I've never gotten a headache even from really old tea.
I was trying to use up some of my old teas before getting something new
> again, and I slowly developed a terrible headache. I had a faint feeling
I have, however, developed headaches from drinking too much tea. In your efforts to finish off your old tea, did you find yourself drinking more than you normally do to get rid of them?
Just a thought, Les
Does drinking old tea give anyone here a rather nasty headache?
>
> I was trying to use up some of my old teas before getting something new
> again, and I slowly developed a terrible headache. I had a faint feeling
> it was getting worse with each sip toward the end. Then I skipped a day -
> no tea at all, and started feeling much better.
>
> I recall a time period in college when I kept getting horrible headaches.
> In looking back, I had first concluded that perhaps it was just lapsong
> souchong that was doing it to me, but now I'm realizing that that box of
> l.s. was very old tea, because I didn't like it at first. BTW, it was
> from Barney's in Cincinnati, and it was deliciously syrupy/strong after I
> got used to the smokiness (or perhaps the age made it taste better?). >
> I'd heard the complaints that old tea doesn't taste right, but I was
> finding that some of my teas tasted ok to me, despite the age. EG, a
> badly stored Lung Ching tasted funny when old, a better stored l.c. tasted
> ok, and I suppose (as I've heard) a box of puerh got more tasty (or I just
> got used to drinking dirt :). But I'm sure the puerh gives me a bit of a
> headache, and I suspect one or both of the l.c.'s are doing so as well. >
> So anyway, I ignored others' complaints and followed my palate. Now I'm
> starting to wonder if I should date all my teas upon arrival and avoid
> them after a couple of years, even if they taste good.