Got it. Obviously YMMV but just want to say that, at least with the couple of teapots I have, after I pour I do not end up with leaves in the cup.
The chief reason I don’t drink tea is that I don’t like milk, and find the strong black teas favoured in these parts leave a furry, dry, tannin-y taste in my mouth when it’s drunk black.
I do drink herbal teas, which don’t have the same problem.
I couldn’t have said it better myself so I just quoted you. Except I use Mountain Rose Organics.
If tea is leaving a tannin flavor in your mouth, either it’s bad tea, or you’re brewing it too long.
I waited to long to edit; my reply regarding decaf was less than helpful. As others have said, green and white tea are low in caffeine.
Upton Tea is the best US based shop as far as quality and variety goes. They offer tons of decaf options. They have sample sizes so you can try an array without breaking the bank .
Don’t count out herbal teas. If you don’t like that “herbal” taste, red rooibos is similar to black tea with a hint of root beer.
It is true that the higher quality teas are whole leaf. Orange Pekoe is the top two leaves of the plant or branch of the tree. This does not mean that they are “better”. Broken tea will have a stronger flavor. My favorite tea right now is a very low quality Tibetan puer. It is made of big leaves with seeds and stems throughout.
I am new to tea-snobbery, but i have done a lot of research. Keep the questions coming!
I do that sometimes. What is the reason not to? There are no staples on the teabags I use, and I wouldn’t put a metal infuser into the microwave, of course.
Don’t agree, sorry. We only have Yorkshire Gold in the house, which is great tea. And the effect goes the same for any black tea brand.
There was an “or” in that sentence. Any tea will taste bad if you brew it for too long. So don’t do that. If you want a stronger cuppa, then use more tea.
I’ve seen teabags break down in a microwave and dump the tea into the water.
Which is fine if you’re protesting British tax policy but not so good if you just want a drink.
Ah, okay. I never put paper teabags in the microwave because if you subject them to that I feel like you can taste the paper (plus I rarely buy tea that comes in papery teabags anyway).
What I do purchase in teabags is Kirkland green tea, because it’s quite good for an everyday healthful drink. I dislike their teabags because they seem to be made of some weird, inert, plasticky mesh that I doubt is biodegradable, so I can’t put the teabags into the compost.
On the other hand, the Kirkland teabags are definitely tough enough to withstand the microwave, and I haven’t noticed them imparting any flavor to the tea. So I will continue to microwave them unless I hear a different reason not to!
This is a question I’ve had for a long time, I do like my tea strong, but I also like it with milk which may have tended to hide the tannins. I brew my black tea in the Breville smart tea maker for 7 minutes with three heaping scoops for 1.2L of water, and that seems to work for me. I guess I’ll try 6 minutes and add another half scoop, just to see if it’s better. Yes, I drink all that myself over the course of an afternoon, 3 fills of a 16-oz. mug. It has a keep warm feature for an hour, and after that if it cools down you can just re-heat to about 180.
I have relatives comparatively down the street. So far, I’ve ducked having to go visit them, but if I do, I now have someplace new to also visit. Thanks for the tip. I knew they were in NY, but I’d thought alternately they were up in the Finger Lakes region or in NYC for some reason. Ignorance fought.
I’m trying that Upton place you all have mentioned, just as soon as they restock some of their Lapsang varieties she wants to try.
Dude! CLEAN your “tea” before you use it!
Simply open a double LP…my favorite is the Grateful Dead’s Skullfuck…dump your “tea” near the groove, and gently shake until the stems n’ seeds drop away from the leaves.
You and your friends will enjoy that “tea” so much more.
Oh, and Goldie says “Hi.”
We use Uptons for some tea, but for a breakfast tea I find it’s hard to beat https://www.mightyleaf.com/. Their bagged tea is just as good as their loose-leaf, but far far more expensive…
Why would the cup cool the tea water, when you’ve already preheated the cup? I mean, you do preheat the cup first, right?
I don’t overbrew my tea, arguably I don’t brew tea for long enougn because I’m impatient. it’s an effect I get with any brand, made by any person. Perhaps it just doesn’t affect your tastebuds the same way.
Possibly. Even good tea prepared right has some component of tannin in the flavor-- It should just be in the background. Maybe you just have a lower tolerance for tannin than others.
MrDibble, if you’re preheating the mug by swishing around some boiling water in it and then dumping it out, then you’ll approximately halve the amount of cooling from the mug. But in any event, that step is unnecessary if you’re boiling the water in the mug in a microwave.
I noticed this earlier, but forgot to comment. Yes, you are doing it wrong. Orwell recommends six heaping teaspoons per quart, which should be about right for British-style Indian tea. Chinese-style tea has its own calculations, where you use loads more tea but multiple, shorter infusions.
I don’t use a mug. And I don’t just swish the warming water around, I let it sit in my cup while I reboil the kettle…
or sit in my teapot. And I *definitely *can’t put my cast iron teapot in the microwave.
Takes too long (we’ve covered this before). Zero temperature control. And has other drawbacks - some of my teacups are gilded, and the microwave doesn’t like those at all. Others, the handle gets very hot as well. Plus - I have a kettle. Making water for tea is what it’s for, and it is *so *very good at it.
I did, once upon a time, try to boil some water for coffee in a microwave, only to have it instantly and violently vaporize when I tried to stir some in. Guess it got hotter than I thought…