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I recently noticed that an organic bigelow tea(teabag) starts brewing at room/cold temperature water. Not sure if it is brewing or not but the water starts to get green after dipping the tea few times.

I seriously doubt that tea could brew in cold water and that too in few dips. This has put a doub in my mind, whether I am drinking tea or something flavored? The ingredients on the packets say: Organic Green tea and nothing else!

Should I stop drinking the tea from tea bag and buy loose leaf teas only? Any suggestions/tips are appretiated.

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    The question in the title is pretty different from the one in the body. Is your tea actually fully transferring flavor quickly with room temperature water? Or is it just turning a bit green?
    – Cascabel ♦
    Jun 2, 2015 at 0:56
  • @Jefromi Yes, it starts to release color and upon sipping I confirmed it has flavor as well.
    – user793468
    Jun 2, 2015 at 18:51
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    Right, but color and a little flavor is very different from fully steeped.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Jun 2, 2015 at 20:23
  • @Jefromi I think if I let it sit and dip for more than few time it will get steeped.
    – user793468
    Jun 2, 2015 at 20:30
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    The initial color and a bit of flavor comes out really fast, but it takes a lot longer to get it fully steeped. You're welcome to try, but I find it pretty hard to imagine that looseleaf tea or teabags or anything but instant tea could fully steep that quickly in room temperature water. As Joe said, it takes hours to fully steep. That's why I asked for that information, and why you might want to edit your question - it might change the answers you get.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Jun 2, 2015 at 20:35

2 Answers 2

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Yes, tea will brew at cold temperatures. Growing up, we'd make sun tea by leaving it in a sunny window for about 8 hrs. These days, I put it in the fridge to brew simply because you have a longer window before the more bitter flavors start getting extracted.

Tea bags will brew faster, as they tend to have smaller pieces and possibly dust in them, which means increased surface area.

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Tea bags: yes, if you want convenience Loose leaf tea: yes, if you want a more diverse and better taste experience

As with brewing with cold temperatures, this is possible. It's called 'cold brewing', but less common then brewing with boiled water. Cold brewing requires patience, as it takes several hours. After all, you'll have to compensate the low temperatures with longer steeping times. My recommendation would be to steep in the evening and let it sit in a fridge overnight.

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