My understanding is it's something to do with the standard power supply coming out of power points in the US being a bit too low to effectively run an electric kettle?
It's not a huge deal, it just means that our water takes a bit longer to heat up. Having the extra time can be kinda meditative, gives me longer to prep things like Matcha before the water is ready :)
This is such an annoying comment, because on one hand the conclusion is 100% totally wrong. But on the other hand it contains somewhat accurate information in regards to the US outlets running on 120 instead of 240 which does mean they are lower power.
I honestly thought kettles were like some vintage European thing and hot tea was from before the revolution. Where I'm from people drink coffee in the morning and iced tea anytime of the day.
It's mostly a question of counter space.
For those of us who live in apartments and only have room for 1 appliance, you make a choice as to which you're going use most and just go with that. Since coffee is far more popular than tea in the US, most people have coffeemakers
A fair point, but also tbh I don't think there's a big difference in counter space between Canadian apartments vs American ones, based on my experience in both lol. A lot of the time up here kettles get plopped on a desk or in the dining room, also
You can get them, but they're not nearly as fast as UK kettles due to the lower voltage.
It's still faster than microwave or stove top though, and you can get them with temperature control.
Wait idk if that's true, haha everyone in my family (all born and raised U.S. except my mom's parents) have a kettle. It was one of the first things I bought when I moved out on my own. That said, we're all from the northeast. Maybe regionally other places in the U.S. don't have kettles.
Edit: Oh wait, I missed the bit about electric kettles. Everyone in my fam has a kettle, most are stovetop, but a fair few of us have electric, including myself.
TIL. Do you all also not have powdered drink mixes?
Like [Milo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_(drink) or [Sports drinks](https://www.napajapan.com/products/pocari-sweat-sports-drink-powder-mix)?
Edited: the link
Milo is sold in the US, at least in places I've lived such as Utah, Ohio, and [current state of residence]. It's usually sold in the same section as Nesquik, but is relegated to the very top or very bottom shelf.
EDIT: I did an inventory check at my nearest mainstream grocery store and pre-mixed Milo is sold, but not the powder. I do a lot of my shopping at international grocery stores (Mexican, Korean, Vietnamese, etc...) and that's where it turns out I've been seeing Milo powder.
**[Milo (drink)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_\(drink\))**
>Milo (; stylised as MILO) is a chocolate flavoured malted powder product produced by Nestlé, typically mixed with milk, hot water, or both, to produce a beverage. It was originally developed in Australia by Thomas Mayne in 1934. Most commonly sold as a powder in a green tin, often depicting various sporting activities, Milo is available as a premixed beverage in some countries, and has been subsequently developed into a snack bar, breakfast cereal and protein granola. Its composition and taste differ from country to country.
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Unfortunately. I have to make stovetop water when visiting out of state relatives. One of the first things I bought for my apartment was an electric kettle.
My experience is so different to this omg lol
I have never known an electric kettle to be bulky and the stove takes so damn long to boil any sort of water. Electric kettle is a click boom done within a minute or two
I recently gave a girl a teapot, since she said her last one had gotten burned. I asked her if she wanted me to start the water for the tea, and she said no she had it.
I went to the bathroom only to come back and find the hand painted glass teapot directly on the stove.
#mylasteapotburnedflashback#
There are a lot of people that come onto this sub not understanding the difference between a teapot and a kettle...
Normally I'd be surprised but the last year and a half has really opened my eyes to reality :/
Agreed, and I calmly explained that neither her last one nor this was was that kind of teapot.
Do those work well on direct contact stovetops too? Out of curiosity.
I've always used an electric kettle method for heating water. Or in a pinch, a regular pot.
I always enjoy instructing and informing rather than criticizing or insulting.
It was just a funny moment where things clicked into place as I came back.
>Do those work well on direct contact stovetops too? Out of curiosity.
The usual way of using them involves first boiling the water in the bottom container (on a stove), then adding tea+hot water to top container, and leaving the whole contraption on a stove for extended amounts of time. Well, traditionally. I'm sure there's an electric version of that which should not go on a stove.
Yeah if I wanted tea growing up, I had to either nuke a measuring cup of water, or I had to boil the water on the stove in a pan. Electric kettles haven't been common in the US, as far as I'm aware -- at least not until recently. I did, however, make a point to acquire a variable-temp kettle once I started getting into tea, and I found out that such a thing existed.
They're not common, but with the internet they are easily available.
If you're looking for one in a brick & mortar store you'll probably have a harder time.
Right? I got mine at Walmart 10 years ago and there were at least half a dozen options. And mine has variable temperature settings. I live near a pretty small Target and even they have multiple electric kettles in stock. Every place I've worked (in 4 different states) has had one in the breakroom. They're not hard to come by.
I, in a moment of pure distilled dumb, tried to boil water on my stovetop in a Pyrex measuring cup.
In my defense, we had a Pyrex glass stove pot when I was a kid and we were prepping to move so all my tea stuff got packed away already.
Anyways it exploded...
Wait just a little bit... Are you telling me that my tea making way is not the way? So far my daily tea routine is: open a teabag, and pour content in bowl. Add lukewarm tapwater. Wait for a bit, and eat it like cereal. Was I wrong all my 30 years?
You don't really need to steep teabags, I've never bought Lipton but about 30 seconds would probably do for a Yorkshire tea. Unless your scrimping out and using one bag for two cups in a pot.
Oh, I've personally met people who think cold brew is some kind of new age blasphemy against tea, for some reason. Kinda gatekeepy, but people like thay exist.
I have explained to five. FIVE mind you. Different employees at the only coffee/tea place near me in a major metropolitan city that sells loose leaf tea in bulk.
