Rotten Home Brew Tea

[Zee09]

Brewing tea in a coffee maker with single and double filters.
Using filtered water and getting a nasty after-taste
Almost like a diet drink. I let it cool and put in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator.
Using fresh bags. Not old. Many brands designed for iced tea like Luzianne, Lipton, Giant, Food Lion, Clover Valley etc.

Sometimes a mold smell I read about and that is the tea bags even though dated to late 2025 must be no good.
Luzianne is the best, but I have grown tired of the added perfume type aroma. A real turn off.
Now this is straight tea no sugar no nothing.

 

[JTK]

Love Luzianne for both hot and sweet/iced tea. The only place we can find it locally is Walmart. I've not noticed what you describe.

 

[Zee09]

Anybody else notice the Luzianne perfume like aroma??

 

[Hermann]

Love Luzianne for both hot and sweet/iced tea. The only place we can find it locally is Walmart. I've not noticed what you describe.

Been buying Luzianne Family Size for about 2 years now. I like it, although it can be a bit skunky every once in a while. Makes really good sun tea if you get it up to 140°

My quick method is 2 cups water and 2 Fam Size bags. Heat the 2 cups of filtered water to 190-200° in the microwave, brew tea bags for 20 min. Pour into filtered water in a gallon glass jug/jar.

 

[Vil_Riker]

I think your problem is using a coffee maker. Why not just put the tea bags in the carafe, boil the water in a kettle and pour boiling water over them?

 

[Tdbo]

I drink iced tea almost every day.
I have always used a dedicated iced tea maker (usually Mr. Coffee, or whatever can be picked up on the cheap at the end of the summer.)
I generally use generic store brand, or sometimes name brand if sales/coupons can be coordinated to hit simultaneously.
I generally use 2-3 of the large bags, or 6 regular, depending on the brand used.
Never have had any kind of aroma other than tea, with any brand used.
Drink it straight , with only a slice of fresh lemon to finish it.

 

[Zee09]

I drink iced tea almost every day.
I have always used a dedicated iced tea maker (usually Mr. Coffee, or whatever can be picked up on the cheap at the end of the summer.)
I generally use generic store brand, or sometimes name brand if sales/coupons can be coordinated to hit simultaneously.
I generally use 2-3 of the large bags, or 6 regular, depending on the brand used.
Never have had any kind of aroma other than tea, with any brand used.
Drink it straight , with only a slice of fresh lemon to finish it.

That is how I do it.
You ever use Luzianne? That is the one with the perfume taste-aroma

 

[JTK]

Been buying Luzianne Family Size for about 2 years now. I like it, although it can be a bit skunky every once in a while. Makes really good sun tea if you get it up to 140°

My quick method is 2 cups water and 2 Fam Size bags. Heat the 2 cups of filtered water to 190-200° in the microwave, brew tea bags for 20 min. Pour into filtered water in a gallon glass jug/jar.

I'll boil ~6 cups of water and add it to a large plastic pitcher. Add bags and let it steep until the water is just warm. Remove bags, add sugar or not, then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with filtered water. Delish.

I tried a glass pitcher once, supposedly intended for hot liquids. That sucker exploded when I poured the boiling hot water in it.

 

[Vil_Riker]

I'll boil ~6 cups of water and add it to a large plastic pitcher. Add bags and let it steep until the water is just warm. Remove bags, add sugar or not, then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with filtered water. Delish.

I tried a glass pitcher once, supposedly intended for hot liquids. That sucker exploded when I poured the boiling hot water in it.

You need to condition it, pour a little hot water, swirl it around so that the glass gets warmer.

 

[Tdbo]

That is how I do it.
You ever use Luzianne? That is the one with the perfume taste-aroma

I have a few times.
I can't recall an aroma with it; however, it had a different twang to it.
I generally go low bid on the tea. I'm using Lipton presently, because I hit a sale, had coupons, and beat out the store brand by 30 cents a box.
Are you sure that you are not picking up residual from the coffee maker, or is your machine dedicated solely to tea?

 

[Zee09]

I have a few times.
I can't recall an aroma with it; however, it had a different twang to it.
I generally go low bid on the tea. I'm using Lipton presently, because I hit a sale, had coupons, and beat out the store brand by 30 cents a box.
Are you sure that you are not picking up residual from the coffee maker, or is your machine dedicated solely to tea?

I don't drink coffee so no. I might go Lipton with lemon which may kill the aftertaste.

 

[JohnnyG]

If you ever saw how tea leaves were prepared you would understand how some of those strange flavors could happen.

 

[Zee09]

I'll boil ~6 cups of water and add it to a large plastic pitcher. Add bags and let it steep until the water is just warm. Remove bags, add sugar or not, then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with filtered water. Delish.

I tried a glass pitcher once, supposedly intended for hot liquids. That sucker exploded when I poured the boiling hot water in it.

I don't trust hot water in plastic... might just be me- chemicals not taste

 

[ripcord]

Y'all are gonna give yourself kidney stones! (Fallacious post of the day)

 

[ripcord]

If you ever saw how tea leaves were prepared you would understand how some of those strange flavors could happen.

I've was told by a guy I worked with from Southern India that American Lipton (and most US brands) are made up from the sweepings from the floor of the curing sheds. He said he was kind of joking, kind of not, but cheap US tea brands were of inferior grade tea.

 

[Tdbo]

I don't drink coffee so no. I might go Lipton with lemon which may kill the aftertaste.

You might try that.
At least in my case, I have not noticed an aftertaste.
You might also run your coffee maker through a cleaning cycle, to see if you notice a difference.

 

[Zee09]

I just tried hot water in a pitcher and hung a few tea bags in it- the color looks good and so far, no heavy aroma.
These were Luzianne again. Not smelling the heavy aroma like a coffee maker.
We shall see. @JTK PM sent.
I just have a fear of plastics... Sincerely Sorry!

 

[Zee09]

Y'all are gonna give yourself kidney stones! (Fallacious post of the day)

Too late for that. I take Chanca Piedra often.

 

[Zee09]

 

[97prizm]

Brewing tea in a coffee maker with single and double filters.
Using filtered water and getting a nasty after-taste
Almost like a diet drink. I let it cool and put in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator.
Using fresh bags. Not old. Many brands designed for iced tea like Luzianne, Lipton, Giant, Food Lion, Clover Valley etc.

Sometimes a mold smell I read about and that is the tea bags even though dated to late 2025 must be no good.
Luzianne is the best, but I have grown tired of the added perfume type aroma. A real turn off.
Now this is straight tea no sugar no nothing.

You need to run coffee maker cleaner through it twice then rinse. I've found that boiling water in a kettle, using filtered water ( I have a zero water filter) then steeping the tea bags makes for better tea.