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actually microwaved water will frequently be above boiling--microwaving lets the water remain still enough for it to get superheated. when you disturb it (with a teabag, spoon, etc.) it will start bubbling wildly (and quite possibly give you a nasty scald)

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And by "frequently" you mean "almost never, cuz I've been trying to get it to happen for years and it damn well doesn't"

It depends on what you have the water in. A very smooth-sided container with very pure water has few nucleation sites and so the water is much more likely to become superheated, while a beaten up mug and standard tap water is less likely to superheat without boiling.

happens to my tea all the time--i don't know if it's actually superheated in the sense of being >212, but it sits perfectly still in the mug until i drop the bag in, at which point it goes nuts with the bubbles.

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