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Last Updated on June 6, 2022 by Scott
Have you ever thought about making tea in your coffee maker? This can be a convenient way for people to make a quick cup of tea, or sometimes a coffee maker is the only thing we have that can heat up some water. These circumstances can make you wonder if making tea in your coffee maker is possible.
Can We Make Tea in a Coffee Maker?
If you’re staying at a hotel or motel, chances are you don’t have a stove in your room to heat up water for a cup of tea. It could also be that your house stove is broken or ran out of gas.
Whichever reason it is, making tea in a coffee maker is certainly possible. Tea can be brewed in the same way ground coffee is made in a coffee maker. The easiest method is just to add tea to the filter compartment instead of coffee.
Although it’s possible to make tea in a coffee maker, we wouldn’t consider it, unless it was your last option.
Is Making Tea in a Coffee Maker a Bad Idea?
The reason why making tea in a coffee maker is considered a bad idea is because you won’t get the same quality or taste to your tea. However, this isn’t true for all types of teas. It depends on what kind of tea you want to brew in your coffee maker.
Herbal teas, which are made from many different plants, roots, fruits, and seeds, will work fine in a coffee maker. On the other hand, real teas, such as black, green, white, and oolong teas, will not do so well. This is due to the specific brewing methods of each tea.
Each real tea needs to be steeped at a certain temperature and for an exact amount of time. These steeping times can vary depending on how you like your tea, although with a coffee machine, the tea leaves won’t be steeped at all. The water will pass through the leaves briefly before dripping into the carafe, which is the glass vessel that comes along with a coffee maker.
As for the temperature, a coffee maker will heat the water to an extremely high temperature which will burn your tea leaves and give it a bad taste. Nonetheless, if you’re set on making your tea in a coffee maker regardless of the consequences, read on to find out how you can do this so your tea won’t taste as bad.
How to Make Tea in a Coffee Maker
You could simply make tea in a coffee maker as you would your ground coffee. However, this will likely give you bad tasting tea. You could drown out the flavor with milk and sugar, or you can follow these steps below to make an alright tasting cup of tea with a coffee maker.
- You’ll first need to clean your coffee machine if you’ve been using it to make coffee. Clean out your filter compartment by removing any filter paper. Make sure to wipe up all the coffee residue inside.
- Add 3 cups white vinegar and 6 cups of cold water into your coffee machine and let it run like you usually would.
- Once all the water has been transferred to the carafe, spill it out into your sink.
- Fill your coffee maker with 6 cups cold water and let it run through. (This will clear out the vinegar/water mixture.)
- After your coffee maker is clean, add the correct amount of water you’d like for your tea into the water compartment.
- Place your tea bag or leaves in the carafe – do not place it in the filter compartment! (Remember that for each cup of water, 1 teaspoon of tea should be used.)
- Turn on your coffee machine and let the water drip down onto the tea in the carafe. Let it steep for the recommended tea time and then serve in a mug or teacup.
This process is slightly better than placing your tea leaves into the filter area. Your tea leaves will not steep effectively and will most likely burn. There is still a chance of your tea leaves burning with the method mentioned above due to the extremely hot water that comes from the coffee machine.
To fix this, I recommend placing your tea in a different vessel to steep; a cup or teapot. Once the water has heated and dropped down into the carafe, wait a little while for the water to cool down a bit and then pour the water into the vessel containing your tea.
For all herbal teas, you can simply add the tea into the carafe and allow the water from the coffee maker to steep it directly. Herbal teas require extremely hot water and can be steeped for however long you prefer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What’s better for making tea in a coffee maker, tea bags or loose leaf tea?
A. If you decide to use tea bags, you can simply put them right into the carafe. This will give you a bit of control over the steeping time. However, loose leaf tea will be better quality.
Q. Can I make tea in an espresso machine?
A. It is possible to make tea in an espresso machine, but keep in mind you’ll have to use finely grounded tea leaves because the water will only steep for a short amount of time to extract the flavors.
Q. Can I make tea in a french press?
A. Yes, it is possible to make both tea and coffee in a french press.
Q. Can I use tea pods in a coffee machine?
A. Tea pods are very convenient and known for their ease-of-use, however your coffee maker or espresso machine will need to be able to accommodate pods for this to work.
Conclusion
Remember when cleaning the coffee maker to get out as much coffee grounds as you can. Because of the strong taste, there might still be a chance of your tea tasting slightly of coffee. A coffee machine may sound like a good idea, although you’re better off brewing your tea the traditional way.
Scott is the founder of TeaMinded. He enjoys tasting and discovering teas from across the globe, with green teas and ceremonial matcha from Japan being among his favorites. He’s grateful to be immersed in the tea community, always learning and sharing along the journey.
