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Tea goes bad in thermos.

During the bronchial colds season, I brew tea to put into a thermos for drinking in small quantities as throat medicine, (mixing with: honey and lemon or milk, just before drinking). A common procedure, I am sure. I strain the tea as I pour it into the thermos. I am using common grocery "Liptons" loose tea. !??! This used to work quite well until last an this year. Tata, the owners of Liptons, have been lowering the quality of their product. The taste has become more like bitter water, and or grass, and the box had more 'floor sweepings'. Even though the freshly brewed tea appear okay and drinkable, After sitting for several hours (overnight) it turns very dark and becomes bitter, (oxidized ??).

Any suggestions for an easy cure? short of switching to a 'Gourmet' tea? Filtering through a coffee filter to get the dregs out helps some, but cools the tea and takes an excessively long time.

Reply to
Rostyslaw J. Lewyckyj
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Colds are the worse way to judge the taste of tea. I can tell when I am getting sick about 3 or 4 days in advance from the change in tea taste. If you are drinking Liptons US does the package still say Brisk a code word for bitter. It makes a good iced tea but not hot.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy
 If you are drinking Liptons US does the package still say

Brisk is not bitter. Brisk is defined by ISO 6078-1982 (Black tea - Vocabulary) as "2113. Describes a live taste in the liquor as opposed to flat or soft". In the sense that Tommy Lipton popularized Brisk (and doing so earned him millions plus a knighthood), it meant astringency and what tea tasters still call 'point' - "2167. Describes a most desirable brisk, pungent characteristic" Pungent is defined as "2169. Describes a tea liquor having marked briskness and an astringent effect on the palate without bitterness. A most desirable cup characteristic". Interestingly ISO 6078-1982 (in defining 207 terms based on the usage of tea tasting experts in the trade) does not define Bitter. The closest to what the lay man would identify as bitter (a much maligned taste) would be the tea tasting terms "Raw" and "Harsh".

Nigel at Teacraft

Reply to
Nigel

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