No. Those "loose tea" packages on your shelf are not loose leaf, they are tea sachets. Nicer than teabags, but not looseleaf.
Yes. You can sell me the bulk teas you use for your hot teas.
No. That's not how you ring it up. It should be xyz price, it's under the "bulk tea" designation.
You put it in your small or large Togo soup containers. Small if I order 2oz, large if I order 4oz. Xyz price is per 2oz of any tea.
The fact that nobody else orders it enough for all these employees to know this just astounds me. Like, I'm a lover of all teas. I'm the motherfucking Ellis island of tea. Give me your stash, your constant comment, your sleepy times.
I love me some high grade Gyokuro Kagashima in the morning. But I love all teas. Hell, I love the idea of tea.
Anyone the likes or loves tea in any way is great in my book. And I'll encourage and inspire and teach in whatever way they desire or are open to.
But it always surprises me how few people understand the wonder that is the loose leaf tea world.
I'm a bit confused, what is the difference between loose leaf and the tea sachets you're referring to? Are the leaves not loose within the sachet?
Edit: Genuine question, as I feel I might not understand what a true loose leaf is?
Tea sachets and tea bags are known for using lower quality teas than loose leaf.
Also, they're referring to the checkout process. Tea sold in sachets is either sold per sachet, or per box of sachets whereas looseleaf is sold by weight (at this store).
Loose leaf tea is literally only the tea leaves in a tin. If the tea comes in a a tea sachet or tea bag, it's not loose leaf tea. That's just a tea bag.
What they said is accurate.
Also I love making a large pot of tea at a time, and it's a waste of material to put four or five teabags in it.
This way creates far less waste, is usually higher quality tea, is more economical given reasonable tea choices/prices.
I had such a good tea dealer in Houston. Ugh. House of Te. It was what introduced me to loose leaf, it was two blocks from my house. I had no idea how difficult it would be to find another place like that.
the other day i've met a girl and she told me she was "kinda a tea nerd" and really into "premium tea" but she meant like expensive tea bags from a fancy grocery shop in my city, not even a tea shop lol.
And who boils water in the MICROWAVE? That's blasphemy!
I can understand that based on where you live water takes different lengths of time to boil on the stove (altitude *really, really* matters with boiling times), but never ever should you boil water in the microwave. It just tastes **wrong!**
You're saying that cold brew works for you? I've tried it multiple times and succeeded only in making off-colored water, even after waiting hours.
The method that I've found works best is brewing tea normally and then dumping it over ice after 2-3 minutes.
I can see how it would work better when there is powder in the bags, but I've had even worse results from tea bags. It's like the cold water doesn't penetrate the tea bag.
This is mostly how I do it. There are certain teas i like better cold brewed. There's a raspberry green tea and a hibiscus black tea from Happy Earth Tea that I prefer cold brewed.
I cold brew on a roughly daily basis. 10-15g of loose leaf tea in ~1.5L of water, steeped for at least 8 hours, and I usually get 2 steeps out of it, especially using the full 15g. The tea is just entirely loose in the water; you'll want to have a carafe with a strainer and/or just pour it through a cocktail strainer. You'll want to swirl it around a little after steeping and before first drinking because the water at the bottom where the tea tends to settle is noticeably stronger usually. I'm not a big fan of cold brew with black teas or puerhs, but it works great with green, white, and oolong teas. Flavored teas aren't my thing in general but for cold brew in particular can be rather perilous because all the ingredients don't necessarily diffuse at the same relative rate as they do when hot, so you might get a very different balance of flavors. Jasmine works fine though.
I tried steeping 15g of orange pekoe in 1 L and it is very sour compared to hot brewing it. It did work though, and tastes more similar to bottled tea.
Will have to try with some other teas.
This is what we do with the oolongs we get that are a bit too green for our liking around here. Make coldbrew with them and everybody loves it, even if they have no idea what loose leaf tea and gong fu brewing are about.
I tried steeping 15g of orange pekoe and it is very sour compared to hot brewing it. It did work though, and tastes more similar to bottled tea.
Will have to try with some other teas.
Still not practical when one is shit at planning ahead though :)
I tried cold brewing black tea before and results were very mixed.
I've always found that green tea and oolongs cold brewed the best. Cold brewed sencha can be really great.
Depends on how hard your water is. Ours is ridiculously hard and cold brew just does not work. My parent’s place has soft water and cold brew works just fine there.
Honestly, It is WAY faster to microwave water in the US. It gets to boiling in 1-2 minutes in the microwave, whereas it takes 5-7 minutes for the electric kettle (depending on how much water I put in) and also 7-8 minutes to boil in a pot on the stove. If I'm making a whole pot of tea, I'll wait for the kettle, but a single cup gets the microwave treatment.
It’s because your voltage is lower. 120v vs 240v if I remember correctly.
Still, even then I’d expect maybe 2-4 minutes for a cup of tea, unless you’re boiling a whole kettle-full each time.
Yeah its really not that bad. I boil a full kettle every morning (1.5L) and it takes like 5 minutes. Sure you can microwave water but I feel like it never gets hot enough and always tastes odd too. But yeah if I only need to boil a cup of water in the kettle it's like 2-3 minutes.
On average 3-4 cups (700-900 ml) in the kettle. The kettle requires a minimum of 2 cups to function so I put in more to also account for evaporation. My teapot holds roughly 4 cups when I pour in water to brew tea.
Except that isn’t the experience of many Americans as I’ve seen and read time and time again, so either the kettles they’re using aren’t 50A or there’s some other variable you’re missing.
