What do you put in first: Teabag or hot water?

Take your hatchet and slash some leaves in the misty fields of Kerala. Make sure it's monsoon flush, so roughly july to september. Then, chop up an old Ginkgo Biloba that looks wise. Leave it to dry in a Kenyan plain for three years, and head for Nepal. There, you will gather the purest glacier water there is. By then, your tea leaves will be dust. Go buy some Lipton and microwave tap water, it's all you can do at this point. And, uh, teabag first

Teabag, honey, hot water and then milk (almond in my case)

Water.
If the cup is not full enough, I'll top it up (and spill the amount again once I get to my table).

Tea bag first, then freshly boiled hot water.

Tea bags got many microplastics...
- I recently learned this and bought one of those sieve tongs , but because I still have a bunch of tea bags left over, I opted to just rip them open and put the tea in the tongs. Works like a treat, once you figure out how to rip them without spilling everything lol

Milk, then water, then I empty the teabag into it. Duh.
I also like to put the water in the bowl before I pour the cereal in.

Tea bag

Neither. Tea bags are for chumps. It's so much tastier to use fresher loose tea leaves of whatever mix you prefer (and you can control how strong you make it, plus you end up with less waste). I just boil the water in the microwave then when it's hot I take it out and add the tea.
- You can buy empty tea bags to gill with loose tea...
- unfortunately, i believe the microwave was not an option.
  
  Does it make a difference that the tea is never in the microwave? It's only the method for heating a single cup of water, not of heating the water+tea set.

Yes

The teabag. Otherwise it would float on top, similarly to why you put cerial in before milk.
- if you do the characteristic "teabagging" motion it saturates quickly. tbh I do it whichever way is most convenient since I'm almost always brewing on the way from one task in one part of my work area to a different one somewhere else. What I put into the travel mug first has much more to do with which one I get my hands on first than it does with any personal preference.
- You use so much milk and so little cereal that the cereal would float?
  
  You don't?
- I don't put the milk in first so it won't travel across the inner curve of the bowl and spill out, making a huge mess. But that's just me

I put the teabag in first so the hot water will hit it and move it around and release the flavour.
- This is the way!
  
  This is the way
- That's a great way to make the air inside the teabag expand but not be able to escape through the wet paper, making the teabag float on top of the water like a confused little fish that just escaped a dentist's aquarium.
  
  That's why you dunk it a few times until it sinks!

Depends what tea I'm making. For green and white teas I will add water first (175-185F) then steep the tea bag for 3-4 minutes.
If I'm making black tea or some fruity/herbal tea, I will toss the bag in first, then pour in boiling water and steeping for 3-5min depending on preference.
- Same for me. I like drinking white jasmine tea, but the flavor becomes too bitter if you pour boiling water over the leaves. It’s better to drink at 80 or even 70 degrees (sorry, don’t know the F one).
  I used to make tea for my coworkers back when we had a team room and got way into it. I had my own little kettle, all kinds of tea leaves, a weighing scale spoon and even a thermometer :)
  I learned that pre-heating your kettle was important for black teas because boiling water would drop to 90 degrees or even less if you didn’t.

I'm not sure why the hate for microwaves exist. It's literally just another method for making water move fast. It has absolutely no impact on the final product, as hot water is hot water no matter the heat source.
- Heating water in the mike is fine. Heating already-made tea in the mike is fine. Heating water with a teabag in it in the microwave is the vilest act.
  
  But boiling a tea bag is wrong no matter what your heat source is.
- Yes, this is one of the more bizarre cultural differences. I have seen people from the UK object strongly to Microwaving water.
  Microwaving food definitely affects the way it tastes because it heats unevenly. Cooking foods different ways affects the outer browning, moisture levels, etc.
  Heating water in a kettle on the stove, an electric kettle, a sauce pan, or a microwave doesn't change the water! If you don't want to seep tea in boiling water, then let it cool slightly first.
  
  To avoid the uneven heating just turn down the microwave power! No one does this and everyone complains about uneven heating! I get great reheating results from my microwave just by turning down the power and running it for longer.
  This is how microwaves used to work decades ago when they were lower power by design. Over time the microwave power arms race resulted in them getting much too powerful for even reheating.
  
