How long do you keep the tea bag in your cup

[teetee]

I am looking at my insulated cup with a week old barley tea bag in it and realizing I am now just drinking hot water with some hint of tea..

 

[VanWinkle]

I use a tea bag filled with ground coffee each morning. I usually recycle to coffee bag for a total of 2 cups of coffee. I started doing this 9 years ago when the cost of Folgers coffee bags hit over 6 bucks for 12 bags. Call me frugal, call me cheap, but it works well for my 2 cups of coffee a day. I would not leave it there for more than 12 hours.

VW

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I don't use tea bags, I use an infuser to steep tea.

I steep fresh tea in the morning and reuse that tea throughout the day. A good quality tea can last a day.

At night I dump the tea leaves into the trash and rinse out infuser and repeat the process the next day.

 

[candrew]

4 minutes. I'm livin' large.

 

[Beststash]

I go for around 5 minutes. Two cups in the AM.

 

[COcheesehead]

One bag per cup, but I leave it in until empty. The thought of reusing a tea bag just has never entered my mind.

 

[candrew]

The thought of reusing a tea bag just has never entered my mind.

A symbol of frugality that could be added to this forum.

"Recycles tea bags"

Or perhaps - "Tea bagger"

 

[COcheesehead]

A symbol of frugality that could be added to this forum.

"Recycles tea bags"

Or perhaps - "Tea bagger"

 

[Sunset]

I use a tea bag filled with ground coffee each morning. I usually recycle to coffee bag for a total of 2 cups of coffee. I started doing this 9 years ago when the cost of Folgers coffee bags hit over 6 bucks for 12 bags. Call me frugal, call me cheap, but it works well for my 2 cups of coffee a day. I would not leave it there for more than 12 hours.

VW

I never heard of this, seems expensive to me.

I just use a cheap ($15) drip coffee maker and make a pot of coffee. Our cost is approximately 11.5 cents per large cup using the 3 lb coffee for $12 at Costco.

 

[pacergal]

tea infuser if using loose tea--about 2-5 minutes, may reuse same day depending on type of tea.
tea bag--about 2 minutes, will squeeze out excess and use for second bag with 5 minute steep, then throw it away.
I never keep a used tea bag or loose tea for more than 12 hours.

 

[Jerry1]

tea infuser if using loose tea--about 2-5 minutes, may reuse same day depending on type of tea.
tea bag--about 2 minutes, will squeeze out excess and use for second bag with 5 minute steep, then throw it away.
I never keep a used tea bag or loose tea for more than 12 hours.

Pretty much the same here. I hardly ever use the same tea leaves twice. The second brew just doesn’t produce the same flavor intensity that I like.

 

[cathy63]

My FIL was a frugal tea drinker. He would cut his Lipton tea bags in half and restaple them, so he could have two cups of tea from one bag without having a weaker second cup.

I am a spendthrift tea drinker. I buy high quality loose leaf teas and brew them in a pretty pot. Occasionally I will reuse the same leaves for a second pot later in the day, but I never keep them overnight.

 

[brett]

We keep it in until the tea is steeped to our taste. It is not about the time, it is about the taste.

It varies with tea. And whether we are using a tea bag or loose tea. Some tea bags seem to be more dust than they are tea.

We scald the pot (or the cup) and we ensure that that we use boiling water.

 

[NW-Bound]

I usually lift the bag out of my cup after a few minutes, because I do not drink strong tea.

I can get 2 cups out of a bag.

 

[Walt34]

I boil the cup of water in the microwave (I know, sacrilege!) then put the tea bag in there until I remember that "Oh yeah, there's a cup of tea steeping!" and I may or may not have to reheat it in the microwave. Then it gets a teaspoon of honey.

Only then is it fit to drink.

 

[SecondCor521]

My Mom is infamous (in a good way) in our family. She reportedly did a college paper or project on how many times a tea bag could be reused. I don't know her methodology, but I think her answer was 37.

I put water in my mug, tea bag in the water, microwave on high for three minutes. I let steep another minute or two. Sometimes I'll squeeze out the excess water from the tea bag.

I used to reuse the tea bags a couple of times. I think if you let it steep longer on subsequent uses the strength about equals out. The flavor maybe not so much.

 

[MarieIG]

I put on a pot of coffee and a pot of tea every morning. I put a tea bag in the pot of tea, let it boil, and then keep it in the pot for the rest of day as I drink the tea. The bag comes out with my final cup. My tea cup is about half the size as my coffee cup (which is 52 oz. Bubba).

 

[jollystomper]

3-5 minutes for decaf tea, less than a minute for caffeinated tea. I try to avoid caffeinated tea, but some delicious flavors are not available in decaf .

The thought of reusing a tea bag just has never entered my mind.

This was a big frugal thing in my home growing up.Parents did not drink coffee, their cultures are big on tea. Mom would consider throwing out a teabag after one use a mortal sin . We probably reused them at least 3 times. It was one of the hardest frugal habits for me to shake, and once in a while I still find myself slipping back into it.

 

[latexman]

I follow the instructions on my black tea, 2-4 minutes, unless I get distracted and forget. Regardless, it’s never undrinkable, so it’s not really that important to me.

 

[Bamaman]

I have a squatty Tupperware 1/2 gallon pitcher.

2 family size tea bags, water and 8 minutes in the microwave and I have a jug of tea. We go thru 1-2 pitchers daily.

We use Luzianne family sweetened tea bags--pre sweetened.

 

[DrRoy]

No more than 2 min.

 

[sparky08]

I put my morning tea in an infuser, and only use it once. But I make 20 oz in a Yeti insulated cup, so it keeps it hot all morning.

I mostly use tea as a caffeine delivery vehicle, hence using it only once.

 

[COcheesehead]

3-5 minutes for decaf tea, less than a minute for caffeinated tea. I try to avoid caffeinated tea, but some delicious flavors are not available in decaf .



This was a big frugal thing in my home growing up.Parents did not drink coffee, their cultures are big on tea. Mom would consider throwing out a teabag after one use a mortal sin . We probably reused them at least 3 times. It was one of the hardest frugal habits for me to shake, and once in a while I still find myself slipping back into it.

LOL - my parents grew up during the depression. I saw them do many frugal things too that I kind of smile about today. My Dad could stretch a can of coffee for almost a year. The coffee he made was so weak, it was slightly brown almost like a tea. He would drink the juice from cans of pears, jars of pickles. Nothing was ever wasted.

 

[SecondCor521]

LOL - my parents grew up during the depression. I saw them do many frugal things too that I kind of smile about today. My Dad could stretch a can of coffee for almost a year. The coffee he made was so weak, it was slightly brown almost like a tea. He would drink the juice from cans of pears, jars of pickles. Nothing was ever wasted.

Wait, what? You're not supposed to drink the pickle juice? I do and I really like the taste. ;-)

 

[VanWinkle]

I never heard of this, seems expensive to me.

I just use a cheap ($15) drip coffee maker and make a pot of coffee. Our cost is approximately 11.5 cents per large cup using the 3 lb coffee for $12 at Costco.

Not expensive for 2 cups only, better than Keurig cost per cup. If I made a pot, I would dump out the rest as I only drink 2 cups in the morning.