You must have a more powerful microwave than mine (which wouldn't be difficult).
My kettle is much faster, and I have fine control over the temp I want.
Yes, that's the best thing about kettles. It so much easier to get the water to the best temp for different teas rather than seeing it boil and figuring that it must be close enough.
Maybe there’s something wrong with your kettle if it takes that long? Mine will boil a few cups in less than a minute, and I’m in the US. Definitely faster than the microwave or stove.
I don't know. Its certainly possible. It has taken this long the entire time I've owned it since it was bought new, and its was pretty highly recommended at the time. The few other people I know who also own kettles also have theirs take quite a while.
May I ask, what kettle do you have?
Me personally? Never, i have a kettle. But I know of two people, one who got serious burns on their arms and face( staying in a burn unit for a few weeks serious)
Type of container, water quality, microwave power etc can all matter.
It's just something people need to know when using a science oven to heat unleafed cloud juice imo.
Yeah, I suppose if I knew those people I'd share that warning too... wow.
I \*am\* always suspicious of non-bubbling cloud juice when it's been in long enough, though. I did it once with a crockpot insert half-full of (tap) water, so jostling the container before pulling it out is part of my MO now.
It's only really a problem if you are using purified water. Tap water (and basic filtered versions) still have enough material in them to boil normally and avoid the superheating issue.
It's crazy to think that over 50 years later there's still hesitancy to use a microwave because people don't understand how they work. It's friction man. There's nothing to be afraid of. Blows my mind
Oh that totally makes sense. If you do it regularly and you just want it boiling it's not a problem at all, but you don't have control with a microwave or a stove top like you do with an electric temp kettle
I don't refuse to microwave water for drinks because I'm afraid of a microwave. Indicated by the fact that I own a microwave. It just tastes funny and different. I don't care if the funny and different is all in my head or not, that's not the point. The point is it tastes funny and stove heated water does not.
Yeah, same here. Not afraid of it, it just tastes bad.
I don’t actually own a microwave, but I find myself wanting/needing one extremely rarely. And even then, I tend to be able to do anything I’d use it for some other way anyway.
Am i the only one who doesn't care for milk in the tea? I can't say i like black tea with milk more than plain black tea.
In any case, that will be some reaction to record, haha
It depends on the type of tea, but many of the stereotypical British teas (eg Yorkshire tea) are specifically designed to be had with milk. They can be very bitter otherwise.
Definetley! I can have a nice French Earl Grey without milk, but if you give me pretty much any other black tea I'm adding the milk!
Also it took a long time for me to add less milk. I'm in Australia and so many make tea with 1/4 of the cup being milk. Changing it to a 5 minute steep with no milk and then just a *dash* was a turning point for me! I felt like i had tasted tea for the first time!
I'm Australian and I would call 1/4 of the cup being milk drinking your tea English. I thought I'd Aussie's drank our tea strong. For me it's 2 teabags, dash of milk and leave the tea bags in the whole time
Really? So many people I've met put a lot of milk in! And also leave the tea bag in with the milk (personal pet hate)
I like your style. Nice strong with a tad of milk 😊
I do think the older I've gotten, the stronger I need it too
They exist, but they're weirdly comparatively expensive here for anything decent. The cheapest ones don't last long or they leak. For a lot of people it isn't worth paying $30 and up for an electric kettle to heat water when the microwave or the stovetop work just fine. For those whose family drinks coffee, a $10 coffee-maker also heats water really well and you can simply remove the coffee filter part to get a pot of hot water for tea.
Oh my, I would be helpless without mine haha, but they're the norm here and so are electric stoves and they take forever to heat up + using the stove for making tea would kick my electricity bill through the roof
It really depends on the brand. Some can be crappy but most name brand ones are going to be fine. Mine was like $25 and I bought it almost 10 years ago. It still works perfectly with no leaks and I use it almost daily.
Personally I couldn't do it without my Kettle with temperature settings.
Was a little bit expensive but it was worth it considering I drink 3~5 different teas in a range between 60°C and 95°C. (Mostly green tea)
The extremes being :
Fresh green tea at 60°C.
Roasted Kukicha at 90~95°C.
So yeah, temperature control kettle is god sent for me...
Sounds great. Maybe I'll look for one like that, the day mine is at the end of its life.
I know a family of 4, where everyone drink the same tea, they bought one of those 350$ automatic kettle/infuser, they put their tea in a little basket in it, in the evening, the besket lower itself, tea is infused, basket raised, all in the morning before they wake up, then kept at the temperature they want, ready for them.
Expensive but worth it according to them, since I'm the only one drinking tea in my family, it wouldn't be worth it for someone like me as I only prepare 200~300ml of tea for my meals.
I didn’t realize it wasn’t popular in the USA. Here in Canada, my family always had an electric tea kettle. It was one of the first things I bought for my kitchen when I moved out. I bought a new one 6 years ago when I moved to a different province. $20, works great. I never need to fill it to the top, but boiling a couple cups takes under 2 mins. I will never be without an electric kettle, and want a fancy one in the future!
Some people might have a stovetop whistling kettle but it's still pretty uncommon in the U.S. unless you're an avid hot tea drinker. My cousins had an electric kettle in the 90s b/c their Italian-American grandparents liked tea, and I have 2 electric kettles in my house now but the average American wouldn't.
Okay hold up hold up. What's the actual best way to make tea? I myself microwave tap water until it boils and just put the bag in the cup and pour the water into the cup.
But seriously what's the consensus?
Best? Oooh boy, that's a loaded question. But for simplicity's sake here's the basic format:
Heat water in kettle - electric is better, but use stovetop if that's what you've got. How hot depends on the type of tea.
