How to brew tea.
 

This might sound like a dumb question, but I can't find good instructions on how the hell to do with anywhere!

I have some Lipton tea bags, but I don't know how to brew them. I don't want to wake my dad up either to ask him how to do it, but I need some tea now! Okay, so this is what the instructions say on the box I have say:

1. Use 2 Lipton Family Size Flo-Thru Tea Bags. Bring fresh cold water to a full rolling boil and pour 8 cups over tea bags.
2. Brew 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove tea bags

I have never brewed this stuff before, so according to these instructions what I do is... fill a pot with water and heat it up. I have not yet put the tea bags inside the water, but for some reason I am supposed to pour 8 cups of something--sugar?, lemon?, pepper?--ontop of the two bags anyway. So let's assume that the tea bags are still on the table, while the water is boiling by itself. So I pour 8 cups of something onto the tea bags, which makes no sense at this point because it never told me what the hell to do with the tea bags, and then... I brew 3 to 5 minutes. Brew what? Can I toss the tea bags into the pot now? It never tells me when to put them in there. Then, suddenly, even though this thing has not yet cooled down, I have to remove the tea bags. Ouch! Do I use tongs to remove them?

Okay, okay. All seriousness aside *snicker*, I really don't know how the hell to brew tea. Every website in existence assumes that I am trying to brew leaves. I don't have any freaking leaves! I have tea bags, damn it! I wanna brew tea bags! So do I put the bags in first, then the water, then boil it. Or do I heat the water up first, let it start boiling, then toss the bags in? Or do I get the water boiling, then pour it into some container, like a kettle, that can be sealed, toss the bags into the kettle, seal it, and let it set for a while? Or should I just pop the bags into the microwave and hope tea comes out?

Okay, I'm sorry, I know I'm ignorant. Go ahead and rant and rave about how ignorant today's youth is, blah, blah, blah. That's nice. Please just tell me how to brew this stuff!

Thanks.

:thumbsup:

I'm pretty sure you get the water boiling, put it in a cup, and then dump the tea bags in.

Boil water in receptacle #1 (kettle). Put tea bag(s) in receptacle #2 (cup or pot). Pour boiling water into receptacle #2, on top of teabags.

Stare at receptacle #2 intently for 3 to 5 minutes while rubbing your forehead and chanting (also called "brewing").

Way too much information :D---->http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...&threadid=3089

Cool. Thanks. I got it brewed, added a bit of sugar. I'm drinking it as I write. I just like tea, period. Doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot how strong it is or what kind.

:thumbsup:

*wonders if you've been brewing mushroom tea*

Macheath got it right.

Tip: I have been told that you should not squeeze the bag to brew get the last bit out if you don't like bitter tea. It does seem to hold true. If you squeeze the bag when you take it out it does taste more bitter.

I love tea all kinds. Here's a bit of trivia for you. Black tea is any tea made from tea leaves that have been fermented before they were dried. Green tea is any kind of tea that was dried immediately after taking it off the plant. Most common Chinese and Japanese tea is black. There's more anti-oxidants in Green Tea. There is caffene in most black teas. Guarana is an extremely potant source of caffene.

I learned a lot about tea when I was in highschool. Obsessed with it. lol I couldn't resist dropping some of the trivia I'd learned then here.

How do you brew tea?!

You put a teabag in a cup (or two in a teapot).*
You boil a kettle.
You pour boiling water into the cup/teapot.
You let it sit (or "draw" as the process is known) for a couple of minutes; certainly not five!
You add milk and sugar to taste.
You drink and enjoy.

*Traditionally, you preheat the cup/teapot with some hot or boiling water beforehand. The hotter the water you pour over the leaves the better, so you don't want to lose some heat by pouring boiling water into a cold receptable.


Not trying to be smart, but it's not that difficult.

Mr Mephisto

PS - the Irish drink lots of tea, so I know what I'm talking about!

The most important thing: boiling water. It must be at a roaring boil. Boiled water will produce bad tea.

Wow. Simply amazing. I never gave brewing tea a second thought.

2 bags in a cup is gonna make some smoking strong tea. I use 1 bag in a pint glass.

Toss mug of water in microwave for 1:30. Drop teabag in water. Start drinking once the temperature drops below scalding. Squeeze out teabag to get every last bit of caffiene once you can touch the bag without saying "ouch".

