1. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large nonreactive saucepan. Add tea bags, remove from heat, cover, and steep for about 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and bring back to a boil. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce heat to medium low so that liquid is barely simmering. Add plums and poach until tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If plums are not very ripe, this will take longer.) Remove plums from liquid and let cool. Reduce poaching liquid to the consistency of light syrup. For an elegant presentation, pull plum skin back from fruit, leaving it attached at the stem end (this doesn't work on all plum varieties). Serve plums with some of the poaching liquid.