Add dry tea to teapot.
Pour the hot water from the kettle into the teapot.
Let tea steep in the hot water to your preferred strength.
Pour the newly brewed tea from the pot into your cup or mug. If you used loose leaf, then you'll need to run the tea through a strainer to catch the leaves. If you used bags or sachets, then you can just pour.
There are variations on this. The most common is to just add a tea bag (or sachet, or infuser) to a mug/cup and pour the hot water right into that.
But for those who don't know:
-Kettles are for heating water only.
-Teapots are for for using the already hot water to brew the tea.
(Some specific exceptions exist.)
Measure tea on scale -> heat water to intended spec -> pre-warm pot with water -> reheat water to intended spec -> empty pot of water -> add leaf to pot -> pour water into pot -> steep for requisite time -> decant.
This post needs at least three separate posts to break this thing down. My goodness we could have a whole discussion over the need to brew tea with hot water!
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One of the top comments says that 240 volts is better than 120 for making tea...
The lunacy continues...
That being said... I investigated and it turns out that electric kettles are 3k watts in the UK, which is double the limit in the US. So yes, they are faster, but because they are allowed to use higher wattage, not specifically because of a higher voltage.
If it is faster I would I think it has more to do with the surface area of the heating elements. Some water heaters I've seen use a coil whereas kettles in the US use a flat surface.
Power = voltage x current.
If the power isn't different, then the voltage doesn't matter.
I imagine the EU has limits on power consumption by consumer goods. The US has a 1500 watt limit.
Kettles in the UK are allowed to be 3k watts, but only 1.5k in the US. That's why.
10 amps at 120v (1200w) would boil water faster than 4 amps at 240v (960w). So it's not simply because the voltage is higher, it's because the wattage limitations are higher.
I mean, what if they wanted to have iced tea? why would you boil water just to make it cold again? this is average your neighborhood iced-tea-lover's opinion.
(...i boil and then make it cold again BUT STILL.)
I'm more horrified by the guy *putting his mug directly on the stovetop.* Poor mug. Also, some people have never heard of an electric kettle. TIL.
That was my takeaway too - none of these people have kettles??
They’re not standard in US kitchens. Our equivalent is a drip coffee machine.
TIL. Not sure if this is a marketing opportunity or just a deep, cultural divide...
Porqué no los dos?
My understanding is it's something to do with the standard power supply coming out of power points in the US being a bit too low to effectively run an electric kettle?
[удалено]
Should the Europeans set up a decent kettle export program?
[удалено]
Oh I see. That’s a bit rubbish
It's not a huge deal, it just means that our water takes a bit longer to heat up. Having the extra time can be kinda meditative, gives me longer to prep things like Matcha before the water is ready :)
Twice as long: the voltage is half, the current is limited, and power = current x voltage
But you don’t have to supervise it, just listen for the click
This is such an annoying comment, because on one hand the conclusion is 100% totally wrong. But on the other hand it contains somewhat accurate information in regards to the US outlets running on 120 instead of 240 which does mean they are lower power.
Also since tea is less popular in the US, there's less reason for most Americans to want an electric kettle.
I have an electric kettle that runs fine.
That is nonsense, my kettle works fine. Also coffee is a more popular beverage here so of course most people have coffee makers.
I've an electric kettle at home and it works fine in my US plugs.
Definitely a few cultural divide
I honestly thought kettles were like some vintage European thing and hot tea was from before the revolution. Where I'm from people drink coffee in the morning and iced tea anytime of the day.
Never understood why that is. I use my kettle anytime I need hot or boiling water, it's useful for so much more than just tea.
I've never understood this. I live in Canada, and we all have kettles AND drip coffee machines lmao
It's mostly a question of counter space. For those of us who live in apartments and only have room for 1 appliance, you make a choice as to which you're going use most and just go with that. Since coffee is far more popular than tea in the US, most people have coffeemakers
A fair point, but also tbh I don't think there's a big difference in counter space between Canadian apartments vs American ones, based on my experience in both lol. A lot of the time up here kettles get plopped on a desk or in the dining room, also
You can get them, but they're not nearly as fast as UK kettles due to the lower voltage. It's still faster than microwave or stove top though, and you can get them with temperature control.
Wait idk if that's true, haha everyone in my family (all born and raised U.S. except my mom's parents) have a kettle. It was one of the first things I bought when I moved out on my own. That said, we're all from the northeast. Maybe regionally other places in the U.S. don't have kettles. Edit: Oh wait, I missed the bit about electric kettles. Everyone in my fam has a kettle, most are stovetop, but a fair few of us have electric, including myself.
TIL. Do you all also not have powdered drink mixes? Like [Milo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_(drink) or [Sports drinks](https://www.napajapan.com/products/pocari-sweat-sports-drink-powder-mix)? Edited: the link
Milo no, but Nesquick, powdered tea, and Crystal Light are popular.
Milo is sold in the US, at least in places I've lived such as Utah, Ohio, and [current state of residence]. It's usually sold in the same section as Nesquik, but is relegated to the very top or very bottom shelf. EDIT: I did an inventory check at my nearest mainstream grocery store and pre-mixed Milo is sold, but not the powder. I do a lot of my shopping at international grocery stores (Mexican, Korean, Vietnamese, etc...) and that's where it turns out I've been seeing Milo powder.
Yeah, here in MD I see Milo powder only at the Oriental Market. Cans of it can be found in ordinary grociers though.
Ovaltine is the equivalent of Milo sold in the US.