/not a tea connoisseur

redlemon, if you want to squeeze your bag without burning your fingers, grab a teaspoon. Put the tea bag against the teaspoon, and then wrap the string of the teabag around the spoon and bag a couple of times. If you pull the string, it'll nicely strangle the teabag and squeeze those last drops out.
(Then fling that teabag into the cafe rafters, boy!)

As for brewing tea: If you want a quick cuppa, put one tea bag in a mug. Stick the kettle on, and immediately when it clicks off, pour it into the mug with the teabag. If you were on the phone and the kettle sat for 5 minutes before you got to it, either re-boil it, or make coffee. Now just let the tea stand for a couple of minutes (experiment with the time to see what strength you like your tea at). Like redlemon points out, you can also strangle the bag to get a little extra strength in, but unless you're in a rush, that's not a great thing to do either.

Tea is also marvellously cheap, so get away from those Lipton Jigglers and try the different varieties. Twinings make good bag tea, and have a very wide selection. Just beware that there is no actual tea in an 'infusion'. But give infusions a go anyway. Some people love the taste, and I find a chamomile infusion (Lipton make a good one with a hint of citrus) very relaxing.

But really, if you want to enjoy your tea, and you have time to enjoy it in, steer clear of those bags. Leaf tea is infinitely better. Stop in to a tea/coffee supplier (they often can be found at markets) and start talking to them. They'll be more than happy to recommend a few varieties and give you some pointers on making a better brew.

One last note: As with coffee, milk and sugar are heresy.

yep i do that to :p
and i leave the bag in indeifnitley, well unitl i've drunk it all. I only drink peppermint tea though, i'd rather drink coffe that the other stuff... eeekkk

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*stole my Snapple*

Maybe what added to the confusion is that these "Family Size" tea bags are huge, a lot larger than standard tea bags -- that's why they tell you to use 8 cups of water.

If you put the teabag in before beginning to heat the water, teh tea will be much stronger than if you wait until after it boils.

wazzup with the tea pouring ceremony with japanese peope?

I was raised drinking strong tea, steeped indefinitely. These days, 1 tea bag in a large mug, fill with very cold water, microwave on high for 3 minutes, start drinking as soon as you won't scald your tongue, leave the tea bag in the cup.

Milk and sugar are for wimps. Drink it black and strong enough to crawl down your throat on its own. Then join the insomniacs club.

You could also get instant tea from any grocery store. 1 teaspoon instant tea + 6 teaspoons sugar + 1 healthy dollop of milk in a 24 ounce travel coffee mug of tap hot water. Microwave for about a minute. Blasphemy to serious "tea people", but quick and cheap.

I'm in the camp of putting the cup in the microwave for a bit, and then adding the teabag. I currently dont have a kettle, so its hard for me to get boiling water over the teabag. I should probably pick one up since they're probably not all that expensive.

lathos42: if you dont have a kettle you can use a small sauce pan. you just dont get the whistle, which i dont get on my kettle anymore anyway since that little whistly thing fell out of the flappy piece.

Of course, being a Brit, I find most American tea horribly anemic. Tea should have flavour, lots of it. That means BOILING water, a teapot, and extra-large British tea bags. Preferably PG Tips. Which you can only find at specialty stores or online through those wonderful services that keep us British ex-pats in tea, brown sauce and Cadbury's chocloate.

no no no, you lot are doin it all wrong! Ya get your Billy and hang that over the fire waiting for it to boil. When it's boiled ya take it off the fire and add your leaves stirring for a few minutes. then grab the wire on the billy and swing it in a circle motion using the full rotation of your arm. Pour in a cup, add sugar and milk to taste and enjoy :D

Milk? Who the hell adds milk to their tea? It's like putting icecream into a bowl of chicken soup. Bleh.

:thumbsup:

Southern Iced Tea:
fill your coffee maker with an appropriate amount of water
place tea bags in coffee carafe
turn on coffee pot
once pot has run all the water, let the tea steep to your liking.
put in pitcher and stir in sugar to taste (if desired)
add water til it's the amount of diluted that you like (some of you will add no water)
serve over ice, keep in refrigerator, but not over like a week or so.

lol, i used to make tea like that when i was younger. Used eycaluptus (sp?) leaves off a gum tree and it was ok. Sugar and milk did make it tastes good, only cause it tasted like milk with sugar :p

All the fun was with swingin the billy around and marvelling at the cetripetal force. Centripetal is such a cool word.

Lemon tea is a great pick-me-up if you haven't tried it.

Here's to that! Hershey's tastes like Laxettes!