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What do you put in first: Teabag or hot water?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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I'm not sure why the hate for microwaves exist. It's literally just another method for making water move fast. It has absolutely no impact on the final product, as hot water is hot water no matter the heat source.
Lol at everyone in the replies inventing crazy conspiracy theories.
As someone who has microwaved tea a bunch of times because my workplace didn't have a kettle, let me bestow upon you the ~~~truth~~~:
Microwaved water is slow to boil (especially compared to a 2500 W kettle for us chad 230V enjoyers), about 2:30 for one cup IIRC and the cup will be uniformly heated including the handle which is annoyingly hot to the touch (and I'm not particularly squeamish with hot things).
Tastes the same though.
Heating water in the mike is fine. Heating already-made tea in the mike is fine. Heating water with a teabag in it in the microwave is the vilest act.
But boiling a tea bag is wrong no matter what your heat source is.
You're absolutely right, but I've only seen this abominable act in a microwave... and even then only on television.
Yes, this is one of the more bizarre cultural differences. I have seen people from the UK object strongly to Microwaving water.
Microwaving food definitely affects the way it tastes because it heats unevenly. Cooking foods different ways affects the outer browning, moisture levels, etc.
Heating water in a kettle on the stove, an electric kettle, a sauce pan, or a microwave doesn't change the water! If you don't want to seep tea in boiling water, then let it cool slightly first.
Lots of comments on superheating, mostly to the parent comment, but I'll put a response here.
You can avoid superheating by putting a reasonable time on the microwave based on the amount of water you're heating. Especially for something you do again and again, you should be able to quickly get experience with this.
Common sense like this does NOT belong on the internet.
True, but also disgusting and you should be ashamed.
I agree, while scientifically accurate, absolutely heretical.
To avoid the uneven heating just turn down the microwave power! No one does this and everyone complains about uneven heating! I get great reheating results from my microwave just by turning down the power and running it for longer.
This is how microwaves used to work decades ago when they were lower power by design. Over time the microwave power arms race resulted in them getting much too powerful for even reheating.
I live in the US and I strongly object to microwaving water. But I am also /really/ into tea so I avoid tea bags as much as possible.
Part of the cultural difference is that US is largely 110 and the UK is 220. It’s faster and easier to use an electric kettle. In the US, the microwave heats up the water “faster” vs the stove or an electric kettle
Water is much more likely to get supersaturated in a microwave, because water heats up in the middle of the container where there are no nucleation points. And supersaturated water heats the tea leaves above 100ºC, which can affect the flavor.
I don’t believe this to be true.
Edit: since the replies aren’t very polite, let me be more clear. This isn’t a concern. Any modern microwave with a turntable doesn’t have this problem
Science doesn't give a fuck about your "beliefs"
And without a turntable, depending where you place the cup, the hot spot could be anywhere.
It would only be able to heat the tea to above 100C if that point of zero nucleation remained undisturbed, and the tea held directly within it; in other words, it's not possible.
Assuming there's an amount of water within the cup that is above 100C, while the rest is at or below 100C. As soon as you grab the cup out of the microwave, the water will start to slosh around in the cup, equalizing the temperature. If there are any major hot spots remaining, they will be well below 100C, and almost completely equalized when the tea bag is added.
To be clear, the liquid water flashes into steam as soon as it contacts the leaves, so technically it isn’t the supersaturated water itself heating the tea over 100º. But the steam it produces is above 100º, and that’s what heats the tea.
Because we're better than that and electric kettles exist.
While I own one, it's another appliance that takes up space.
As someone who recently had their building flooded and lost power for an extended time an electric kettle can be an extremely useful tool that can be run off a more modest power source or be easily carried to a charging room where power is available. I do think it's important for every household to have one especially if you suffer frequent brownouts or boil water orders.
I've had microwaved water for tea a few times.
For some reason the water always starts foaming up a little bit when it's from a microwave instead of a normal kettle. I don't know why or what the difference is, but I prefer non-foamy water.
Water foaming when heated is caused by impurities in the water rather than the heating mechanism. So whatever is causing your water to foam is in it either way
And yet I never see it when I use a kettle.
And we all know what science says: if you can't see something, it isn't there!
Hahaha good point. 😄
Ah well, I have a decent kettle now, I don't have to use my microwave anymore to make hot water, so I'll continue to use that.
It's because the microwave gets the water a bit hotter than boiling. Just give it like 15 seconds and it shouldn't foam.
I think the issue is that the teabag has to be shocked with boiling water at 100C, not dampened in increasingly hot water. It may not taste as good.
I don't know if you can boil water in a microwave, but it's not a kettle, it's a closed container and you can expect loads of vapour from boiling.
Finally, microwave doesn't heat stuff evenly, so you may end up with parts of the water superheated, and explode in your face when you take out the cup from the microwave. https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=18822#%3A%7E%3Atext=Microwaved+water+and+other+liquids%2Cit%2C+which+can+cause+injury
You can still heat the water to your desired temp add the tea bags after. I don’t understand how your first point has relevance between a kettle vs microwaved cup
Yes you can easily boil water in the microwave.
The explosion isn’t a real common occurrence, otherwise you’d hear about it much more. Steam from a kettle can harm people as well
I think explosions were more common with microwaves that don't have turnstiles. The movement of the water helps prevent super heating to that point.
I have no turnstile in my microwave. Superheating is still a rarity. But then I do use common sense.
You should try tea that isn't shocked... Green tea is especially bitter and unpleasant if the water's too hot. The recommended temperature is 80°C, if I remember right.
But even black tea tastes less bitter if you use slightly rested water after boiling (and if you remove the teabag without squeezing it out). You're probably used to teas being astringent, but they don't have to be. They can be smooth and "rounded" and rich.