When you use a tea bag for its quick convenience, you will most likely find that it floats. If you’re anything like me, you might have even trapped the tea bag under your spoon to keep it fully immersed in the water. I have often wondered if the fact that tea bags tend to float affects the steeping process or the quality of the resulting brew. While this question might seem basic and odd, it actually comes up a lot. Here are some facts that might put your mind at ease.
Tea bags float because the material is porous so that air and water can pass through to steep the leaves. When hot liquid causes the air to leave, the bag sinks. When the material becomes wet, it can form a seal that traps the air inside. The bag floats when air is retained.
Since its normal for tea bags to float, the remaining questions revolve around whether or not it matters and whether it affects the steeping process or resulting taste.
In addition, when it comes to tea bags, there are often questions (if not debate) as to whether you should bob or squeeze your tea bag and what, if any, difference it makes.
Let’s cover all of these details, along with more information about why tea bags float and how the facts affect your tea.
You might also be interested in my article Can You Microwave Tea Bags? Steps and 5 Unexpected Benefits and Can You Use Tea Bags in Cold Water? Tips and Steps.
Why Do Tea Bags Float and Does it Affect Your Tea?
As I mentioned above, tea bags float because the material is porous so that air and water can pass through to steep the leaves. When hot liquid causes the air to leave, the bag sinks and when the material becomes wet, it forms a seal that traps the air inside. The bag floats when air is retained.
The Thermodynamics of Floating Tea Bags
Specifically, here is how thermodynamics affect your tea bag and cause it to float:
- Hot water makes tea leaves swell
- When the bag gets wet, diffusion takes place
- The brewed tea from the underside of the bag is heavier and it will sink to the bottom of the cup
- A cycle of fresher water rising upwards will ensure proper brewing of the tea
Does a Floating Tea Bag Affect the Tea?
If you’re concerned about the taste of the tea, don’t worry. There isn’t really a difference in taste when your tea bag floats a little.
Even if the tea bag floats in the cup, the tea leaves release their essence into the hot water and the result is flavor. While it may seem that a bag that sinks to the bottom will make a more concentrated cup of tea, it’s not the case.
It really doesn’t matter if your tea bag floats or sinks. As long as you allow the leaves to brew for the recommended amount of time you will have a well-steeped cup of tea.
“Even if the tea bag floats in the cup, the tea leaves release their essence into the hot water and the result is flavor.”
TEA CROSSING
How Do You Get Your Tea Bag to Sink? 3 Tricks to Try
If a floating tea bag is a source of frustration for you, there are a few things that you can do to make your tea bag sink.
The floating tea bag phenomenon happens most often when the tea bag is placed inside of the cup first, with hot water added on top. This causes the wet bag to create a seal around the tea and it doesn’t allow the air to escape, causing the bag to rise to the top of the cup.
If you prefer to keep your tea bag at the bottom of your cup, try these options:
- Add the dry bag to the hot water when it is already in the cup. When the bottom of the tea bag gets wet first, there is a higher chance that the air will naturally escape out of the bag, so your tea bag won’t float.
- Hold the tea bag down with a spoon. This will help the bag to soak up more of the water and it can help to force the air out of the bag.
- Give the tea bag a gentle nudge with your finger. Be careful not to burn yourself with the hot water.
- Dip the bottom of the bag into the hot water, and allowing the bag to absorb the hot water, expand the tea leaves, and expel the air that’s keeping it afloat.
Why Should You NOT Squeeze a tea bag?
Many of us who love the taste of tea and who believe that the stronger it is the better, may resort to squeezing the bag. I think we have wrongly believed that this releases even more of the flavor and boldness.
However, it turns out that squeezing your tea bag may actually not make for a bolder tea. In fact, squeezing your tea bag may even have a few detrimental effects.
Squeezing a tea bag is not generally recommended for several reasons. Squeezing a tea bag makes your tea more bitter, it releases sediment into your tea, the tea bag could break, and darker tea can stain your teeth.
Let’s cover these four reasons in more detail:
Reason #1: It Makes the Tea Bitter
When scientists studied the effects of squeezing a tea bag, they learned that this action causes concentrated amounts of tannins to be released into the drink. Tannins are compounds that occur naturally in your tea, and they just happen to have astringent properties. They cause the tea to take on a bitter taste, and can ruin an otherwise perfectly brewed cup of tea. While some people like a bold flavor, it’s different when a bitter or sharp taste is imparted. Few enjoy tea that makes you wince.
Reason #2: Squeezing Releases Dregs
If you look at the bottom of your teacup as you near the last drops of the beverage after squeezing the bag, you’ll notice a sediment. These are the dregs that collect at the bottom of the cup. A few dregs appear regardless, but the amount is amplified by squeezing the bag.
Reason #3: The Bag Could Break
Squeezing a tea bag that is saturated with hot water can cause it to burst. It’s no fun to sift through your cup of tea to attempt to remove the tiny tea leaves after the bag has broken. This is the final compelling reason why you shouldn’t squeeze your tea bag.
Reason #4: It Causes Deeper Teeth Stains
The tannins in the tea also act as an astringent that can prep the enamel of your teeth by softening them slightly. This is just enough to make them retain deeper and darker stains from the natural color of the tea. You’re preserving the beauty of your teeth by avoiding giving your tea bag a squeeze. It’s best to just let the brewing process happen naturally without assistance
Should You Bob Your Tea Bag?
Bobbing a tea bag in your cup is a habit that many of us have finetuned over the years. As we watch the colorful tea mix into the clear hot water, it’s gratifying to watch the brewing process happen.
After years of bobbing, it may have become a habit, but what does it really do for the tea?
Some believe that dunking the bag in hot water can cause bruising in the tea leaf that will change the flavor of the brew. When science stepped in to test this hypothesis, it was discovered that under controlled circumstances, bobbing a tea bag has absolutely no effect on the taste of the tea nor does it bruise the leaves.
So, is there any value in bobbing a tea bag?
Bobbing your tea bag does not seem to affect either the quality or taste of your tea. However, there is a defining value in bobbing your tea bag, but it’s almost entirely symbolic. It is a ritual that some have come to love and has become a precursor to enjoying a lovely cup of tea.
The value of bobbing your tea bag is strictly psychological, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying every cup to the fullest, especially as part of a larger ritualistic moment.
“There is a defining value in bobbing your tea bag, but it’s almost entirely symbolic. It is a ritual that some of us have come to love.”
TEA CROSSING
Should You Leave a Tea Bag in the Cup?
While no harm can come to you from leaving your tea bag in the cup, it isn’t recommended. Leaving a tea bag in your cup as you drink causes the tea to become bitter. It also allows the tea to become darker, which can stain your teeth.
Let’s cover both results in a little more detail.
Your Tea Becomes Too Bitter
When you leave the bag in the cup while you sip the beverage, the tea continues to get stronger. In the same regard that squeezing the bag can release more of the tannins, as you sip the tea, the bag keeps releasing more of these compounds. You’ll notice that there are more dregs in the bottom of the cup, and there is a change in the flavor and quality of the tea.
Since tea bags contain ground leaves and the dust from processing, it will continue to steep in the cup, even while you’re drinking the tea. The taste will become more and more bitter. Have you ever left the last few sips in the cup because you’re no longer interested in drinking it? It’s most likely because the dregs are somewhat nasty, and the tea at the bottom of the cup near the tea bag is too strong to taste good.
Darker Tea Stains Your Teeth
A final reason for not leaving the tea bag in the cup is because it will stain your teeth. Concentrated tannin releases make the enamel of your teeth more prone to staining. The stronger, darker tea can darken your smile by several shades over time.