  Lots of comments on superheating, mostly to the parent comment, but I'll put a response here.
  You can avoid superheating by putting a reasonable time on the microwave based on the amount of water you're heating. Especially for something you do again and again, you should be able to quickly get experience with this.
  
  True, but also disgusting and you should be ashamed.
  
  I live in the US and I strongly object to microwaving water. But I am also /really/ into tea so I avoid tea bags as much as possible.
  Part of the cultural difference is that US is largely 110 and the UK is 220. It’s faster and easier to use an electric kettle. In the US, the microwave heats up the water “faster” vs the stove or an electric kettle
- It is not simply 'just another method to heat water'. There is a significant difference between microwaving and kettle/stovetop. Microwaving risks superheating resulting in flash boiling causing an explosion of steam and boiling water. This is also why microwaved water has foam appear when inserting anything into it. Bubbles that 'should' have formed didn't and are now doing so at the nucleation points whatever you inserted provided.
  That foam, while an indication the water was close to erupting, is otherwise harmless but ruins the tea/coffee for me and I'm sure others too.
  
  You just solved one of my childhood mysteries, the foam after microwaving. TIL
  
  I mean, you do you, but a quick stir would easily solve that issue.
  
  Exactly. Also an interesting phenomenon I saw when microwaving water for tea is that, because it's so foamy and bubbly, the tea packet floats to the top when you drop it in which makes it harder to mix in the taste.
  Those few weeks where my kettle wasn't working were dark times.
  
  You know you can wait like 15 seconds before opening the microwave and putting something in, right? Even with my electric kettle I give it a few seconds before doing anything.
- Water is much more likely to get supersaturated in a microwave, because water heats up in the middle of the container where there are no nucleation points. And supersaturated water heats the tea leaves above 100ºC, which can affect the flavor.
  
  superheated, not supersaturated.
  
  I don’t believe this to be true.
  Edit: since the replies aren’t very polite, let me be more clear. This isn’t a concern. Any modern microwave with a turntable doesn’t have this problem
  
  It would only be able to heat the tea to above 100C if that point of zero nucleation remained undisturbed, and the tea held directly within it; in other words, it's not possible.
  Assuming there's an amount of water within the cup that is above 100C, while the rest is at or below 100C. As soon as you grab the cup out of the microwave, the water will start to slosh around in the cup, equalizing the temperature. If there are any major hot spots remaining, they will be well below 100C, and almost completely equalized when the tea bag is added.
- I've had microwaved water for tea a few times.
  For some reason the water always starts foaming up a little bit when it's from a microwave instead of a normal kettle. I don't know why or what the difference is, but I prefer non-foamy water.
  
  Water foaming when heated is caused by impurities in the water rather than the heating mechanism. So whatever is causing your water to foam is in it either way
- Because we're better than that and electric kettles exist.
  
  While I own one, it's another appliance that takes up space.
- I think the issue is that the teabag has to be shocked with boiling water at 100C, not dampened in increasingly hot water. It may not taste as good.
  I don't know if you can boil water in a microwave, but it's not a kettle, it's a closed container and you can expect loads of vapour from boiling.
  Finally, microwave doesn't heat stuff evenly, so you may end up with parts of the water superheated, and explode in your face when you take out the cup from the microwave. https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=18822#%3A%7E%3Atext=Microwaved+water+and+other+liquids%2Cit%2C+which+can+cause+injury
  
  You can still heat the water to your desired temp add the tea bags after. I don’t understand how your first point has relevance between a kettle vs microwaved cup
  Yes you can easily boil water in the microwave.
  The explosion isn’t a real common occurrence, otherwise you’d hear about it much more. Steam from a kettle can harm people as well
  
  You should try tea that isn't shocked... Green tea is especially bitter and unpleasant if the water's too hot. The recommended temperature is 80°C, if I remember right.
  But even black tea tastes less bitter if you use slightly rested water after boiling (and if you remove the teabag without squeezing it out). You're probably used to teas being astringent, but they don't have to be. They can be smooth and "rounded" and rich.

