As most avid tea drinkers will tell you, if you are using tea bags, you can get extra use out of them if you are willing to do so. Most people just chuck them into the trash, compost heap, or recycling bin, but saving them for your next tea is also an interesting idea.
The first thing that you should know is that it's fine to reuse tea bags. The drawback is that after the first cup, you lose flavor and strength. But if you enjoy strong tea, there is a way to reuse your tea bags.
First of all, you'll need to store the tea bag in a moist medium. Once they get dried out, they become a breeding ground for mold and bacteria. So your best bet is to store them in a small shot glass filled with water. That will keep them seeping while they are being stored. While you can leave them out in your kitchen, I usually put them in the fridge so that there is less chance of bacteria growth. If you think you've got bacteria or mold in your tea bag, the best indicator is smell. If it smells funky, trash it.
A tea bag can be reused one or two times. After that, it's spent. Reusing green or white tea works better than darker blends. I usually reuse Orange Pekoe tea bags because I use two bags in one cup: I like strong milk tea in the mornings, with milk, no sugar. Once I've infused a cup, I'll keep the tea bags for my next cup. Then, I'll infuse both bags again with one new tea bag. The resulting second cup of tea is only slightly less strong than my usual cup, but perfect for the afternoons when I don't need too much caffeine.
Reusing tea bags is best reserved for tea drinkers who drink a few cups a day, otherwise keeping the tea bags becomes an issue.
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The alternative is:
Make a pot full of tea and get a decent thermos and store the extra tea.
Toss your extra bags in a zip baggie and keep in the friedge, when you get a half dozen or so, make iced tea in a jug of large mason jar. Or just toss the bag in a jar or jug and after a couple days, squeeze them out and add some lemon and honey.
Also, rip the tea bags and sprinkle them over your houseplant soil or around delicate plants outside to discourage pests and enrich the soil.
I only use tea bags while travelling, period. Loose tea is greener and better for you. When you give tea leaves room to unfurl (as opposed to squishing them in a tea bag, or shredding them as many bagged teas are), you get much better tea. Less waste is just the icing on the cake.
Also, the number of times a tea can be re-steeped depends on the type of tea. Some delicate whites should only be done once, others are good for two steepings. Matcha can only be used once, because it is mixed directly into the water and drunk, instead of steeped. Some Oolongs are good for as many as seven steepings, though most go for about four. Herbal teas and greens are usually good for two to three steepings. Experimentation is the way to go, of course, as each tea is different.
I use loose tea at home and avoid this conundrum.
I always thought that all the caffeine (you know, the important stuff) went into the first steep.
If a teabag is not plastic, it can be composted. Worms can't eat the little staples though. :)
After a one warm cup in the morning, I usually refill the mug once or twice without warming the water. I keep the bag in the mug the whole time during the second/third cups to cold brew. This works well because I don't really like warm tea all day long or waiting for it to cool. Yes, it takes time for tea to cold brew, but when I'm working I get to start drinking right away and it only gets stronger.
What about the principle that (black) tea turns bitter if you let it steep for >5 minutes? Is that a bunch of hooey?
Nthing loose tea. I find the ball a pain to clean, so I prefer loose tea in a pot with a strainer over the cup. Or those big, cup-shaped strainers that you drop into the top of a teapot.
I drink only tea, and only loose tea. The idea of re-using tea bags for a tea-lover like me is simply repugnant.
I'm with those who say that, if you want to avoid waste, just buy the leaves and a pot with a strainer built in the spout and/or use a strainer that you place over the cup as you pour the tea. The metal tea balls are a pain to clean and not as good as letting the leaves freely expand in the pot. The leaves are 100% biodegradable, and they make better tea. There's really nothing to lose by going with the leaves.
@taterspoon, tea steeped for a very long time releases tannins, which some people find off-puttingly bitter. They make my teeth feel fuzzy! But, others don't seem to mind.
I just thought of another use: you could use a pre-used bag in a batch of pickles (esp fermented) to maintain the crispness if you preserve during the late fall or winter when the grape leaves have turned or died off.
"...store the tea bag in a moist medium. Once they get dried out, they become a breeding ground for mold and bacteria..."