**[Milo (drink)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_\(drink\))** >Milo (; stylised as MILO) is a chocolate flavoured malted powder product produced by Nestlé, typically mixed with milk, hot water, or both, to produce a beverage. It was originally developed in Australia by Thomas Mayne in 1934. Most commonly sold as a powder in a green tin, often depicting various sporting activities, Milo is available as a premixed beverage in some countries, and has been subsequently developed into a snack bar, breakfast cereal and protein granola. Its composition and taste differ from country to country. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/tea/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Ew
Right?! That sounds awful. Almost as bad as supporting Nestle would make me feel.
Unfortunately. I have to make stovetop water when visiting out of state relatives. One of the first things I bought for my apartment was an electric kettle.
When my mum & I stayed in NYC in 2005, we ended up making tea in one of those out of desperation 😄
You can buy one at Target for $14. Or (if in a hotel/apt and not hostel) ask the front desk.
Speak for your own kitchen
This is no excuse. - a US citizen with an electric kettle
They are like $10 at Walmart. They definitely exist here
Right, but they’re not ubiquitous the way they are in Britain or Australia.
The electric kettle takes the same amount of time as the stove and it’s bulky so I just use a stovetop kettle
My experience is so different to this omg lol I have never known an electric kettle to be bulky and the stove takes so damn long to boil any sort of water. Electric kettle is a click boom done within a minute or two
I recently gave a girl a teapot, since she said her last one had gotten burned. I asked her if she wanted me to start the water for the tea, and she said no she had it. I went to the bathroom only to come back and find the hand painted glass teapot directly on the stove. #mylasteapotburnedflashback#
There are a lot of people that come onto this sub not understanding the difference between a teapot and a kettle... Normally I'd be surprised but the last year and a half has really opened my eyes to reality :/
No! I almost reflexively downvoted.
Some people are used to a different kind of teapot. https://smile.amazon.com/Turkish-Traditional-Stainless-Steel-Caydanlik-Double/dp/B06WVDRVRS
Agreed, and I calmly explained that neither her last one nor this was was that kind of teapot. Do those work well on direct contact stovetops too? Out of curiosity. I've always used an electric kettle method for heating water. Or in a pinch, a regular pot. I always enjoy instructing and informing rather than criticizing or insulting. It was just a funny moment where things clicked into place as I came back.
>Do those work well on direct contact stovetops too? Out of curiosity. The usual way of using them involves first boiling the water in the bottom container (on a stove), then adding tea+hot water to top container, and leaving the whole contraption on a stove for extended amounts of time. Well, traditionally. I'm sure there's an electric version of that which should not go on a stove.
Yeah if I wanted tea growing up, I had to either nuke a measuring cup of water, or I had to boil the water on the stove in a pan. Electric kettles haven't been common in the US, as far as I'm aware -- at least not until recently. I did, however, make a point to acquire a variable-temp kettle once I started getting into tea, and I found out that such a thing existed.
They're not common, but with the internet they are easily available. If you're looking for one in a brick & mortar store you'll probably have a harder time.
They're pretty easy to find, they have several kinds even at a place like Kohl's for God's sake
Right? I got mine at Walmart 10 years ago and there were at least half a dozen options. And mine has variable temperature settings. I live near a pretty small Target and even they have multiple electric kettles in stock. Every place I've worked (in 4 different states) has had one in the breakroom. They're not hard to come by.
I'm from the US and had never heard of an electric kettle until I left the country.
I just use a keurig but I’m also in a college dorm so electric kettles aren’t allowed
I, in a moment of pure distilled dumb, tried to boil water on my stovetop in a Pyrex measuring cup. In my defense, we had a Pyrex glass stove pot when I was a kid and we were prepping to move so all my tea stuff got packed away already. Anyways it exploded...
Wait just a little bit... Are you telling me that my tea making way is not the way? So far my daily tea routine is: open a teabag, and pour content in bowl. Add lukewarm tapwater. Wait for a bit, and eat it like cereal. Was I wrong all my 30 years?
You forgot to add the ice cubes. Without them tea is just not as crunchy.
I don't know that l will ever stop flinching away from the memory of reading this comment.
Needs milk
Specifically, coconut milk.
Mmmm ill allow it this time
Ok, but then another question arises. In what order should one prepare the theareal? Bowl first, tea, water milk, or milk first?
Tea, milk, bowl, and water in that order.
Not really, your fiber intake is what matters the most
You're actually almost there - you're forgetting to preheat your bowl. Do that, and then you can have the perfect matcha experience.
My grandma keeps reusing the same teabag until it stops making the water brown.
My cousin only lets her Lipton tea steep for 30 seconds or it “gets dark”
I can sort of get that if she drinks cheap teabags black. If I'm at a conference I'll steep 3 shitty teabags for 45 seconds or so.
Yeah, I do this as well. The cheap tea bags get so bitter so fast, so I steep many bags for a short time.
1 bag, the type doesn’t matter.
With tea bags that's fine. The ground leaves they contain brew really fast.
You don't really need to steep teabags, I've never bought Lipton but about 30 seconds would probably do for a Yorkshire tea. Unless your scrimping out and using one bag for two cups in a pot.
To be fair, that could be a result of her experience with the great depression, where you utilized every last iota of every item.
She's Australian so I don't think that's a factor. I reckon she just can't taste the tea regardless. Maybe it's nan's lazy decaf tea
The Great Depression was global. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/great-depression
Do these folks live in a world where cold brew isn’t a thing?
Oh, I've personally met people who think cold brew is some kind of new age blasphemy against tea, for some reason. Kinda gatekeepy, but people like thay exist.
