And supersaturated water heats the tea leaves above 100ºC, which can affect the flavor.

[–] Devadander 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I don’t believe this to be true.

Edit: since the replies aren’t very polite, let me be more clear. This isn’t a concern. Any modern microwave with a turntable doesn’t have this problem

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 week 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] 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 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

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

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

[–] trigg 4 points 1 week ago

Damn, got away on time

[–] fum 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Tea bag first, then freshly boiled hot water.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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).
[–] whotookkarl 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] Gradually_Adjusting 4 points 1 week ago

So primitive, in the least impressive way imaginable

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

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

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

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

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

Absolutely! Nobody should use teabags, they're subpar and we're allready getting plenty of micro plastics in our bodies.

[–] Brewchin 9 points 1 week 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] 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

How do you milk your teabag?

[–] Brewchin 1 points 3 days ago

Nice. :)

But next you'll be saying you don't know how to use the 3 seashells...

[–] toiletobserver 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

With a come here motion with your finger(s)

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

It truly is such a versatile motion

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

Thankyou for preventing microwave comments. Its an abomination

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

The microwave is a fundamental part of the Make Tea -> Forget About Tea -> Reheat Tea cycle.

Also, I have to put the bag in first, because otherwise I've no idea how much room I need to leave for it (which you'd think I'd be able to eyeball by now, but apparently not).

[–] JoeKrogan 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week 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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[–] wjrii 5 points 1 week ago

Doesn't really matter, as long as you add the sugar while the liquid is hot enough to go into supersaturated solution.

Then chill and add ice.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

First water, then teabag, then cup.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (3 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 1 week ago (1 children)

unfortunately, i believe the microwave was not an option.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week 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.

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

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

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