Night Elf Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Do tea bags get old? I have a box that must be at least 2 years old that I forgot I had. I feel like I should throw them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Tea does get stale... Lipton is so cheap... I'd toss it and think nothing about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Yes, it gets old: like spices. Step 1 is from "really nice and fresh" to "meh, average" -- which happens fairly quickly. Maybe 6 months... But if the tea is cheap, it may have gone through that before you even bought it. Step 2 is just that it slowly progresses from "meh" to "not very potent any more" to "kinda tastes funny" over the course of years. That means if you bought it at "meh" it's probably still "meh" and shouldn't be too much worse for a few years yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 You could try it and see how it tastes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I am deeply saddened that people are using Lipton as their morning hot tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I am deeply saddened that people are using Lipton as their morning hot tea. Lipton is highly horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I am deeply saddened that people are using Lipton as their morning hot tea. Lipton is highly horrible. At least she didn't mention using the microwave to heat the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 At least she didn't mention using the microwave to heat the water. I believe the microwave/Lipton combo is the reason more people don't like tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Ah, my mother. She fills a cup with tap water, throws a Lipton bag in it, then sticks it in the microwave. Then she forgets it's in there, and two or three hours later remembers, hits 1:00 on the microwave, and reheats it. Then she sits down with her cup of tea, puts her feet up, and acts like it's the ultimate sublime treat of the century. And she's been doing it that way for about 30 years (or whenever microwaves came into use). So obviously it hasn't deterred her. (LOL) I read this to my tea drinking family and we all cringed! ("Ewww") We're all pretty fussy about timing our tea...our timer works in minutes and seconds because some teas are two and half minutes NOT three! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I know! It's so gross, isn't it?!? At one point in our marriage, both my mother-in-law and my mother stayed at our house at the same time. My poor tea-drinking British MIL was absolutely appalled at the barbaric practice of this unrefined American mother of mine! (LOL) Sigh. I just love my mom. She's something else. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Ah, my mother. She fills a cup with tap water, throws a Lipton bag in it, then sticks it in the microwave. Then she forgets it's in there, and two or three hours later remembers, hits 1:00 on the microwave, and reheats it. Then she sits down with her cup of tea, puts her feet up, and acts like it's the ultimate sublime treat of the century. And she's been doing it that way for about 30 years (or whenever microwaves came into use). So obviously it hasn't deterred her. (LOL) I'm enough of an addict to get that bad tea is better than no tea, but to prefer and savor it??? "You poked my heart." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 Well, fwiw, the tea bags are for making cold sweet tea. We have other teas from Republic of Tea, that we use for hot tea. We're not true tea drinkers. I'd rather have coffee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Stale but not dangerous. I'd probably toss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I should probably make a spin off but... How should someone make a single cup of tea? I've been heating my water in the microwave and then putting a tea bag in it for a couple minutes. The water is plenty hot. I put my tea bag in for a couple minutes then add some sugar. I can't say I love tea but I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm trying to quit drinking soda but need morning caffiene. I haven't found a particular tea I love yet, I do like Trader Joes pomegranate tea if I need decaf. I do not like green tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I would probably still use Lipton. I don't know that it would be much different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Wait, did you say cold, *sweet* tea? I'm pretty sure you can use dust for tea if you are adding that much sugar! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I should probably make a spin off but... How should someone make a single cup of tea? I've been heating my water in the microwave and then putting a tea bag in it for a couple minutes. The water is plenty hot. I put my tea bag in for a couple minutes then add some sugar. I can't say I love tea but I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm trying to quit drinking soda but need morning caffiene. I haven't found a particular tea I love yet, I do like Trader Joes pomegranate tea if I need decaf. I do not like green tea. I think the water heats better on the stove and then tea bag or tea ball added to the cup. I usually use a teapot but I usually drink 2-3 cups at a time. Green tea and white tea get bitter if the water is too hot. Let the water cool a couple minutes then add it. Oolong tea is more fool-proof and can be steeped at boiling but green and white tea cannot and they are really gross if the water is too hot or it is steeped too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I know! It's so gross, isn't it?!? At one point in our marriage, both my mother-in-law and my mother stayed at our house at the same time. My poor tea-drinking British MIL was absolutely appalled at the barbaric practice of this unrefined American mother of mine! (LOL) Sigh. I just love my mom. She's something else. A British lady just bought my local tea shop. She is just appalled that people keep ordering her fancy teas on ice. :lol: Just today I did tell her, "It's too hot!" she didn't think 60 degrees warranted putting ice in my tea. She did tell me that she will get me whatever size tea bag I want for iced tea. Yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evergreen State Sue Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 My husband tells the story that when his parents were missionaries in Africa, good-hearted people would send them used tea bags. They were thanked, but the tea bags were disposed of. His family weren't that desperate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 My husband tells the story that when his parents were missionaries in Africa, good-hearted people would send them used tea bags. They were thanked, but the tea bags were disposed of. His family weren't that desperate. What the heck? There was a thread recently about giving garbage to charity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I should probably make a spin off but... How should someone make a single cup of tea? I've been heating my water in the microwave and then putting a tea bag in it for a couple minutes. The water is plenty hot. I put my tea bag in for a couple minutes then add some sugar. I can't say I love tea but I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm trying to quit drinking soda but need morning caffiene. I haven't found a particular tea I love yet, I do like Trader Joes pomegranate tea if I need decaf. I do not like green tea. The way microwaves work, the water molecules have more variability of energy than they would if you heated the water in a kettle, sort of like when you're thawing something in the microwave and there are hot "pockets" and frozen solid places. A kettle on the stove gets convection currents going so all the molecules get stirred around and caught up in the action. So all the water is the same temperature, with no hot spots and cold spots. (There's probably a cool animation of this somewhere on the internet. I taught middle school physical science last year in co-op, and discovered that the internet has gobs of really swank animations to illustrate these concepts.) Anyway, tea will steep better in water that's all the same temperature rather than a mix of too cold and too hot. There are online articles explaining this more coherently. I'm on an iPad, supposedly making supper, so not linking. Google something like "why not microwave water for tea". ETA: I use a kettle on the stove for hot water. Some people like electric kettles and say they're about as fast and convenient as a microwave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I should probably make a spin off but... How should someone make a single cup of tea? I've been heating my water in the microwave and then putting a tea bag in it for a couple minutes. The water is plenty hot. I put my tea bag in for a couple minutes then add some sugar. I can't say I love tea but I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm trying to quit drinking soda but need morning caffiene. I haven't found a particular tea I love yet, I do like Trader Joes pomegranate tea if I need decaf. I do not like green tea. Bring the water to just under a boil on the stove. Pull it before your big bubbles really get going. It'll happen quickly with just enough water for a single cup. Alternatively, you can get an electric kettle. Some even have multiple temperature settings for different types of tea. You also don't want to steep the tea too long. I start my day with cheap, Trader Joe's Irish breakfast tea steeped 5 minutes (I have to set a timer) and served with a teaspoon of sugar and enough milk to lighten it so it looks like coffee with cream. This drink makes me happy :-). I have much better, loose teas that I brew throughout the day, but my first cup of the day is always the same. Of course, you could spring for THIS: My husband tells the story that when his parents were missionaries in Africa, good-hearted people would send them used tea bags. They were thanked, but the tea bags were disposed of. His family weren't that desperate. When I use a decent loose green tea I steep it a couple times. I don't try this with black tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.