Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 25, 2021

I’ll have coffee.

I just leave it in, and bobble it up and down, left and right until it’s cold enough to be consumed.

How strong do you like it?

Aaand Rat goes back to insanity.

Ask a British.

Violence over tea…

That explains all those teabags stuck in the dishwasher filter.

Of the herbal tea that I drink, I only leave the bag in to steep it; take it out when about to drink

And I don’t do tea.

Better watch it, Rat—remember what happened in the 2012-02-05 strip!

Rat is playing tea ball again.

What do the Calgary Flames and tea bags have in common?

Full of holes and only good for one cup.

Looks like Rat got his Goat!

Rat had already made up his mind Goat was going to be wrong!

Our mom would dip it three times and then go “Oh my, it’s too strong!”

Leaving it in too long makes the tea bitter. besides, if you take it out, it will have enough left in it for another go.

Haw. I drinks tea but I never uses tea bags.

I though tea drinkers were the mellow ones!

I like my tea at JUST the correct concentration. It steeps for 2 minutes and 38 seconds (plus however long I take to set the timer) with water at 200º F. Then I dunk it a dozen times or so and take it out, stopping to squeeze some of the tea out of the bag on the way. Then I let it sit until it’s cool enough to drink, by which time I’ve forgotten about it, so I slug it all down, cold, 30 minutes later.

Thus ends Tea Time at PBS !

One lump or two?

I like how most of these strips are politically incorrect it makes it more funny

I use a coffee maker. Two bags and a full carafe of water makes just-right tea. You can even add another half carafe of water when there’s room.

Don’t be speciecist, Rat. Goats EAT teabags.

This is like the “"Little-Endians" and “Big-Endians”” in Gulliver’s Travels.

I’m surprised that the comic censor didn’t appear

Actually, Rat is correct about the tea bag. To unleash the flavor, tea must steep properly. However, perhaps Rat’s methods of enforcing the rules of tea etiquette fall short of tearoom etiquette. But the looks that tearoom folks give you for such a faux pas could kill. Now I’m confused.

I prefer not to use bags at all, but rather real tea. But, if bags are all there is, take them out once the tea is strong enough, otherwise it will become bitter.

Come and get me, Rat.

two and a half minutes. Take it out. If you want strong tea buy strong tea.

Then why are you still standing?

Make it any way you want and drink it any way you want — then grab that stick out of Rat’s hands, and use it on him.

kinda like the people who like to tell other people how they should eat their pizzas or their hot dogs, as if somebody gives a f*k about what they think or that they are entitled to tell other people what they should put in their mouths

Someone must be reading Gulliver’s Travels.

It’s odd what people choose to get worked up over.

I leave the tea bag in, I like a strong brew. (I’m Irish)

Does he always carry that bat around?

My question is why do the instructions on the packet that my teabags come in say that you are NOT supposed to squeeze the teabag after it’s finished steeping???

Wow! Give rat an Antifa TEA shirt.

He’s always insane, never humane.

Loose leaf. I leave it in, and drink through one of those South American metal straws with a built in filter.

And hence the Republican versus Democrat logic flies into the comics again.

The MOST important question is Do the proper people dip their krumpets into the tea, or eat them separate? Inquiring minds want to know!

pre-filled tea bag? it comes out. There’s too much tea in it to let it sit for long.

Rat has lost touch, if you don’t think like he does you’re wrong…BOO HISS

Rat is a creature of strong views, backed with harsh action!

This strip reminds me of anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers.

I really just leave the teabag in because I’m to lazy to go get it and take it out.

I think you mean crazy……

I use loose tea and leave it in for half the cup, then take it out. I use a big cup tho. Those ‘regular’ cups are way too small for me.

Rat sounds (and acts) like my wife!

Not unlike commenters of a certain political persuasion…

Maybe I should switch to cocoa. Then again, Rat will ask me whether I use syrup, powder, or the pre-made chocolate milk before giving me another concussion. Time to buy a football helmet.

I’m very careful who I teabag.

Not only arrogant. But aggressive too.

“Thwack” doesn’t say much.

There is this great old (sometime in the ’80s) bit by Emo Phillips called "Golden Gate Bridge) that almost perfectly illustrates this effect. You can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDmeqSzvIFs

Is Rat using “teabag” as a euphemism for a body part?

Loose leaf tea. What’s this “bag” you speak of?

we all love this classic ahhhhhhhhhhh

A co-worker also took a spoon to scoop up the teabag and wrap the string around to squeeze out the tea. In an effort of one-upmanship, I took two spoons, bag between to get the last drop.

It’s obvious to me that in the comics, the tea drinkers have to leave the bag in their cups so that the readers will know that those characters are drinking tea. I suspect that otherwise, most readers would assume that the characters are drinking coffee (I know I would). What else could be in a mug? Hot chocolate, maybe, or some coffee-based or hot wintertime drink.

It’s very rarely that I agree with Rat , & I rarely drink tea , but Morning Thunder will get a bit bitter if you don’t get it out !

Violence is so funny.

OFF WITH HIS HEAD

It took fifteen years for my wife to finally concede that good tea needs boiling water and that adding milk to the cup at the same time that you pour in the boiling water is a heinous sin.

She’s American, of course…

Rat is a secret cyclist?

Interesting punctuation.

I don’t just drink tea, I abuse it. Tetley British Blend, or PG Tips and NUKE IT until it boils. Leave the bag in the cup of course, and squeeze the last molecule of tea out of it when the cup is finished.

I will leave it in because I am too impatient to wait for it to seep properly and just add milk to cool it off the bat.

too much cofffe

—Even worse than Big-Endians, right, Rat? I take mine out after plenty of steeping and smoosh it dry by wrapping the string around it and the teaspoon….

I didn’t picture Rat as a tea drinker.

Beyond the “one lump or two”, i mean. (Meaning, of course, the mallet and one or two lumps on the noggin)

Rat, why’d you bother asking, the tea is right in front of you and it clearly has the bag in it.

Tea is supposed to steep for a specific amount of time. If you let it continue to steep it’ll keep getting stronger and eventually turn bitter.

Since when does Rat drink tea? I thought he just drank beer with ever meal.

Instructions on box: “Remove bag before serving”.

I don’t like to put wet tea bags in trash, so I put the hot used bag aside in a little dish. While making the next cup, I squeeze the previous bag in my hand over the sink, and I’ve got pretty good at ending up with a damp but not soaking tea bag, and not a handful of tea leaves and torn paper.

By the way, most tea bags contain a plastic coating inside that shouldn’t be put in food waste or compost. The paper and tea leaves may go away and leave you with a bag shaped plastic net. Several have switched to what is more-or-less plant based plastic for this use and it does biodegrade, but maybe only in industrial scale compost making. And some say that their tea bag is 98% or 99% biodegradable: be sceptical, the 1% or 2% is the plastic.

Take the Nestea plunge…almost…

PollLeave It In Or Take It Out?

If you want your tea to get stronger as you drink it, leave the bag in.