The concept of brewing tea in a coffee maker isn’t just for convenience, you could actually save on tea bags and spend less time preparing it too.
Add your tea bags straight into the coffee carafe. Set the brewing temperature between 180°F and 190°F for green and white tea, and 200°F to 212°F for black and herbal teas. Start the brewing process. Remove the tea bags from the carafe 5 to 7 minutes after the drip started.
For loose leaves, add 2 teaspoons for every 1 cup of tea into the coffee filter. Normally 1 teaspoon is enough for one cup of tea but since the coffee filter reduces the strength of the tea, you need to add more to compensate.
Coffee filters reduce the strength of your tea by at least 30%. That’s why we suggest putting your tea bags directly into the carafe to avoid the filter.
Even though coffee machines aren’t ideal for making a good cup of tea, they can save you on time since all you have to do is insert tea bags and push one button to produce a whole pot of tea. This always helps to save on tea bags because you can use two to four bags to make four to eight cups of coffee, instead of one bag per cup.
The other advantage is that you can keep your tea warm for hours while you slowly sip it down cup by cup during a chilly day.
It’s also a great way for making iced tea if you let the carafe cool down for about an hour and then refrigerate it. Just remember to switch the hot plate off for the tea to cool down. Refrigerating warm tea will damage your refrigerator.
How Many Tea Bags To Use In A Coffee Maker?
If you’re adding the tea bags directly into the carafe, use 1 tea bag for every 2 cups of water. If you’re filling the coffee carafe to a 12 cup level, 6 tea bags should be sufficient. They will have plenty of time to steep in the water and should make a strong blend. Don’t leave it to steep for more than 5 minutes or you may get bitter results.
If you only let the water run through your tea leaves at the top of the coffee machine, you’ll have to add twice the amount of tea to extract the flavors. Because the water doesn’t spend much time in contact with the leaves to get the job done properly.
How To Make Iced Tea In A Coffee Maker
- Simply add 1 tea bag to the carafe for every two cups of tea you’re making and start the brew.
- After you’ve brewed the tea, let it cool down for an hour. (Don’t add sugar or anything else during the steeping process as it will interfere with the brewing process)
- Add sugar according to your preference.
- Refrigerate the tea.
Tips For Making Tea In A Coffee Maker
As you might have realized by now, making tea in a coffee maker is easier than making coffee. But there are some things that you can do differently with tea. For example, tea steeps best when it’s submerged in water. If you load the bags up in the coffee grind drip area, hot water will pour through the tea leaves without leaving any time to steep. Here we’ll go over how to solve that problem and others.
Coffee filters reduce tea strength
Most coffee filters will catch and hold at least 30% of the tea’s flavor. Fine coffee filters reduce the strength of the tea slightly more than coarse filters. It’s best to put tea bags directly inside the carafe instead of the drip area, unless it’s loose tea.
- Check the tea packaging for steeping time suggestions. Some teas take much longer to steep than others. Identify your tea properly to brew it correctly.
- If you’re using loose tea leaves, add 1 to 2 teaspoons for every 1 cup of tea. With the coffee filter blocking around one third of the flavor, you’ll need to use more leaves than usual.
- Grind the tea leaves very finely if you can, this helps the water extract the flavors quicker.
Flush the system and set temperatures
- Flush out the system if this is your first time brewing tea in it. If you don’t flush out the system, leftover coffee residue might taint the taste of your tea.
- If you have temperature options, brew white and green tea between 180°F and 190°F.
- For herbal and black tea, the ideal brewing temperature is between 200°F to 212°F.
Can You Make Tea In An Espresso Machine?
You can make tea in an espresso machine but you will have to use finely ground tea leaves because the water will only have 30 to 60 seconds to extract the flavors.
Fine crushed herbal and dark teas are more suitable for espresso machines because they can withstand higher temperatures without getting burnt. Espresso machines use temperatures of 200°F and higher, dark teas can handle up to 212°F.
If your machine accepts pods, you’re in luck. You can get tea pods like this one on Amazon that you can use in your machine. The leaves are already crushed up finely so that the water can extract the flavors properly.
Making Tea In A French Press
Making tea in a French press is actually one of the best ways to do it. With a French press, you can let the tea leaves steep inside the water for the required 2 to 7 minutes required to extract all the flavors.
Steps:
- Add two tea bags or two teaspoons of leaves to the bottom of a 3-cup (12 ounce) French press.
- Pour boiled water into the container and let the tea steep for 2 to 7 minutes depending on the type of tea. Less time for light tea and more time for dark tea.
- Slowly push the plunger/filter down into the container.
If you’re using tea bags, give them a bit of a stir inside the water before plunging to extract the flavors quicker.
It’s best to empty the French press so that the leaves don’t leave a bitter taste in the water at the bottom.
Using a French press is my favorite way to make tea because it’s so simple and effective. The tea has time to steep, the water isn’t too hot, and the filter doesn’t block out much of the tea’s tasty soluble compounds.
Conclusion
The easiest way to make tea in a coffee machine is by using tea bags and no coffee filter. Just add the tea bags to the coffee carafe and let the hot water fill it up and steep the tea in the process.
Tea pods are very easy to use and produce great tasting tea if you have an espresso machine that takes pods.
But in the end, we suggest you use a French press to make your tea. It will have enough time to brew and the French press plunger is perfect to separate the leaves from the water once they’ve had time to steep freely.