How To Brew Tea Bags With Your Keurig For The Perfect Quick Cup

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Coffee is a morning ritual for many and making it at home can be a cost-effective alternative to ordering out if you have a Keurig. Keurig machines exist to take the hassle out of making coffee, but it can still be frustrating to use one if your machine argues. For example, putting a K-Cup into your machine wrong can be a total disaster. If you're interested in a changeup but still want to make use of your Keurig, you're in luck. You can also use this machine to make tea, no K-Cup required.

All you need is a tea bag of your favorite tea. While it may sound odd, Keurigs are able to make more than just coffee if you use them right. However, you need to be aware of a few pitfalls before you try brewing, or else you may end up with crummy tea or worse — a broken Keurig.

To be very clear, you don't want to put the tea bag directly into your Keurig. Tea bags are meant to steep for a few minutes at a time, not have water run through them like pour-over coffee. At best, you'll end up with weak tea. If punctured by the needle, a tea bag may also clog the internal workings of the machine, meaning you'll have to clean out or repair it. If the tea is particularly fine, you'll end up with a bunch of residue floating in your cup and still have watery tea.

Instead, start by ensuring your Keurig has been thoroughly cleaned. This will ensure your tea doesn't end up with a coffee aftertaste (many people aren't cleaning their Keurigs often enough, anyway). From there, you have two options. You can put the tea bag into your mug and use the "dispense water only" option to add in boiling water. Simply let the tea steep for your preferred amount of time and enjoy. Alternatively, you can tear open the tea bag and put the contents into a special strainer brew pod that won't allow residue to pass through. With this option, just run the machine as if you were using a K-Cup.

Remember that not all teas are created equal. Black teas do well with higher temperatures, and Keurigs need teas that are okay with boiling water. More temperamental teas, such as white tea, should be steeped after the water sits in the mug for a while. That way it can steep at a more gentle temperature.

If you are more of a fan of loose-leaf tea, you can add a few spoonfuls of your favorite tea to a specialized reusable pod. These brew baskets seat into the Keurig machine where a pod would normally be but hold the water there a little longer to allow tea leaves to steep. Stick with robust teas and remember to break up the leaves so the hot water has more surface area to work with. Rinsing your tea leaves under a little running water before putting them into the machine may also help soften the leaves in preparation for brewing. You can also use disposable filters to ensure the tea steeps for long enough.

For those who want to use their machine as originally intended, there are tea K-Cups available from many major brands. Twinings, Tazo, Bigelow, Lipton, Celestial, and several others offer Keurig-friendly options in different flavors and tea types. If you're worried that using tea K-Cups will just create more waste, take heart that Keurig has begun producing compostable coffee pods that may soon work for tea as well.