# To squeeze or not to squeeze?



## CharlieD (Mar 4, 2014)

That is the question. I guess I never paid attention before, but on the box of tea I just bought it says not squeeze the bag. I wonder why? Do you have any idea?


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## Mad Cook (Mar 4, 2014)

CharlieD said:


> That is the question. I guess I never paid attention before, but on the box of tea I just bought it says not squeeze the bag. I wonder why? Do you have any idea?


Does it refer to the tea bag or the packaging that it's in? Are they proper tea or fruit/herbal "teas"?

I squeeze my teabags all the time. If you don't they make a mess when you fish them out of the mug. I even have a little gadget to do it with.

Never come across this instruction.

Excuse me while I go and put the kettle on.

EDIT: I wonder if they think we're all idiots and will try to squeeze the boiling hot teabag then sue them when we scald ourselves?


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## CraigC (Mar 4, 2014)

Is it Mr. Whipple brand?


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## CharlieD (Mar 4, 2014)

it is Bigelow brand, Earl Grey tea. I too, always squeeze the bag, otherwise it drips all over the place.


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## Dawgluver (Mar 4, 2014)

I'm a bag squeezer.  Wait, that didn't sound right....


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## Zagut (Mar 4, 2014)

By all means don't squeeze it.

 You might not get all the flavor out of it. 




 I have no idea why they might place that on the label unless they think you might squeeze too hard and burst it open.


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## Andy M. (Mar 4, 2014)

Scoop the bag out in a spoon, wrap the string around the bag in the spoon and pull to squeeze out the liquid.


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## CharlieD (Mar 4, 2014)

Andy M. said:


> Scoop the bag out in a spoon, wrap the string around the bag in the spoon and pull to squeeze out the liquid.



Exactly what I have been doing.


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## taxlady (Mar 4, 2014)

Dawgluver said:


> I'm a bag squeezer.  Wait, that didn't sound right....


A friend of mine ordered tea at a lunch counter. He complained that it wasn't strong enough. He was rather taken aback when the waitress said, "Squeeze your bag."


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## CharlieD (Mar 4, 2014)

Hope you can see in this picture.


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## Dawgluver (Mar 4, 2014)

CharlieD said:


> Hope you can see in this picture.



I wonder if they just want you to use more tea if it's not strong enough.  My other thought would be that some residue would escape from the bag and would cloud your tea.  Our UK folks are probably the best authorities.


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## Zagut (Mar 4, 2014)

CharlieD said:


> Hope you can see in this picture.




 At least they said please. 

 My vote is to squeeze away.


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## Mad Cook (Mar 4, 2014)

Dawgluver said:


> I wonder if they just want you to use more tea if it's not strong enough. My other thought would be that some residue would escape from the bag and would cloud your tea. Our UK folks are probably the best authorities.


I like my tea strong but I thought 2 minutes brewing for a teabag in an approx. 7 ounce mug is a bit long. Perhaps they are thinking about squeezing extracting too much tannin out of the tea and making it bitter. Dunno, really. I 've just had a look and good ol' Tetley tea bags and Yorkshire Tea don't have that instruction on the box.

 \there has been talk recently about the paper used to make the bags not being good for you 
Tea Bags Made of Paper: Are They Harmful to Your Health? - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

To be honest I think tea made from loose leaves tastes better than bags and works out cheaper too (which is a consideration when you drink as much of the stuff as I do!) but there's a lot of faffing about with teapots and tea strainers. I have a little gadget which works like an electric coffee filter machine and makes just one cup of tea at a time using leaf tea straight into the cup. Worth it's weight in gold.


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## taxlady (Mar 4, 2014)

Mad Cook said:


> I like my tea strong but I thought 2 minutes brewing for a teabag in an approx. 7 ounce mug is a bit long. Perhaps they are thinking about squeezing extracting too much tannin out of the tea and making it bitter. Dunno, really. I 've just had a look and good ol' Tetley tea bags and Yorkshire Tea don't have that instruction on the box.
> 
> \there has been talk recently about the paper used to make the bags not being good for you
> Tea Bags Made of Paper: Are They Harmful to Your Health? - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
> ...


I can't really taste a difference, when it's the same brand. I have some loose tea, but here it usually works out more expensive. I guess it's more "gourmet".


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## GB (Mar 4, 2014)

The reason you are not supposed to squeeze the bag is because it can make the tea taste bitter. If you do not find that to be the case then feel free to squeeze. It will not do anything bad.


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## CharlieD (Mar 5, 2014)

Mad Cook said:


> ... To be honest I think tea made from loose leaves tastes better than bags and works out cheaper too ...[/SIZE][/FONT]



my feeling too. I like to make tea essence and then make cup of tea using it. Don't do it often enough.


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## Oldvine (Mar 5, 2014)

It my bag and I can squeeze it if I want to.


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## GB (Mar 5, 2014)

Just don't squeeze the Charmin.


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## lyndalou (Mar 5, 2014)

Andy M. said:


> Scoop the bag out in a spoon, wrap the string around the bag in the spoon and pull to squeeze out the liquid.



What Andy said.


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## Gravy Queen (Mar 6, 2014)

I make my tea in a teapot so no squeezing required .