You know how you get mold in bathrooms... moist mediums are actually what allows growth of mold and bacteria. If you don't squeeze your teabag out really well, and it sits out on your warm counter for a long time before it fully dries, then it'd definitely grow something within that time and then smell bad, kind of like kitchen sponges. Putting it in the fridge will help it keep longer, because the cold temperature slows the growth of bacteria and mold. If you keep it in water on the counter, it will continue to steep, making it lose more flavor unless you drink the water it's been steeping in overnight -keeping it in the fridge will again slow bacteria growth and slow steeping. The mold or bacteria growth over one night on the counter with any of these methods probably won't hurt you, so long as you're not sick to begin with so that your immune system is a bit weakened, though it's best not to try your luck if you're in a hot and humid location.
I've regularly poured hot water into my drained cup of loose tea leaves after accidentally leaving them out overnight... I figured I was healthy, the tea leaves had dried, and it was always wintertime that I drink tea regularly so it was cold in general on the counter!
I agree with Hedgemaze's comment, that resteeping depends on the tea. For some teas, it's even said it's not really good tea unless it can be resteeped for 6-7 times. While tea bags aren't meant for that, hey, if you like tea, and you're ok with and enjoy having subsequent weaker cups of tea, don't let any tea elites stop you ;)
I couldn't resist joining after reading this post.
You Americans just don't understand tea, do you?
I suppose the first point to make is about caffeine - you really don't get much in a cup of tea. You are fooling yourself if you think you are. Drink coffee if you want caffeine.
To the connoisseur, yes, I suppose there is a difference between leaf tea and teabags, and tea made in pot can be better than stuffing a tea bag in a mug and adding boiling water. (Americans Please note : Tea must be made with boiling water)
But please please please, never ever re-use a tea bag.
Better to drink washing up water.
Hang on, Americans don't wash up do they? They all have dishwashers.
@Andysnat
If you despise Americans so much, why are you on an American food site?
I found some great bagged tea that I can't (yet) find a loose tea alternative for. Because I like weak tea and prefer the fresher taste of new (not previsouly steeped) tea, I just cut that tea bags open, put the loose tea in an air tight container, and use only a little bit in my tea strainer when I make tea.
@Andysnat: It's a bit presumptious of you to assume that only some nationalities know how to make tea and that only Americans frequent this blog (I'm a proud Canadian decended from a long line of English folk - the "inventors of tea time" - who make crappy tea).
this just seems like a lot of trouble to go to... I guess maybe there are some very pricey bag teas, but are they really so expensive that it makes sense to re-use the tea bag?
I did find semiverylongname's comment interesting - "For some teas, it's even said it's not really good tea unless it can be resteeped for 6-7 times." So maybe good tea is supposed to be used over and over again?
I would never reuse a tea bag. Gross. However, being totally broke paying off a ton of college debt, I do try to stretch my tea bags by using an over size mug (I pour about 14oz water/bag). I wouldn't even do that if I didn't drink so much tea, but I pretty much have a mug of tea in my hand at all times, so it helps to stretch it a tad.
Naturally, if you enjoy strong tea, there is a way to reusing your tea bags. "There is a way to REUSE your tea bags."
So your best bet is storing them in a small shot glass filled with water. "So your best bet is TO STORE them..."
It seems you might want to brush up on your use of gerunds (-ing words).
Sorry to be nitpicky, but I am a bit pedantic (especially now that I'm studying Copy Editing) and I hate to see this kind of stuff on a "professional" blog like AT. Man, I wish you guys would just invest in a decent Copy Editor or two.
Reusing tea, bags or loose, isn't a good idea for black tea because, as others have mentioned, it gets bitter and tannin laden after 4 - 5 minutes, and tends to lose flavor. This is true for most herbals as well, and any tea really that you're steeping in boiling water.
Reusing yellows, greens, whites and pu-erhs is possible because they steep best in lower temperature waters for less time - between 160 F and 180 F, for between 1 to 3 minutes - and the flavors are gently extracted each time. Some of these types of teas are even best on their second steeping.
I was raised (British Canadian) to reuse teabags when individual cups are made instead of the pot. We have one of those tea bag holders (http://www.detheepotwinkel.nl/images/PM-teabreak-set-compl.jpg) and the bag is just left there till the next cup is made. Mind, with three tea drinkers in the house, it's not usually left long. We've done this for decades, and have yet to have anyone get sick from the reused teabags.
Loose leaf tea is not saved, but savoured in the pot. :)
@ HamiltonDoula
Two EXCELLENT ideas!