# Best way to brew tea (long and detailed) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-brew-tea-long-and-detailed/736442 "2015-11-02T18:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-brew-tea-long-and-detailed/736442/21 "2015-11-03T12:56:19Z")
I grew up as the sole tea-drinker in a family of coffee-drinkers, so I am in the habit of using a tea bag to make a single cup. I do not comprehend the snobbery about tea bags. I understand, the better brands don’t come in bags, but I don’t see anything intrinsically wrong with the technology. ---
**Author:** ![dreamscapers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@dreamscapers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamscapers)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-brew-tea-long-and-detailed/736442/22 "2015-11-08T23:23:21Z")
Honestly, I drink tea made from bags because I don’t have the time for anything else. I’m a busy person. Also, I’ve made pots of tea before but never finish them (I usually get distracted.) I have an electric teakettle that just boils water and it’s very useful. I use it for tea, for coffee and for soup. Saves me a lot of time, too. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-brew-tea-long-and-detailed/736442/23 "2015-11-09T00:16:34Z")
FWIW, if I’m making _tea_ I use the Orwell method. I do notice that it tastes better that way – but it might just bee that my loose tea is of higher quality than any of the teabags I’ve used. The problem with making tea this way is that while the first cup is very nice, subsequent cups can taste ‘stewed’. Also, it gets only warm by the time I finish the pot. One solution is to use a mesh basket and a smaller pot. Good, but not as good as the Full Procedure. If I want a very robust few cups of tea, I use some very cheap Indian tea whose name I can never remember. Oh, wait. It’s [Tea India CTC Mamri](http://www.amazon.com/India-Ctc-Leaf-Tea-32/dp/B007SH2C6S). Very robust, I like the flavour, and as I said, cheap. For some reason, it seems to taste best out of a tin cup. 😉 I drink more ‘iced’ (actually, just refrigerated) tea than hot tea. Trader Joe’s sells unsweetened black tea by the gallon. Very good, but I can taste the citrus preservative. And at work I drink half a gallon a day. So I refill the container using the almost-boiling water dispenser at work, and three Lipton tea bags. It costs me nothing, as the company provides the tea bags. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-brew-tea-long-and-detailed/736442/24 "2015-11-10T15:06:59Z")
Boil the kettle and put the stainless steel pot on the electric hob (#1 heat), just before the kettle boils put two heaped tablespoons of loose tea into the pot and fill with boiling water, stir well and leave to steep, pour into mug using strainer to collect leaves, drink delicious tea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-brew-tea-long-and-detailed/736442.md?page=1)