So you may think this is a weird thing to talk about…tea bags, right? But after analyzing the things that make a positive impact on my life and well-being, this made the list. Here’s why:
Let’s start with the premise that I want to drink more tea because I think it makes me feel better.
1) I want to drink more tea
Then I wonder why I don’t drink a lot of tea. What is preventing me from making some?
2) Inconvenience dissuades me from having tea
How do I make tea-making easier for myself? What are my pain points when making tea?
3) a) I don’t like cleaning a strainer, especially when tea leaves poke through and don’t just easily rinse out. Having something I don’t have to clean afterwards makes it easier on me. I’m committed to “making a cup of tea now,” not “cleaning a teapot later”.
b) I don’t like wasting tea. I’m happy to resteep my tea, but I also don’t want to forget that I had a teapot full of tea. If it gets cold, I don’t really want to try microwaving my teapot. I could certainly pour out the cold tea and microwave it in a mug, however my worst fear is forgetting tea in my teapot for so long that I’m scared to open the lid. A teapot isn’t just something I can toss in the dishwasher.
c) I want to get the ratio of tea-to-water correct so my tea tastes great. I don’t want something that’s too diluted down.
Alright, so taking the long way to get here, I’ve decided that most of the time, when I want tea, I want to make a cup of tea that has practically no cleanup, tastes perfect, and won’t cause me issues if I happen to forget about my tea.
Disposable tea bag to the rescue!
[ If you’re wondering why I’m giving reasons not to use a teapot, but our site is called Teapot Life, we’ll talk about some great teapots in the future. We’re also not just going to talk about tea on our site. The goal is to share things that make life more enjoyable, to get that Teapot Life kind of feeling 😀 ]
Back to disposable teabags.
Until I reflected on it, I didn’t realize how much I appreciate these little things. Here’s why:
1) They’re perfect for a single cup of tea in any of medium-to-large mug. When I’m making fancy tea and using tiny cups that only hold about 50 mL, I’ll use a fancy teapot, but most of the time, I just want to make myself a warming mug of tea that’s 300 – 500 mL, using one scoop of tea from my tea spoon. For this, a tea bag fits the bill.
2) All the work in making a cup of tea can be done while heating the water. There is no cleanup afterward. After brewing the tea, here are 3 great options for things to do with your tea bag:
a) Place the teabag on a small dish and keep it near the kettle for later
b) Keep the teabag in your mug
c) Throw the teabag out (and your cleanup is done)
On the topic of not wasting tea, before getting these disposable teabags, I found that I never re-steeped tea later. I might have topped up a teapot right after pouring a cup, but too often I’d just forget that the teapot still had tea. By the time I remembered the next day (or several days later), I wouldn’t want to drink it because it would be way too bitter (or worse, growing things).
When I save a disposable teabag, it’s either in the mug, as a visual reminder that I need to make more tea, or drying out near the kettle. My preferred method is actually leaving it to dry near the kettle because once the water evaporates, I’m not worried about anything growing. It also retains more of its flavour since I only steep it for the amount of time I want. Then, the rest of the flavour stays in the teabag for when I’m ready to use it again.
This has been a game changer for me for a few reasons:
1) I don’t feel guilty about leaving my tea leaves. Even a couple days after the first steep, I’m quite happy to re-steep a dried-out teabag.
2) I’m able to drink a few different types of tea throughout the day as my mood dictates. This makes a huge difference in keeping it enjoyable so I’m not locked into drinking only one type of tea.
3) This has encouraged me to buy loose leaf tea (instead of pre-packaged bags). This opens up a whole world of flavour options. It’s also great that I can sample loose teas now too.
4) Cleanup is a breeze. When I’m done with a bag, I can just toss it. There’s no teapot to worry about.
5) I can prepare loose leaf teas for when I travel by either putting a teabag in a travel drinking vessel or packaging several bags in a small zip-top bag. This makes them super portable and I don’t have to worry about cleaning a strainer somewhere that isn’t my home. Also, I can prep a whole week’s worth of them together, which is perfect if I’m going out of town or even just prepping my work-week’s lunches.
6) As an added bonus over regular tea bags, I can even make my own mixes of tea.
The long and the short of it is that this little item has helped me overcome a hurdle and got me drinking more tea.
I’ve tested a few different types of bags over the years and have settled on the DAVIDsTEA brand ones. They’re easy to open (to get the tea in) and easy to drawstring shut (to keep the tea from falling out while steeping). They’re durable and always hold up when I travel and resteep. I also like that they don’t have any metal in them (no staples). Going with these is a hands down easy choice because they’re also always easy to get and in stock.
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