Hello!
First post.
How does this group view oils that are on a cup of tea after tea has been steeped.
Of course there are essential oils in tea and it would seem that fresher teas should contain more oils, but does it also seem like lower quality, mass market teas seem to contain more accumulated oil on a cup?
Thoughts?
And many thanks.
I enjoy reading this group. Wealth of information.
Actually my experience is that the "film" that is on top of steeped tea is not an oil but is present when tea is made with water that has a high mineral content or impurities. Make the same tea with Reverse Osmosis or distilled water side by side to your regular steep and you won't see that film on top of the tea. Now with distilled water you will get a flat tasting tea. I actually use a blend of Reverse Osmosis water with about 10% spring water to get the right mineral content and the best flavor in my opinion.
Which brings up a question.
Is there a guide for the correct water for particular teas?
I know in competitive brewing, when a brewer begins his setup for brewing a particular style of beer, he starts with creating the correct mineral content in the water, and I can only assume the same is correct for tea. Although I know this may be something only done by the most persnickety of connoisseurs, which I am not.
AP
Generally this is always something _other_ than the tea. It can be from brewing in a disposable cup (waxed/styrofoam/etc.) It can also be from tea residue or soap residue from cleaning the cup. Last, as has been said, it can be attributed to the water used.
I use fresh, clean spring water when possible, and otherwise will use some sort of filtered water (Brita, Dupont, or water cooler).
I've had this happen with a few teas and it took me a while to find the real culprit, it has never been the tea itself.
- Dominic
The sheen in the cup are the sometimes visible clumped tannins which react to minerals in the water that stain your pot. I think some teas leached these polyphenols easier than others. I like sipping the residue concentrate but make sure you get your teeth cleaned every six months. You can try changing water if too messy.
Jim
bsclark81 wrote:
There should be no essential oils at all in the tea that you drink. Those oils would have been lost during the drying or cooking process depending on which tea you are drinking. If you are thinking "tea tree" oil, that is a different plant altogether.
Some very popular green teas like Longjing sometimes have oils added to them to try to make the leaf look greener or fresher. I got a beautiful batch of Qie She that I am not touching simply because the leaves are too beautiful. I have never seen shiny tea before...
Actually, I did try to brew a bit of it when I first got it to prove my hypothesis that they had added something. What set me off was when someone told me that I had to "wash" the green tea; something that is NEVER done in the countryside or when drinking greens. I drank that first brew and it was digusting. The later brewings were better, but I don't want to drink a tea that has been laden with "soap" to preserve the beauty of the leaves.
By putting our eyes right down to the edge of the cup and looking at it in reflected light.
Not really. Some teas are oily and some are not and I don't see any real correlation.
Some older stale teas that may have been fried up a bit to "perk them up" will be extra-oily, though.
--scott
There was a big discussion on this very subject last month. And previously. Here's the link -
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