Can you re-use teabags?

One of the questions that is always on the minds of tea drinkers, especially the ones who prefer tea bags to tradtional loose leaf teas, is whether they can re-use tea bags after one steeping.

The answer to this question really depends on the kind of tea one is trying to brew.

Black tea teabags cannot be re-used, simply because it is an oxidized and roasted tea and it release almost all of its flavour and colour in the first steep itself.

Green tea teabags, however, can be used for a second steep. Green tea is unoxidized and is always in the form of leaves. Green tea leaves don't release all of their flavour and colour in the first steep. There is always enough flavour left for a second steep nearly as flavourful and coloured as the first steep. The trick however is to brew the teabag for exactly 2 minutes, not any more than that, at 85 degrees Celsius for the first steep. If one oversteeps during the first steeping, there will be very little flavour and colour left for the second steep. That is something one must always keep in mind.

And important thing to remember is to not let the used teabag sit around for a very long time. It is best to perform the second steep within 2-3 hours of the first. Anything more than that and one risks bacterial spoiling of the already moist tea inside the teabags. However one way to keep the used teabags for a relatively long time before the second steep is to place them in a glass of ice cold water and then put the glass into the refrigerator.