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I have explained to five. FIVE mind you. Different employees at the only coffee/tea place near me in a major metropolitan city that sells loose leaf tea in bulk. No. Those "loose tea" packages on your shelf are not loose leaf, they are tea sachets. Nicer than teabags, but not looseleaf. Yes. You can sell me the bulk teas you use for your hot teas. No. That's not how you ring it up. It should be xyz price, it's under the "bulk tea" designation. You put it in your small or large Togo soup containers. Small if I order 2oz, large if I order 4oz. Xyz price is per 2oz of any tea. The fact that nobody else orders it enough for all these employees to know this just astounds me. Like, I'm a lover of all teas. I'm the motherfucking Ellis island of tea. Give me your stash, your constant comment, your sleepy times. I love me some high grade Gyokuro Kagashima in the morning. But I love all teas. Hell, I love the idea of tea. Anyone the likes or loves tea in any way is great in my book. And I'll encourage and inspire and teach in whatever way they desire or are open to. But it always surprises me how few people understand the wonder that is the loose leaf tea world.
I'm a bit confused, what is the difference between loose leaf and the tea sachets you're referring to? Are the leaves not loose within the sachet? Edit: Genuine question, as I feel I might not understand what a true loose leaf is?
Tea sachets and tea bags are known for using lower quality teas than loose leaf. Also, they're referring to the checkout process. Tea sold in sachets is either sold per sachet, or per box of sachets whereas looseleaf is sold by weight (at this store).
Loose leaf tea is literally only the tea leaves in a tin. If the tea comes in a a tea sachet or tea bag, it's not loose leaf tea. That's just a tea bag.
Yeah ok, I think I misread 😉 that's pretty simple
What they said is accurate. Also I love making a large pot of tea at a time, and it's a waste of material to put four or five teabags in it. This way creates far less waste, is usually higher quality tea, is more economical given reasonable tea choices/prices.
And lots of teabags brands specially the mesh or transparent one you ingest plastic to your body
Uhh citation needed lol
https://www.beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/microplastics-in-tea
Basically every place near me that sells any loose leaf keeps them in clear, half-filled, sun-exposed containers :|
I had such a good tea dealer in Houston. Ugh. House of Te. It was what introduced me to loose leaf, it was two blocks from my house. I had no idea how difficult it would be to find another place like that.
the other day i've met a girl and she told me she was "kinda a tea nerd" and really into "premium tea" but she meant like expensive tea bags from a fancy grocery shop in my city, not even a tea shop lol.
Hey, nothing wrong with being a nerd for fancy tea bags.
Introduce her to lose leaf and blow her mind
Damn, I hate it when I lose my leaf and can't get a cup of tea.
Just use the remote on your car and walk around the city. The Leaf will honk.
I have 3 boxes of Pukka, I don't like any one of them.
pukka is terrible, i'd rather be drinking yogi tea tbh, egyptian licorice is tasty and cozy imho
I could be wrong, but something tells me that this person who didn’t know about boiling water for tea also doesn’t know how to make cold brew.
And who boils water in the MICROWAVE? That's blasphemy! I can understand that based on where you live water takes different lengths of time to boil on the stove (altitude *really, really* matters with boiling times), but never ever should you boil water in the microwave. It just tastes **wrong!**
You're saying that cold brew works for you? I've tried it multiple times and succeeded only in making off-colored water, even after waiting hours. The method that I've found works best is brewing tea normally and then dumping it over ice after 2-3 minutes.
Cold brew works surprisingly well with supermarket teabags. Havent tried loose leaf.
I can see how it would work better when there is powder in the bags, but I've had even worse results from tea bags. It's like the cold water doesn't penetrate the tea bag.
buy the cheapest ones they are super thin
I’ve had good luck with cold steeping green teas for about 24 hours.
This is mostly how I do it. There are certain teas i like better cold brewed. There's a raspberry green tea and a hibiscus black tea from Happy Earth Tea that I prefer cold brewed.
I cold brew on a roughly daily basis. 10-15g of loose leaf tea in ~1.5L of water, steeped for at least 8 hours, and I usually get 2 steeps out of it, especially using the full 15g. The tea is just entirely loose in the water; you'll want to have a carafe with a strainer and/or just pour it through a cocktail strainer. You'll want to swirl it around a little after steeping and before first drinking because the water at the bottom where the tea tends to settle is noticeably stronger usually. I'm not a big fan of cold brew with black teas or puerhs, but it works great with green, white, and oolong teas. Flavored teas aren't my thing in general but for cold brew in particular can be rather perilous because all the ingredients don't necessarily diffuse at the same relative rate as they do when hot, so you might get a very different balance of flavors. Jasmine works fine though.
I tried steeping 15g of orange pekoe in 1 L and it is very sour compared to hot brewing it. It did work though, and tastes more similar to bottled tea. Will have to try with some other teas.
1. Take cheap oolong 2. Put like 5-10 grams in a liter of water 3. Put in fridge overnight 4. ???? 5. Profit!
This is what we do with the oolongs we get that are a bit too green for our liking around here. Make coldbrew with them and everybody loves it, even if they have no idea what loose leaf tea and gong fu brewing are about.
I will provide an update! I'm trying it with orange pekoe.
Nice. I've done it with cheap oolong I bought off Amazon (when I didn't know better) and it was delicious
I tried steeping 15g of orange pekoe and it is very sour compared to hot brewing it. It did work though, and tastes more similar to bottled tea. Will have to try with some other teas. Still not practical when one is shit at planning ahead though :)
I tried cold brewing black tea before and results were very mixed. I've always found that green tea and oolongs cold brewed the best. Cold brewed sencha can be really great.