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## taxlady (Mar 6, 2014)

Gravy Queen said:


> I make my tea in a teapot so no squeezing required .


Ditto


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## Cooking Goddess (Mar 7, 2014)

Andy M. said:


> Scoop the bag out in a spoon, wrap the string around the bag in the spoon and pull to squeeze out the liquid.


Some of my teas, like Bigelow or Eastern Shore brands, come in foil bags. Bigelow has a tag and string so I'll just pull the bag from the cup and squeeze with the empty bag, opened on the sides. Eastern Shore doesn't have a string, but I still usually pluck it out of the water and squeeze with the foil outer bag if my fingers are feeling a bit adventurous that day.


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## msmofet (Mar 7, 2014)

I have been buying loose tea lately: rose hip, hibiscus and oolong mostly. I mix Rose hips and hibiscus together which are very high in vitamins. I use a tea ball which I fill the bottom half to just below the threads. It is a perfect amount of tea for a rich full flavored cup of tea. My corelle mug is small maybe 6 - 8 oz. NO squeezing necessary.


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## Dawgluver (Mar 7, 2014)

I make my tea by the pitcher.  5 bags of Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger, pour boiling water over it, cool, and store in the fridge.  I don't take the tea bags out until I'm down to the last drop.  Then I squeeze 'em.

And I just realized I've offended every real tea person.  To steal a line from Oldvine, my kitchen, my tea.


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## Cooking Goddess (Mar 7, 2014)

That's OK Dawg, Celestial Seasonings makes mostly herbal teas. Some people don't consider that real tea.


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## Caslon (Mar 7, 2014)

If an As Seen on TV infomercial depicted a product for around $19.99 whereas you could easily fill bags/filter pouches with your own coffee or tea and seal it automatically...do you think it would garner any interest?  I have a 2-4 cup coffee maker that uses round prefilled filter pouches for coffee. Maxwell makes them. They are pricey.  I tried using available square coffee filter pouches, but not only do they let clear water drip by during brewing, it's a mess filling them up and sealing them. Noone makes round fillable filter pouches at the moment, only square ones.

What if a small inexpensive product would provide you with round and square filter pouches that would make the process of filling them and sealing them neat and simple. It would even provide for making tea pouches complete with string. You could then use any coffee or tea you wanted, buy it in bulk and save money too.

Is this a pipe dream? Probably.  If such a product appeared on TV tho,  I might pay attention to it.  How about you?


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## GB (Mar 8, 2014)

Cooking Goddess said:


> That's OK Dawg, Celestial Seasonings makes mostly herbal teas. Some people don't consider that real tea.


That is because technically it is not tea. Tea is a specific drink.  If it is not cured camellia sinensis leaves then it is not tea.


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## Addie (Mar 8, 2014)

CharlieD said:


> That is the question. I guess I never paid attention before, but on the box of tea I just bought it says not squeeze the bag. I wonder why? Do you have any idea?



It is my understanding that to squeeze a wet teabag is to release all the bitter tannins in the tea leaves.


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## CarolPa (Mar 8, 2014)

Andy M. said:


> Scoop the bag out in a spoon, wrap the string around the bag in the spoon and pull to squeeze out the liquid.




We always wrapped the string around the bag and spoon and pressed down on the bag using the paper tag.  Now I buy teabags that don't have strings or tags.  I hold the cup over the waste basket, squeeze the bag between my fingers and let it drop in.


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## CarolPa (Mar 8, 2014)

msmofet said:


> I have been buying loose tea lately: rose hip, hibiscus and oolong mostly. I mix Rose hips and hibiscus together which are very high in vitamins. I use a tea ball which I fill the bottom half to just below the threads. It is a perfect amount of tea for a rich full flavored cup of tea. My corelle mug is small maybe 6 - 8 oz. NO squeezing necessary.




I have that same Corelle!  I bought it new, unopened, at a flea market.  I loved the pattern.  Did you know there were glasses that match?  I bought a set of 8 at Hills years ago on clearance because one glass was missing.  It wasn't until I got them home that I realized they were the same pattern as my dishes.   They are just clear glass with the same flower pattern around the top.


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## Cooking Goddess (Mar 8, 2014)

GB said:


> That is because technically it is not tea. Tea is a specific drink.  If it is not cured camellia sinensis leaves then it is not tea.


I knew that!  Did you know that there is a commercial tea plantation in South Carolina? Tea first came to SC in the 19700s with on and off success, but The Charleston Plantation has now been in continuous operation since 1987. We visited and took a tour, had samples, bought a package. It's tea. I prefer Harney  Tea.

FWIW, there are a few other small tea farms in the U.S. If anyone is interested, the list of them is here: World of Tea


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## CatPat (Mar 9, 2014)

Squeezing the bags isn't bad. It's preferred at Gwen's house because she can't make a very good pot of tea, so it's best to squeeze the bags in the microwaved water.

We prefer to make the tea with boiling water in a teapot with the bags as one per cup and let it steep for three minutes off of the burner upon a trivet.

