Seriousely how many of you do that? Sincearly a european
I do, water is water.
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
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
I used to do house calls a decade ago for IT work. Often customers offered me beverages.
Had a European who worked at the UN for decades make me tea. Blew my socks off. I’ve never enjoyed tea, but it seems like we just don’t know how to make it!
… The next month I was offered tea by a American. I wasn’t expecting it being made by a pro, but let him try.
He put “hot” tap water into a cup and tossed a teabag in.
I fake drank it.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.
Sooo … that’d be bad, then?
I used to microwave water for all sorts of things before getting an induction stovetop.
Seriously, it goes from tap water to boiling in 2 minutes. It’s a game changer.
My electric kettle does about the same. Long enough to finish a piss before doing the water things.
Induction hobs I think are still less efficient than an electric kettle, right? Correct me if I’m wrong. (I have both but I don’t have the know-how to measure the effect of either. Just what I’ve heard.)
It would be interesting to test. quick, someone poke Technology Connections.
He already did this one, iirc induction was better for Americans without access to 240v connections.
I think it’s this one?
If you have both, and a timer on your phone, should be easy enough to check. Put the same measured amount of water in both and see how long it takes to boil.
Yeah I meant efficiency, not effectiveness. Like power consumption vs time.
American electric kettles are also quite a bit slower to boil because our mains voltage is so low. https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c
I live in the US and I heat my tea water in an electric kettle. It probably isn’t as fast as yours, but it is still close to microwave speed. And I can heat up enough for several cups of tea and have it keep the rest hot. I usually drink more than one at a sitting.
Unless I’m misunderstanding your statement, you’re saying it’s faster to boil water in the microwave than the kettle? How’s that possible? I would think the microwave has more wasted energy
Microwave is blasting radiation at 100% efficiency as soon as you turn it on. Kettles heating elements need to heat up before they can heat the water.
I wonder what the efficiency of absorption is, though. Does 100% of emitted radiation get soaked up by the cup, or does some escape into the surroundings?
It doesn’t get absorbed so much as excite the water particles as it passes through. I’d imagine it would be more effective in the beginning when they’re standing relatively still.
My microwave can boil a single cup of water faster than my kettle. My kettle can boil four cups of water a lot faster than my microwave. It all depends on the microwave and kettle (and the voltage available).
Huh. I guess the kettle has some thermal mass to it making it less efficient for small amounts
I use an electric kettle but remember that in the US outlets are 120V, so they take a lot longer to heat water than in countries with 240.
So the microwave isn’t much less efficient than the electric kettle, mainly because some of the energy is heating the mug/container. The least efficient is a stovetop kettle on an electric stove.
But I’m curious, why are Europeans so horrified by the idea of heating water in the microwave? Is it related to power consumption, or is there some other reason?
Why would you? Have some class!
And if you need such a small amount of warm water to cook. Then take warm water from your tap.
For everything else? Use a kettle!
Oh, now I see! You don’t understand that a microwave can boil water, you think it can only warm it up a little. Thank you for clearing up my confusion.
Have some class!
Whenever I hear Europeans accuse Americans of being arrogant, I can only laugh. Feeling superior about something like how you boil water is hilarious.
Takes longer and usually don’t get it hot enough.
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.
Never. Because I don’t drink tea.
However, the ones in my household who do use an electric kettle. I’ve never seen them use the microwave for tea.
That’s the trouble with electrics … once you buy one, you feel compelled to use it to get your money’s worth, ammiright?
Anyway, a true purist wud NEVER use an electric, wud tha? It’d been over a nice smoky hearth to give it that tang, like figgy puddin’.
Never we have a Quooker. (Instant boiling water out of the kitchen faucet)
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
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!
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
I don’t drink tea or coffee, but my mom microwaves her water for tea.
Are you say its only the water temperature that matters, then? Is yer last name ‘Kelvin’ by any chance?
I honestly have no idea what your point is
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.
At home, I always heat the water in a saucepan on my stove. I only use a microwave when I’m making tea at the university, where it’s the only way I can get hot water. These microwaves are always a bit dirty because most students don’t clean after themselves, and I can’t fully enjoy my tea because it feels tainted.
Always for coffee only sometimes for tea.
