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] 1 points 8 minutes ago* (last edited 8 minutes ago)

Water.
If the cup is not full enough, I'll top it up (and spill the amount again once I get to my table).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 54 minutes ago

Tea bag first, then freshly boiled hot water.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Milk, then water, then I empty the teabag into it. Duh.

I also like to put the water in the bowl before I pour the cereal in.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours 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] 1 points 7 minutes ago* (last edited 7 minutes ago)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

unfortunately, i believe the microwave was not an option.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours 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] 6 points 5 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

if you do the characteristic "teabagging" motion it saturates quickly. tbh I do it whichever way is most convenient since I'm almost always brewing on the way from one task in one part of my work area to a different one somewhere else. What I put into the travel mug first has much more to do with which one I get my hands on first than it does with any personal preference.

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

You use so much milk and so little cereal that the cereal would float?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago

I don't put the milk in first so it won't travel across the inner curve of the bowl and spill out, making a huge mess. But that's just me

[–] [email protected] 47 points 15 hours 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] 7 points 13 hours 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] 1 points 7 hours ago

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 hours 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.

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

Same for me. I like drinking white jasmine tea, but the flavor becomes too bitter if you pour boiling water over the leaves. It’s better to drink at 80 or even 70 degrees (sorry, don’t know the F one).

I used to make tea for my coworkers back when we had a team room and got way into it. I had my own little kettle, all kinds of tea leaves, a weighing scale spoon and even a thermometer :)
I learned that pre-heating your kettle was important for black teas because boiling water would drop to 90 degrees or even less if you didn’t.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

Teabag and sugar, then drown it in a scalding stream of boiling water.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 15 hours ago (35 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] 21 points 14 hours 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] 7 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 12 hours ago

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

[–] [email protected] 14 points 15 hours 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] 1 points 4 hours ago

To avoid the uneven heating just turn down the microwave power! No one does this and everyone complains about uneven heating! I get great reheating results from my microwave just by turning down the power and running it for longer.

This is how microwaves used to work decades ago when they were lower power by design. Over time the microwave power arms race resulted in them getting much too powerful for even reheating.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 hours 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] 3 points 10 hours ago

Common sense like this does NOT belong on the internet.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 hours 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] 11 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

So primitive, in the least impressive way imaginable

[–] [email protected] 9 points 13 hours 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 12 hours ago (3 children)

How do you milk your teabag?

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

Through the nipples.

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

With a come here motion with your finger(s)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 12 hours ago

It truly is such a versatile motion

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago

Squeeze against the wall, milk it hard

[–] [email protected] 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 15 hours 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] 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Hot water in the base chamber of the pot. Coffee in the funnel. Top chamber screwed on. Put on a high heat until the coffee is ready.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago

And then the teabag last?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 15 hours ago

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours 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).
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