Eddie’s food annoyances: stray wet tea bags

Adeline loves food, a lot and often, both at home and out. Usually, that goes well, but sometimes it doesn’t. In the series Eddie’s Food Annoyances she shares her observations. This week: a soggy tea bag in the sink.

Shoulder to shoulder, we dunked our tea bags in the boiling water. With my right hand, I routinely took a saucer from the cupboard for the bag. When the tea had reached the right color, I routinely squeezed the bag against the rim of my mug. With a small swing, I placed the thing in the dish without spilling a drop. And he simply threw his into the sink.

I stared in horror at the little pile of brownish misery on the gleaming stainless steel. I’ve been living with my boyfriend for eight years, but I didn’t know he was like that too.

Just gross

I consider it one of the cardinal sins of the kitchen. Dumping a wet, soggy tea bag in the sink. Why do people do this? It’s not an object that could possibly be flushed down the drain. It’s not small enough to dissolve. A sink is not a designated storage place for your tea bag. You’re not going to fish it out of the sink later for a second round. Everything about a wet tea bag in a gleaming sink is wrong.

It’s a vague reminder of the once-fresh leaves, which are now being covered in all sorts of things. The next person rinses away some leftover coffee, the person after that had a little soup left, and meanwhile that tea bag is swimming through everything. Admit it: it’s just gross.

Woe betide you

I once had a colleague who—I swear—left a trail of used tea bags behind her. She was a sweetheart, but because of that I liked her just a little less. Truly, because I don’t joke about soggy bags in the sink. I always wanted to shout: you don’t do that at home too, do you? But I think she did that at home too.

What’s almost as bad? Those unsavory types who put such a bag unprotected on the countertop. Just: plop! Without taking even the slightest measure to catch all that dripping moisture. They casually let all those stains soak into the surface. The scoundrels.

Here’s where it belongs

There are only two proper places for a used tea bag. 1) On a saucer/dish/tea-bag holder and 2) in the trash. Put your used bag on a dish intended for it and you won’t hear another word from me. What am I saying? You can even leave it on the counter all day and reuse it and reuse it and reuse it. But woe betide you (as my grandfather always used to say) if you chuck such a soggy bag into the sink. Amen!

Cup of tea, anyone?

Also read:

• Eddie’s food annoyances: such a pretentious waiter at the table
• We need to talk about people who bite ice cream
• Dishes that (star) chefs never put on the menu