Seriousely how many of you do that? Sincearly a european
I don’t, my water dispenser has a tap for hot water. If I’m out of water in the dispenser I usually boil it in a pan. That being said heating water in the microwave is not an issue for me, as long as it’s just the water before adding the tea.
I walked out of a hookup when she offered tea and put the mug in the microwave
PSA: Microwaving water can actually be super dangerous because it’s possible to superheat it. When the surface is disrupted, it can violently boil all at once and hurt you.
Generally you need super pure water though, so if you don’t have a distiller and brand new unused dishes, it’s probably not an issue.
I’ve doon thot several times now. And so I -almost always- remember to check that the left digit on the timer is one.
I microwave water for almost everything that requires boiling water except cooking pasta.
I recommend getting an electric kettle and leaving it on the counter. It’s extremely fast. You can fill a measuring cup, dump it in, and 2 minutes later it’s boiled hotter than the microwave. And if you drink coffee, a French Press is 100% better than drip.
Not once in my life.
I was fighting a cold recently so used the microwave to heat the lemon juice / honey / gin mixture I was self medicating with.
Lemon juice, honey, and also gin?!? Genius! Any water, or just that?
We ran out of JD Honey - trump tax and Canadian embargo - and I was gonna add a local bourbonesque booze … but I never even thought of a gin base.
Gin is just what I had available. It’s a hot toddy, normally made with whiskey but I’m not a big fan of wood cask spirits. I put it in a thermos to take to a funeral. It was about a 3:2:1 gin:lemon:honey mix. It was sippable but sweet like cordial from the honey. I was putting it in hot water.
Jesus invented kettles for a reason, only commies and the god forsaken use the stove or microwave :)
Ironically, commies use a kettle
In the US, if you go to the store and ask where are the tea towels are, they’ll look at you funny, then suggest you look in the T-shirt department.
I’m not a commie, and if god forsook me, how would I know?
OTOH, I still mostly only drink Red Rose and Tetley, and given enough steep time … say 10 or 15 minutes … they’re not so nasty. And I was born -next- to Canada, so I can’t be -too- disabled.
What is a tea towel?
A small cloth for drying dishes or worktops in a kitchen
A kitchen towel?
Im not against it, but an electric tea kettle is no slower, and less hassle. Seriously, 2 cups of water boils in under 2 minutes, it’s insane.
No. I put it in the air fryer
We just have an instant hot water tap. Can’t live without it, haha.
We have a spigot in the kitchen that only puts out boiling-hot water, so I use that. If that’s not working, I’d just boil it in a pan on the stove.
My wife is a purist from the south of England with several tea brewing options. If I boiled water in the microwave I’d be at real risk of divorce
Sooo … that’d be bad, then?
She is a keeper
For sure. I am punching and I know it
What are you punching??
A kettle of water repeatedly to heat it up
As a guy who recently got into tea, any recommendations? I got a box of Yorkshire gold, it’s pretty good, but almost tastes a little… chalky? Malty I suppose is the word. It’s good, I’m not complaining, but would be interested to hear recs from someone who knows what’s what
I’ve been on a real chai kick and got the biggest available size of this tea a month or so ago and I’m already nearly through it. I love it with milk and sugar, it has some caffeine and a spicy complexity that gets me going in the mornings. It’s amazing cold too, if I don’t finish the pot before it goes lukewarm I’ll put in a glass bottle in the fridge for later.
Oh and buy loose leaf tea. Even cellulose and paper teabags are apparently riddled with micro plastics.
Ya, I need to get off the bags. I had no idea about the micro plastics. I’m running by my kitchen store here in the next few days and buying a basket strainer.
How do you brew yours? I’ve also seen the little baskets on a string. It seems like that could work. Idk the basket seems like the most straight forward easiest thing to do.
I’m not sure how I feel about the flavors, I always hated them in coffee, I’m hesitant to order flavored tea.
The latching baskets, the little spring spoons, cages, muslin bags, I’ve tried them all and absolutely nothing is as convenient or easy as just getting a pot with an inset stainless steel infuser. The infuser just fits around the inside of the tea pot rim underneath the lid, and when my tea is ready I can dump used tea leaves right in the compost bin with a good tap or two, rinse it and it’s ready for another pot. Highly recommend it, don’t mess with anything more complicated.
