I have made tea in my Mr. Coffee Coffee Maker for years....we drink a lot of tea and its easier and faster than making it in a tea pot or one cup at a time. I use 3 Lipton tea bags, two are black tea and one is green. But, we haven't a water softener and we live in an area where the water is rock hard, full of two minerals -- calcium and magnesium. I always have major tea stains in my sink and coffee cups. Plus the tea looks murky. The tea leaves a filmy layer in the cups and if I don't rinse the cups right away, the stains "set" and are very difficult to remove. If I do rinse them in the sink and do not immediately clean the sink, it gets really yucky too and I have to scrub it with cleanser. It sounds like I'm a terrible housekeeper but actually I'm not. I just have this problem with tea bag stain.
Last week my husband suggested that I put a coffee filter into the coffee pot, put the tea bags into it, and let the filter catch the residue from the tea bags. Zoweeee, it works, my tea is clear and the flavor is as good as ever.
This residue stuff does not always appear. I think that our water utility company treats the water differently at some times of the year. It depends on the water itself. Our water is taken from either wells around Omaha, or from the Missouri River...a scary thought. It is purified and treated and passes all its' inspections, but.........
