A poll about tea

[mousme]

So it has come to my attention that among my friends there are two schools of thought concerning the use of tea bags. To re-use, or not to re-use?

Complete purists don't use tea bags at all (I admit, tea leaves do taste better). Semi-purists will only use the tea bag for one cup of tea, or one pot at a time. The others see nothing wrong with re-using a tea bag once or twice, since it retains the flavour for a while.

So, to which school of thought do you belong? Or, if you don't drink tea, I've left you another voting option. :)


[Poll #563386]

...

I still don't have a tea icon.

Comments

[meallanmouse.livejournal.com]

Sure why not - in a more "yes, because mint tea can last forever and I just refill several times" sort of way.

Also, some teas are made to be re-used. The Dragon Ball Pearl tea for one does that nicely, but it's definitely in the more expensive range.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I didn't want to include a million variations of "Yes" in there, otherwise the poll would have been huge and unwieldy and daunting, and then would have gone rampaging over downtown Tokyo. ;)

[meallanmouse.livejournal.com]

But! But!

Rampages over downtown Tokyo are FUN!!!

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I leave that to my cats. I like my polls where I can see 'em. ;)

[mellybean71.livejournal.com]

King Cole tea doesn't seem to get as bitter and I find I can re-use the tea bag. I think re-using depends on the type and brand really.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

The system in this household for a night that requires much tea is to make the big teapot with 4 bags, then once it's empty, to throw in another bag or (more usually) 2, and refill the pot with boiling water. Repeat until the teapot is half full of teabags, and then dump them out and start again.

So the answer to "Do you re-use teabags?" is: Yes for a pot, but no for a cup.

[miseri.livejournal.com]

The one time I tried to re-use a teabag, the tea came out all weak and tasteless. Less bitter, but much less everything else as well. So never again.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

You have made me want tea, but I don't have any clean pots to boil water in, boooo!

[rowen26.livejournal.com]

There's no answer for me in your poll!

You have only one answer for no. :P

My answer is no, but not because it makes the tea taste more or less good. Just no, because it's been used once and I throw it away because it's been used and looks all gross en whilted. I like putting in a crisp fresh tea bag.

And with hundreds of tea bags in a box, I don't feel like I have to reuse them.

[terheyt.livejournal.com]

I re-use tea bags, but that's because I like my tea very weak and in great quantities. If the bag is in there for more than 10 seconds, it's too strong for me, so the bag is barely used.

But when hosting, I ALWAYS give guests a new tea bag.

So my answer is yes for me, no for friends.

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

I do reuse, especially if the bag hasn't been sitting in a full cup of water for a while, but on a spoon instead.

Also, I re-use some herbal tea bags... with the same caveat as above.

C.

[jdhobbes.livejournal.com]

I've become a fan of King Cole as a good strong morning tea. My parents would use three orange pekoe bags to make a pot of tea, whereas one King Cole for 5 minutes is more than enough for a pot.

But to reuse the tea bag? It depends. If I'm making a pot of tea, then not because there won't be enough left in the tea bag to make another pot. But for a single cup? Most definitely. Steep the first cup for 5 mins and then leave the bag in for the second or third cup.

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

I don't have a tea icon either, though I'm a tea connoisseur.. I don't care for fannings, so I use whole leaf tea and a filter you just set into the cup and dump out and rinse later. I think reusing a tea bag would make it very weak and you'd get a lot more of the tannin the second time, if it were anything other than an herbal tea.