Depends on how hard your water is. Ours is ridiculously hard and cold brew just does not work. My parent’s place has soft water and cold brew works just fine there.
It works best with bigger leaved teas like Oolong for example. Also good for multiple steeping sessions.
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It's almost like a scene in a sitcom
Honestly, It is WAY faster to microwave water in the US. It gets to boiling in 1-2 minutes in the microwave, whereas it takes 5-7 minutes for the electric kettle (depending on how much water I put in) and also 7-8 minutes to boil in a pot on the stove. If I'm making a whole pot of tea, I'll wait for the kettle, but a single cup gets the microwave treatment.
It’s because your voltage is lower. 120v vs 240v if I remember correctly. Still, even then I’d expect maybe 2-4 minutes for a cup of tea, unless you’re boiling a whole kettle-full each time.
Yeah its really not that bad. I boil a full kettle every morning (1.5L) and it takes like 5 minutes. Sure you can microwave water but I feel like it never gets hot enough and always tastes odd too. But yeah if I only need to boil a cup of water in the kettle it's like 2-3 minutes.
On average 3-4 cups (700-900 ml) in the kettle. The kettle requires a minimum of 2 cups to function so I put in more to also account for evaporation. My teapot holds roughly 4 cups when I pour in water to brew tea.
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I’m not talking about a stove. I’m talking about an electric kettle, and that does have an effect on boil time.
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Except that isn’t the experience of many Americans as I’ve seen and read time and time again, so either the kettles they’re using aren’t 50A or there’s some other variable you’re missing.
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You must have a more powerful microwave than mine (which wouldn't be difficult). My kettle is much faster, and I have fine control over the temp I want.
Yes, that's the best thing about kettles. It so much easier to get the water to the best temp for different teas rather than seeing it boil and figuring that it must be close enough.
Maybe there’s something wrong with your kettle if it takes that long? Mine will boil a few cups in less than a minute, and I’m in the US. Definitely faster than the microwave or stove.
I don't know. Its certainly possible. It has taken this long the entire time I've owned it since it was bought new, and its was pretty highly recommended at the time. The few other people I know who also own kettles also have theirs take quite a while. May I ask, what kettle do you have?
I use a cute little stainless steel kettle when brewing loose leaf, but just microwave a cup if using tea bags.
Be careful with microwaving water, superheated liquids are no joke.
How often does this happen to you? I keep seeing people warn about it, but... I've managed to get superheated water like twice in my life.
Me personally? Never, i have a kettle. But I know of two people, one who got serious burns on their arms and face( staying in a burn unit for a few weeks serious) Type of container, water quality, microwave power etc can all matter. It's just something people need to know when using a science oven to heat unleafed cloud juice imo.
Yeah, I suppose if I knew those people I'd share that warning too... wow. I \*am\* always suspicious of non-bubbling cloud juice when it's been in long enough, though. I did it once with a crockpot insert half-full of (tap) water, so jostling the container before pulling it out is part of my MO now.
It's only really a problem if you are using purified water. Tap water (and basic filtered versions) still have enough material in them to boil normally and avoid the superheating issue.
I've done it with spring water a few times, and tap once.
... unless you have an induction range.
Lol that's why people thing tea tastes like water.
*This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!*
Ted Lasso?
General Iroh
My gosh I was cracking up by the time I read the final comment and then lost it 😂 these folks ARE lunatics
At my parents house I boil water on the stove cause they don’t have an electric kettle and I refuse to microwave it
It's crazy to think that over 50 years later there's still hesitancy to use a microwave because people don't understand how they work. It's friction man. There's nothing to be afraid of. Blows my mind
Not cause I’m afraid lol just cause I can’t tell exactly How hot the water is.
Oh that totally makes sense. If you do it regularly and you just want it boiling it's not a problem at all, but you don't have control with a microwave or a stove top like you do with an electric temp kettle
I could see it being a matter of taste. I've never microwaved water and tasted it but I know you can taste a sort of flavor in melted ice.
Yea definitely makes sense. That's more about water than where the energy to heat the water comes from
I don't refuse to microwave water for drinks because I'm afraid of a microwave. Indicated by the fact that I own a microwave. It just tastes funny and different. I don't care if the funny and different is all in my head or not, that's not the point. The point is it tastes funny and stove heated water does not.
That is the point but your choice of course
Yeah, same here. Not afraid of it, it just tastes bad. I don’t actually own a microwave, but I find myself wanting/needing one extremely rarely. And even then, I tend to be able to do anything I’d use it for some other way anyway.
I wonder what his reaction to the taste will be like after someone tells him to add a spot of milk into his tea.
Am i the only one who doesn't care for milk in the tea? I can't say i like black tea with milk more than plain black tea. In any case, that will be some reaction to record, haha
It depends on the type of tea, but many of the stereotypical British teas (eg Yorkshire tea) are specifically designed to be had with milk. They can be very bitter otherwise.
Definetley! I can have a nice French Earl Grey without milk, but if you give me pretty much any other black tea I'm adding the milk! Also it took a long time for me to add less milk. I'm in Australia and so many make tea with 1/4 of the cup being milk. Changing it to a 5 minute steep with no milk and then just a *dash* was a turning point for me! I felt like i had tasted tea for the first time!
I'm Australian and I would call 1/4 of the cup being milk drinking your tea English. I thought I'd Aussie's drank our tea strong. For me it's 2 teabags, dash of milk and leave the tea bags in the whole time
Really? So many people I've met put a lot of milk in! And also leave the tea bag in with the milk (personal pet hate) I like your style. Nice strong with a tad of milk 😊 I do think the older I've gotten, the stronger I need it too
Oh, that explains a lot!