This depends on the water temperature. I boil mine, so I pour water first, wait a bit, then put the bag. If I do the other way around, sometimes the tea gets burnt and tastes too bitter, which I don't like.
I could also heat the water to a lower temperature but I don't have one of those fancy kettles with temp selection, and I usually get distracted to interrupt the kettle before it boils. But, if the water is hot enough already but not just boiled, then I'll put the bag first, then the water second.

Teabag and sugar, then drown it in a scalding stream of boiling water.

Set the bush on fire, toss a bucket of water on it, drink the hot bush broth drippings
- So primitive, in the least impressive way imaginable

They're designed to deliver the maximum amount of flavour in ~20 seconds.
So: bag first, then just-boiled water. Wait/steep for 20-60 seconds, fish out the bag with a teaspoon and squeeze against the cup, and then milk.
- How do you milk your teabag?
  
  With a come here motion with your finger(s)
  
  Through the nipples.
  
  Squeeze against the wall, milk it hard

First the filter, then the loose leaves, then water.
- Absolutely! Nobody should use teabags, they're subpar and we're allready getting plenty of micro plastics in our bodies.

Microwave the water on high for ten minutes, drop the teabag in, and run for my life
- Damn, got away on time

For me:
Cup.
Reusable metal tea infuser.
Loose leaf tea.
press button on Japanese instant hot water dispenser
(this was probably the best $200 I've ever spent, fucking worth every dollar).

You will be deported from Ireland for putting the water in first.

Hot water in the base chamber of the pot. Coffee in the funnel. Top chamber screwed on. Put on a high heat until the coffee is ready.
- And then the teabag last?

The microwave is a fundamental part of the Make Tea -> Forget About Tea -> Reheat Tea cycle.
Also, I have to put the bag in first, because otherwise I've no idea how much room I need to leave for it (which you'd think I'd be able to eyeball by now, but apparently not).

The coffee grounds.

First water, then teabag, then cup.
- Found the topologist.

Doesn't really matter, as long as you add the sugar while the liquid is hot enough to go into supersaturated solution.
Then chill and add ice.

Teabag
Boiling water
Leave a for a couple of minutes
Remove teabag
Add milk
Kids distract me so I never end up drinking it

Teabag first just because the water will take a bit to heat up and I might as well do it while I'm waiting

Teabag. Make sure the water doesn't hit straight on the teabag, but kinda dunk it so it's fully wet while pouring.

An interesting alternative that I've found (for when making English breakfast or something similar) is to steep the teabag in the milk first before adding the hot water. I find that it cuts down on the bitterness and makes a much smoother tea.

I've a sweet tooth and like a bit of honey in my tea. So, I put a dab of honey in the cup while the kettle goes, then pour the boiling water in, and use one of those little electric milk frothers to stir it up thoroughly. While the water is still spinning, I toss the tea bag in, and throw the lid on the cup to let it steep for however long.

Put the tea in a tea infuser thingy. Boil water in a kettle. Pour water in teapot. Let infuse required number of minutes depending the tea. Remove tea holder from tea pot. Enjoy nice tea ;)

https://youtu.be/6WKH_MQ1tSc

Teabag, sugar, then water and milk.
I'm not sure how normal this is, largely because this is coming from the same person who pours milk before her cereal LMAO

Teabag, pour water over the bag and if there's a significant amount of detritus coming out of the bag discard that water and repour until the water is clear.

Teabag! It just makes more sense to me...

How about cooking hotdogs in a kettle?
Fish fingers in the toaster?
I've started leaving the bag in, the OG tea in Spain is gash, need to double bag.
Big Carrefour sells Yorkshire (for a treat) and, Mercadona sells PG Tips.
- Fish fingers in the kettle.

Water then bag: I brew in a pot and used to use one of those diffuser baskets that rests just below the lid. I switched to bags but kept the order of operations the same.

I put some extra fiber and collagen protein in my tea, so I put that in first, pour in the heated water, stir, and then the tea bag. If I'm away and don't have those available, the tea bag first all the way.

Making tea atm, teabag first!

Water