With love,
~Cat


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## Mad Cook (Mar 10, 2014)

CatPat said:


> Squeezing the bags isn't bad. It's preferred at Gwen's house because she can't make a very good pot of tea, so it's best to squeeze the bags in the microwaved water.
> 
> We prefer to make the tea with boiling water in a teapot with the bags as one per cup and let it steep for three minutes off of the burner upon a trivet.
> 
> ...


Tea should ALWAYS be made with boiling water.


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## GB (Mar 10, 2014)

Mad Cook said:


> Tea should ALWAYS be made with boiling water.


Sorry, but I disagree. It depends on the type of tea. You would ruin your white tea, for instance, if you poured boiling water on it.


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## Addie (Mar 10, 2014)

I have a teapot called The Brown Betty. And it makes the best tea. I prefer to make my tea the European way. Pour hot water into teapot to heat it up. Empty it, and then put the tea in and boiling water. My supermarket does not carry loose tea, so I just tear the tea bags open and put that in the teapot. It even has a little lip inside to stop the leaves from going into the cup. I also drink my tea black with just a little sugar. I also heat my cup up first before I pour tea into it.


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## CharlieD (Mar 10, 2014)

When I visited tea growing farm, years ago, I was told to bring eater just before boiling and poor it over the tea. Not boiling, according to them, not ever.

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## Cooking Goddess (Mar 11, 2014)

Charlie, I would think by the time you take the water kettle off the burner and go to pour water over your tea it's no longer 212 degrees. So we're safe.

Like GB said, different teas require different brew temperatures. I found a nice chart (at "Food Is My Friend") with brew times and temperatures - Fahrenheit AND Celsius!


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## GA Home Cook (Mar 11, 2014)

Being from the south I got a laugh out of these posts.  Only Dawg mentioned making tea by the pitcher.  We (my household) drink lots of "brewed" tea.  On rare occassions that is a cup of tea.  Mostly by the gallon.  But I work for the company that owns Lipton and here is the scoop.  Tannins are polyphenols and their content is dependant on the type of tea.  Black Tea's have the most, greens and whites are generally the least.  The Phenols (Tannins) are removed during the steeping process.  They produce a more astrigent, puckery taste (red wine is lots of tannins).  The longer you steep the more tannins will be removed.  If you squeeze at the end you tend to force out any long steeped products, of which tannins are one.


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## taxlady (Mar 11, 2014)

GA Home Cook said:


> Being from the south I got a laugh out of these posts.  Only Dawg mentioned making tea by the pitcher.  We (my household) drink lots of "brewed" tea.  On rare occassions that is a cup of tea.  Mostly by the gallon.  But I work for the company that owns Lipton and here is the scoop.  Tannins are polyphenols and their content is dependant on the type of tea.  Black Tea's have the most, greens and whites are generally the least.  The Phenols (Tannins) are removed during the steeping process.  They produce a more astrigent, puckery taste (red wine is lots of tannins).  The longer you steep the more tannins will be removed.  If you squeeze at the end you tend to force out any long steeped products, of which tannins are one.


By the pitcher? I've been wondering about that. Like a water pitcher?

I can't remember the last time we made tea other than by the pot. On rare occasion, we might make tea in a large mug. There seems to be some sort of "magic" about making tea that only kicks in with quantities bigger than a small cup.  We start our day with coffee and then switch to tea. So, a lot of tea gets drunk at our house.

I don't like the flavours that come out of the teabag when you squeeze it.


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## CraigC (Mar 11, 2014)

Good, strong, sugar or not, iced tea by the pitcher. Don't like hot tea.


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## CharlieD (Mar 11, 2014)

Cooking Goddess said:


> Charlie, I would think by the time you take the water kettle off the burner and go to pour water over your tea it's no longer 212 degrees. So we're safe.



Looks like they were right, the most teas on the least are made with water that is less than boiling. Of course there is a debate if herbal tea is actually a tea or not.  But the thread, as it always happens, by now, went totally different direction. The question was why manufacturer did not want the bag of tea to be squeezed.


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## Cooking Goddess (Mar 11, 2014)

Sorry Charlie. At least we've learned a whole bunch of things about tea though, right?


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## bakechef (Mar 11, 2014)

yup, as others have said, I've been told that it makes tea bitter if you squeeze, so I don't.


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## Mad Cook (Mar 11, 2014)

bakechef said:


> yup, as others have said, I've been told that it makes tea bitter if you squeeze, so I don't.



Most of the teas mentioned have instructions to make the tea in a mug and let it brew (or "mash" as they say in my neck of the woods) for anything from 2 to 5 minutes. Now, I like my tea *strong* and my cuppas have been known to make brave men run away screaming but even I would cavil at stewing such a small amount of the stuff for that long. That could be why they advise against squeezing. It would probably be the straw that broke the camel's back in tea tasting. 

 If you want to squeeze don't let it brew for too long.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 11, 2014)

When we were kids we squeezed the bag and placed it on one of these so we could use it again for the second or third cup of tea.  

I'm not sure if we were poor, cheap or thrifty.


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## CharlieD (Mar 12, 2014)

Cooking Goddess said:


> Sorry Charlie. At least we've learned a whole bunch of things about tea though, right?



We sure did, didn't we.

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