<p>Being British I can’t stand the thought of not using a teapot!! 
Not only does it make much better tasting tea, it makes more as you can return to it later if you use a teacosy to keep the pot warm!</p>
<p>As a life long tea drinker (daughter of a Brit and lived in England), I must add that we tea drinkers can be quite particular. I strongly prefer to make my own tea so I can control temperature, length of brewing, amount of milk, etc. I love loose tea brewed tea, but usually use a bag at work for ease. Definitely bag out for drinking to avoid the bitterness at the end of the cup.</p>
<p>I use a Keurig to heat my water but use a teabag instead of the kcups. One reason is the k-cups are to expensive and two they are not strong enough to make a big cup of tea. Now on the other hand the coffee k-cups are way to strong for me which is weird. I leave my teabag in the mug because I like a really big cup of tea and leaving the teabag in the mug makes it strong enough. I drink two to fours mugs of tea a day.</p>
<p>I think the only shows I watch where people drink tea are British. Haven’t noticed tea bags on Downton Abbey.</p>
<p>Definitely an un-British thing to leave the teabag in. That’s just not how we do it on this side of the pond. For a start, PG Tips and Tetley teabags, not to mention many other brands I’m sure, don’t have a string, so you’d have to fish around in there later…</p>
<p>Teabags out! Mom is British, raised me on loose tea, but in a pinch we use a bag and the unsightly thing is to be taken out before drinking the tea. (shhhhhhhh… don’t tell my mum that at home and alone I get lazy and like it strong, so in it stays-----shocking!)</p>
<p>Also, you wouldn’t see them in Downton Abbey as teabags did not make an appearance in England until the 1950s.</p>
<p>Actually, I do like the bitter taste of those tannins, so leaving the bag in longer is part of the whole deal for me.</p>
<p>My German next door neighbor leaves the tea bag in the whole time she’s drinking the tea. I take it out before I start drinking. I don’t like that bitter taste at the end.</p>
<p>
Skyhook, me too!</p>
<p>Talking about tea drinking styles, anyone else have grandparents–from the old country–who would always drink their tea from a glass with a sugar cube in their mouths–and served from a samovar?</p>
<p>I drink herbal teas with the bag in - am drinking it right now!</p>
<p>As a homesick Brit maybe I should look towards opening a traditional English teashop with waitresses in black and white, teapots, scones and lacy tablecloths!</p>
<p>I have been on a high quality tea jag for the last couple of years. I currently have five different loose teas in my desk (a Darjeeling, an Assam, a ti kwan yin oolong, a dan cong oolong, and some genmai cha), an infuser pot, thermos, and ceramic cup on top of it, and another nine teas at home.</p>
<p>I tried making tea with tea bags twice in the past six months, and couldn’t finish the tea either time. The black (Lipton) tasted like dust, and the green (Starbucks Tazo Emerald Tips) tasted rancid.</p>
<p>Tea bag out, of course. And if I’m not feeling lazy, loose tea in a pot. While we are on the subject, I was served tea brewed from in an elegant silk bag in a restaurant. Does anyone know who makes those?</p>
<p>Years ago, when I was helping out at a lunch counter that provided plastic utensils only, if needed, a couple ordered tea with no lemon or sugar…and then yelled at me for not bringing them a spoon so that they could use it to squeeze the moisture from the used bag into the cup!</p>
<p>We had some incredible hand blended tea made in a french press while on vacation last week. It was not only very yummy and aromatic, it was beautiful in the bottom of the press! filled with colorful berry-looking things and flower buds and what have you.</p>
<p>When using tea bags, 99% of the time after letting it steep, I take the teabag out, put it on the spoon, wrap the string around it and squeeze the last little bit into the cup. I then leave the bag in the spoon.</p>
<p>** xposted with NJtheatermom. That wasnt me at a lunch counter, I promise!</p>
<p>I have a white china teapot I bought at Ikea decades ago, that I use for all tea - it makes 3-4 mugs. plop a teabag (Twinnings Decaf Chai) in, add the boiling water and remove the bag after a few minutes. I feel very ‘green’ by getting more than one serving from a single bag.</p>
<p>My grandfather was from the Old Country (Ireland) and he always used a teapot.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to warm the teapot thoroughly first! It’s very important :)</p>
<p>For a decent black teabag, try Tetley British blend in the purple box, it is more mellow than Liptin.</p>
<p>For many years there was a delightful tea shop near by, lovely scones with jam & cream, apparently we did not go often enough as they closed.</p>