No, no, no: don’t put that cup of tea in the microwave

Do you boil the water for your tea in the microwave? Stop doing that: it really doesn’t taste good. You’re better off boiling your water in a whistling kettle, or if necessary, an electric kettle. Why?

Maybe you simply have no patience. Or you have guests who would love a cup of tea, but you really don’t feel like making it. Solution: cup of water in the microwave, beep beep, dunk the teabag and done. Bad idea, explains magazine Slate.

Don’t put that cup of tea in the microwave

You may think it’s annoying when people say that tea from the microwave really doesn’t taste good, but it turns out there is scientific evidence for why it’s better to boil your tea water the old-fashioned way in a kettle.

Rolling boil

The secret to a delicious cup of tea is the temperature of the water. It really needs to be at a rolling boil before you pour it over loose tea or a teabag. With an electric kettle or a whistling kettle, that’s easy enough: they only whistle or switch off when the water is really boiling vigorously. All the water in the kettle is then at the same temperature.

Lukewarm water

A microwave works differently: the water at the top of your cup may be boiling, while the water at the bottom of your cup is still lukewarm. You notice the same thing when you heat something in the microwave: your bami is still frozen on one side while the other side of the dish is already starting to dry out. So: stir, stir and stir again.

Gray haze

That doesn’t work with tea water. It looks as though the water is boiling, but it is nowhere near equally hot throughout. And with lukewarm water, you don’t extract all the flavor from the tea leaves. You can see it too: water that hasn’t boiled develops a gray haze when you hang the teabag in it. A tea lover notices immediately and knows enough: we’ll discreetly tip that into the planter later.

Zennn

Be sensible and take the time to make tea. A lovely little lesson in mindfulness, and something to be grateful for too: a good cup of tea can make your whole day better.

Also read:

• Which temperature for which tea?
• This is the fastest and best way to make delicious ginger tea
• Never, ever put this in the microwave!

Source: Mental Floss