| | |  | This is the Conversation Forum for Ways of Making a Good Cup of Tea
<< Colour of teapots
MILK FIRST!!!!! >> | |
| | | Subject: Tea bags
Posted Jun 16, 2006 by Researcher 1300304
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  | | sacrilege i know, but i make my single cups of tea in a microwave. 2 minutes on medium (dependign on you cup size) then let sit for another one or 2.
with good tea this is a perfectly acceptable method.
be warned however that with bad tea the result can be awful, particularly if the bagging material is of poor quality.
i know the purists will go mental at this idea, but i'm afraid the physics is on my side.
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| | | Subject: Tea bags
Posted Jun 16, 2006 by Cheerful Dragon
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3
| | I've never tried making tea in a microwave. However, I do know that if you make tea 'normally' (i.e., with boiling water in a cup or pot) and then microwave it when it's gone cold, *that* tastes foul. And, yes, this applies to 'good' tea. We only drink Darjeeling, although I confess that we use teabags for convenience. Microwaved after it's gone cold, it's just yuk.
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| | | Subject: Tea bags
Posted Jun 22, 2006 by Researcher 1300304
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7
| | the trick is not to actually boil the water. altho it is part of the traditional tea ritual to have the water as close to a rolling boil as possible for maximum flavour, the reality is that most of the pleasant flavours are released at a fraction below boiling temperature. and this will vary from tea to tea. green teas are never steeped at boiling temperature and to do so creates unwanted tannins and bitterness. (it is possible that this is what some tea drinkers are actually seeking.) the main reason with black tea making to have the water at a rolling boil is to keep the steeping temperature as close as possible to the ideal while in the teapot for the required time to brew a proper cup.
because a microwave works at 'one pace' (the high setting is simply longer periods of being on) it is possible, without being a rocket scientist, to get a tea in the microwave to be at the 'proper' temperature for an extended period without getting temperatures so high you release unwanted bitterness.
you only have to learn this once.
i accept that it is perfectly possible to ruin a cup of tea in the microwave. but possible does not reduce to inevitable.
i have never seen a teabag staple arc either, but i guess that might be possible if you tried hard enough. the dissolved oxygen thing i just don't believe.
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