I always recommend this site: https://theteahouseltd.com/
We’ve visited them in person and their tea was so fantastic that even non-tea people loved it. They ship worldwide. I tend to order in bulk these years.
Only one tea has ever come close, and it was a small Asian restaurant out of Vancouver, BC. This store has dozens of amazing varieties.
I absolutely don’t heat water in the microwave! I have a kettle like any other good god-fearing man.
However as a person who recently got into tea I’d love to hear recommendations on tea. I recently got a box of Yorkshire gold that’s been pretty good to me
What kind of tea experience are you looking for? A sweet and fruity herbal good hot or cold? Something refreshing and subtle to enjoy with a touch of lemon? Something dark and complicated? Smokey and earthy? There are so many options you should probably think about what you want from your cuppa.
Definitely darker. I’ve been digging the straight black teas. I don’t hate green tea, but I’ve been gravitating towards the breakfast blends.
I’d honestly recommend seeing if you have any local brick and mortar tea vendors so you could go get your nose in some tins. If you already know you like breakfast blends, you will get such a better experience from your tea if you can really smell the leaves and let your nose lead the way. Tea doesn’t always taste how it smells but a lot of the major notes will be there. If you are unfortunate enough not to have a local place, then if you’re in the US, Adagio has lots of samplers and they’re usually my go to.
I just looked and it turns out I do have a tea store in town! Just opened in the last few months. Gonna stop in and sniff around a bit
So, I like loose leaf when I can, but will totally use bags, I grew up with Tetley so that’ll always be the tea I’ll use for some basic iced tea. Yorkshire gold reminds me a lot of Red Rose, which is the other really common bag tea (and I swear is what my grandmother uses for her water intake). Recently, have some bags from Genuine Tea, it’s a Canadian brand and some of their blends are pretty good, there’s an elderberry hibiscus one that’s great to just toss a few bags in a pitcher and cold steep.
Going to mention more types of teas rather than brands that I’ve liked in the past, there’s a lot of variety and tea (like quality coffee) can totally have a wide range of flavours depending on region, age, processing etc. By no means an expert, I just like trying things.
I like Lapsang Souchong sometimes, can have a strong smoky flavour, don’t have any more but we had some first flush Darjeeling tea that was fantastic. I had some nice white tea as well, but you need to be careful, turns super unpleasant if you over steep it or have the water too hot, should be floral and lightly fruity, not pine needles.
Otherwise, I personally like oolong and pu’erh tea the best. I tend to brew tea quick with an excess of leaves, but you’ll use the same tea leaves multiple times. Pu’erh can have some earthy subtle flavours, and apparently totally changes as it ages (it’s fermented if I recall).
Definitely going to give the lapsing a try. Ty for the rec!
I did it when having no kettle,
Main problem is that you don’t have a good temperature control, sometimes, you get mid-walm water, sometimes you get boiling water.
Even worse, you have this physical phenomena where water is above 100 degree but doesn’t boil, and as soon you move-it it starts boiling. At best it’s impressive but it can move into burn quickly.
Yeah I grew up without a kettle and just lived with shitty badly heated water. Got myself a kettle after moving out and improved my tea experience greatly.
I got my parents a kettle though because my mom, especially, drinks about 10 cups of hot water a day, but she hates the kettle and won’t use it. I do not understand.
Has that happened to you? I’ve not managed to make super heated water in the microwave.
The water continues to heat ~1 minute after microwaving stops, so I guess it could happen if you take it out very close to the boiling point.
That does not sound right. Do you have a source for that claim?
Yes it already happened a couple of time. It starts boiling either when pulling-out or when putting the tea inside.
Apparently you can do it by turning off the microwave as soon as it starts boiling, turning it on again and repeating until everything boils at the same time and explodes.
Why not heat it on the stove in a small pan?
For me it’s the fact that my cast iron stove takes ages to heat up
Yes, if I need only 1 cup of hot water, I use the microwave.
The electric kettle wants a minimum of 2 cups (1/2 liter), or else it makes funny noises.
You can buy a mini kettle that has a minimum of 250-300 ml, or 1 cup.
Mine makes funny noises too, but since it has a marker for one cup, the noises obviously don’t matter.
Was gonna say, for one cup it seems like a better use of resources (in terms of power), the only obvious downside is temperature control
