<p>OK, I know this is not an important discussion, but here goes.</p>
<p>Why do people on TV shows always leave the tea bag in while they drink their tea? Do most people do this in real life? Do they not want to be mistaken for a coffee drinker?</p>
<p>I leave mine in because I like strong tea and taking it out requires getting up and putting it in the compost. Who wants to get up once they finally sit down to have a cup of tea?</p>
<p>I always leave mine in, but I remove the paper tag and shove the string into the cup so it doesn’t soak up tea and end up dripping down the side of the cup. I also like my tea really strong. Lately though I’ve taken to using loose leaf whenever I can (Teavana will spoil you in a hurry :)), so I make it in a pot.</p>
<p>I take mine out, I putter in the kitchen until it is properly steeped, otherwise it seems like the last 1/4 of the cup is nasty strong, almost dirty.</p>
<p>I do have one friend who leaves the bag in.</p>
<p>Yeah, I always let it steep too, then remove the bag. I don’t like it flopping around in there while I drink it. I don’t really notice people IRL drinking with the bag in, but on TV they do. I guess people do that a lot though judging from the response here.</p>
<p>I always take the tea bag out. It never occurred to me not to.</p>
<p>I guess they leave it in on TV to establish that the drink is tea.</p>
<p>Brew it with loose tea, it’s amazing!</p>
<p>I always take the tea bag out. Never seen a brit who didn’t. I think it is an american thing to leave the tea bag in. Always seems strange to me.</p>
<p>Doesn’t leaving it in make your tea bitter?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s an American thing to leave the tea bag in as much as its a TV thing. “Look, we’re drinking tea. You can tell because there is a string hanging out of our cup.”
I drink tea every several times a day and would never sit down with the tea bag still in my mug. (if it’s just a cup, you probably brewed a pot and can feel superior.)</p>
<p>turntabler, I agree it is much better that way. But when I am being lazy I go for the bag.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who thought this was going to be a political thread?</p>
<p>Leave it in,though we use bags without strings</p>
<p>In my British experience, heck, Chinese too, with family, proper tea is loose leaf. Put the water in the pot of dry leaves (after heating the pot, of course) steep, pour. Add more water if it is too strong in your individual cup, which happens towards the end of the pot. </p>
<p>Here, I leave tea bags in, as I like it strong. Tea drinking can be a fussy business. Would think all the bag removing, etc, would steal the story line on TV, take up too much time.</p>
<p>I wish I lived somewhere that had a nice little British-type tea shop, where they would bring a pot of hot tea and china cups, and served scones and biscuits.</p>
<p>i normally take it out and set it on the spoon that i used to stir it with.</p>
<p>I use my Keurig brewer for tea so no bags for me ;)</p>
<p>I leave the bags in because I don’t want to lurk around the kitchen just waiting for it to brew. Sometimes I fish them out before I get to the bottom of the mug, sometimes they are still there days later when I find the empty mug and dried up teabag sitting wherever it was that I left it.</p>
<p>On those TV shows, is the tea in a mug or a tea cup? It makes a difference. You have to let it brew longer if the volume of water is greater.</p>
<p>I’m sure you regular tea drinkers know that steeping is not a linear process. Things like color and caffeine come out early; the tannic acid comes out later. I tend to steep on the lower side of what’s recommended–maybe two minutes for a black tea, one for green. I don’t like it to be overly acidic. The only kind of bag I’d consider leaving in is an herbal tea, particularly something mild like ginger or chamomile. (And yes–I know flavor for black teas is much better with loose tea, and I have done that in the past, but I’m too lazy these days.)</p>
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<p>happymomof1, usually it a mug. And I always feel like they are trying to make sure that I know it is tea, not coffee. It always seems kind of pretentious (not that people who keep the bag in are in any way pretentious) that they are trying to make some type of statement about the person drinking the beverage, and that it is somehow important that we know it is tea and not coffee. I guess red solo cups aren’t the only container being stereotyped!</p>