'Homemade' Tea Bags - How do?

[ChynaRose]

Ok, after getting sucked into my local chain tea shop (and buying way too much tea - if such a thing is possible) I ended up picking up these neat DIY teabag filter things. Only they don't seem to come with any instructions on how to properly close them once you put the loose leaf tea in. Anyone have any idea?

[Dazi]

You can just give them a twist and tie a knot or you can just fold them over.  I personally use the knot method as I'm afraid the tea is going to float out or something.

[ChynaRose]

Thanks. I'll try the knot method tonight since some of the teas I got were really interesting and I'd love to try them out.

[PastryGoddess]

Mine closes with heat at the top. I went out to 5 below and got a cheap flat iron.  Now I just match the seams up, give it some heat and drop into my cup.

If you have a MOM's near you they sell french press cups specifically for tea.

[ChynaRose]

Did your teabags say on the packaging/in the instructions that they're heat closing? Or did you discover that on your own.

I don't think there's a MOM's near me since I've never heard of that chain, but the I think I've seen something similar for sale in my local Teavana.

[PastryGoddess]

The instructions said that they were heat closing.  but I've inherited some teabags that were heat closing as well.  I've found that the teabags with no obvious flap tend to be heat closing. The ones that are more rectangular in shape, I've double folded and stapled. 

If you go to Teavana, you should buy The Perfect Teamaker. It makes the tea and then strains it directly into your cup.  You can also put it in the fridge for reusing your leaves as well.  I have a large.  It's amazing.  I also have the insulated tea tumbler as well. 

[ChynaRose]

I admit that my current method of tea making largely involves filling either a plastic water bottle or a plastic orange juice jug with water, dropping a tea bag or two into it, and then shoving it in the fridge overnight.

Since these bags do have a flap, I'm going to assume that they're not the heat closing kind and might look into getting a small stapler that I can/will use as a dedicated tea bag securer if the knot method doesn't work.

[cwm]

I've never dealt with actual bags, but when I was out in the wilderness and we needed to make coffe like tea (no press or percolator, and we didn't want to actually drink the grounds) I learned that if you take wild game bag (or t-shirt material would probably work too) and wrap the grounds up in it and stick a safety pin on it to hold it shut, it works quite well. It would probably work well for tea too, in a pinch.

Actually, it might work better for tea, since most loose leaves are larger than coffee grounds, and there was always a bit of grounds leaking out. The last drink of coffee invariably crunched.

[Thipu1]

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to make your own tea bags?  A tea ball works just fine for us.

[PastryGoddess]

It's just another option for making tea.  I also find it easier to make up a bunch of different tea bags and throw them in my purse for when I'll be out of the house for long periods of time.

[ChynaRose]

Mostly because I have yet to find a tea ball small enough to fit through the neck of a bottle of water (I find it easier to cold brew tea directly in a reused water bottle than to brew it and then pour it in).

[Missy2U]

Mostly because I have yet to find a tea ball small enough to fit through the neck of a bottle of water (I find it easier to cold brew tea directly in a reused water bottle than to brew it and then pour it in).

I haven't seen any personally so am not aware of what size they might be, but have you considered a tea stick?  I googled them and they LOOK like they might be workable with a reused water bottle.