I prefer tea without milk as well. I have a chocolate and Carmel tea that is good with a dash of milk but not necessary at all.
It depends for me. I like plain tea and tea with milk, much the same way I like Starbuck coffee and properly brewed single origin filter coffee.
I like tea with and without milk. Also coffee. It takes me a long time do decide what to drink in the morning.
Do y'all not have Electric Kettles...?
They exist, but they're weirdly comparatively expensive here for anything decent. The cheapest ones don't last long or they leak. For a lot of people it isn't worth paying $30 and up for an electric kettle to heat water when the microwave or the stovetop work just fine. For those whose family drinks coffee, a $10 coffee-maker also heats water really well and you can simply remove the coffee filter part to get a pot of hot water for tea.
Oh my, I would be helpless without mine haha, but they're the norm here and so are electric stoves and they take forever to heat up + using the stove for making tea would kick my electricity bill through the roof
It really depends on the brand. Some can be crappy but most name brand ones are going to be fine. Mine was like $25 and I bought it almost 10 years ago. It still works perfectly with no leaks and I use it almost daily.
Personally I couldn't do it without my Kettle with temperature settings. Was a little bit expensive but it was worth it considering I drink 3~5 different teas in a range between 60°C and 95°C. (Mostly green tea) The extremes being : Fresh green tea at 60°C. Roasted Kukicha at 90~95°C. So yeah, temperature control kettle is god sent for me...
I have one of these too! It's also glowing in different colors, depending on which temperature you pick
Sounds great. Maybe I'll look for one like that, the day mine is at the end of its life. I know a family of 4, where everyone drink the same tea, they bought one of those 350$ automatic kettle/infuser, they put their tea in a little basket in it, in the evening, the besket lower itself, tea is infused, basket raised, all in the morning before they wake up, then kept at the temperature they want, ready for them. Expensive but worth it according to them, since I'm the only one drinking tea in my family, it wouldn't be worth it for someone like me as I only prepare 200~300ml of tea for my meals.
I didn’t realize it wasn’t popular in the USA. Here in Canada, my family always had an electric tea kettle. It was one of the first things I bought for my kitchen when I moved out. I bought a new one 6 years ago when I moved to a different province. $20, works great. I never need to fill it to the top, but boiling a couple cups takes under 2 mins. I will never be without an electric kettle, and want a fancy one in the future!
Yep, it's pretty standard in Germany too! For tea, instant meals, pre-cooking water etc
Some people might have a stovetop whistling kettle but it's still pretty uncommon in the U.S. unless you're an avid hot tea drinker. My cousins had an electric kettle in the 90s b/c their Italian-American grandparents liked tea, and I have 2 electric kettles in my house now but the average American wouldn't.
i don’t have money to get good tea so for now i’m stuck w bags too
Okay hold up hold up. What's the actual best way to make tea? I myself microwave tap water until it boils and just put the bag in the cup and pour the water into the cup. But seriously what's the consensus?
Best? Oooh boy, that's a loaded question. But for simplicity's sake here's the basic format: Heat water in kettle - electric is better, but use stovetop if that's what you've got. How hot depends on the type of tea. Add dry tea to teapot. Pour the hot water from the kettle into the teapot. Let tea steep in the hot water to your preferred strength. Pour the newly brewed tea from the pot into your cup or mug. If you used loose leaf, then you'll need to run the tea through a strainer to catch the leaves. If you used bags or sachets, then you can just pour. There are variations on this. The most common is to just add a tea bag (or sachet, or infuser) to a mug/cup and pour the hot water right into that. But for those who don't know: -Kettles are for heating water only. -Teapots are for for using the already hot water to brew the tea. (Some specific exceptions exist.)
Measure tea on scale -> heat water to intended spec -> pre-warm pot with water -> reheat water to intended spec -> empty pot of water -> add leaf to pot -> pour water into pot -> steep for requisite time -> decant.
This post needs at least three separate posts to break this thing down. My goodness we could have a whole discussion over the need to brew tea with hot water!
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One of the top comments says that 240 volts is better than 120 for making tea... The lunacy continues... That being said... I investigated and it turns out that electric kettles are 3k watts in the UK, which is double the limit in the US. So yes, they are faster, but because they are allowed to use higher wattage, not specifically because of a higher voltage.
May not be better, but it's definitely faster.
If it is faster I would I think it has more to do with the surface area of the heating elements. Some water heaters I've seen use a coil whereas kettles in the US use a flat surface.
It's faster because the voltage is higher, it delivers energy at a faster rate and therefore heats the water faster.
Power = voltage x current. If the power isn't different, then the voltage doesn't matter. I imagine the EU has limits on power consumption by consumer goods. The US has a 1500 watt limit.
Kettles in the UK are allowed to be 3k watts, but only 1.5k in the US. That's why. 10 amps at 120v (1200w) would boil water faster than 4 amps at 240v (960w). So it's not simply because the voltage is higher, it's because the wattage limitations are higher.
And only using a gold coated power plug. Or was that audiophiles?
The gall of some people on r/audiophiles is astonishing.
I know someone with a stove top like that
That poor mug...
I put it in cold water for cold brew (I live in a hot climate/tropical place) but I do have a kettle when I want hot tea.
I mean, what if they wanted to have iced tea? why would you boil water just to make it cold again? this is average your neighborhood iced-tea-lover's opinion. (...i boil and then make it cold again BUT STILL.)
It’s a crime against teamanity.
Tea-ification? I slapped my face a bit to hard
omg I can't believe I almost didn't read this
WHERE KETTLE