Something I've noticed about greens

I have noticed this for a while now but never thought to comment on it. When
I brew a green, when it's still hot/warm, the liquor is still whatever it's
fresh-brewed original color was (light green or blue-green or whatever) but
as the liquor cools off, it turns to more of a brown or a straw color. It's
really interesting. I can tell my tea is cooled off by the color.

Melinda

--
"I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows,
and Henry knows we know it."

We're a knowledgeable family." ::smiles:: -Geoffrey, Lion in Winter

That's very interesting Nigel...does that mean, do you suppose, that when
drinking green tea for it's health benefits, it would be better to drink it
while it is still hot? I don't know if the catechins are better for one's
health than the theaflavin...both are antioxidants aren't they?

Thanks for the info!

Melinda

--
"I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows,
and Henry knows we know it."

We're a knowledgeable family." ::smiles:: -Geoffrey, Lion in Winter
"Nigel" <nigel@teacraft.com> wrote in message
news:1120725948.741683.249030@g43g2000cwa. o...
> This is due to chemical oxidation of the green tea catechins into
> orange theaflavin - while the tea is sitting in your cup it reacts with
> oxygen dissoved in the water - same reaction as would happen to make
> black tea in a tea factory except that then it is catalysed by natural
> tea enzymes. Some green teas do this more than others: I suspect that
> using freshly drawn water also increases the rate of browning.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft
>

That's also possible Michael, but if I overbrew my greens in hot water it
still doesn't turn brown until it cools. You're right about the fine bits
though...I get a lot of the fine hairs from the leaf surface in my tea but I
figure that's a good thing. I don't actually deliberately wait until my tea
is cold to drink it, but sometimes it gets forgotten. Unless I'm making iced
green tea that is. It goes without saying that hot green tea and green tea
that's been forgotten and left to cool taste different...I definitely don't
get the depth of flavor with the cooled-off tea.

Melinda

--
"I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows,
and Henry knows we know it."

We're a knowledgeable family." ::smiles:: -Geoffrey, Lion in Winter
"Michael Plant" <mplant@pipeline.com> wrote in message
news:BEF299F1.3728C%mplant@pipeline.com...

>
> Melinda,
>
> I would go further and guess that the color change indicates that little
> bits of stuff is floating around, continuing to brew, and ruining the
> taste
> as well as the color of your green tea. This sometimes cannot be helped.
> those bits are small enough to be unstrainable.
>
> Michael
>

> I have noticed this for a while now but never thought to comment on it. When
> I brew a green, when it's still hot/warm, the liquor is still whatever it's
> fresh-brewed original color was (light green or blue-green or whatever) but
> as the liquor cools off, it turns to more of a brown or a straw color. It's
> really interesting. I can tell my tea is cooled off by the color.

I have been told by my 'supplier' that you should soak green tea in a
small quantity of cold/lukewarm water for a short while before adding
boiling water. It would prevent the bitterness some greens have.

Wouter

I've noticed this with blacks too. Especially yunnan gold. I'll be
distracted half way through a pot, and when I come back an hour or so later,
and the dark amber will have changed to almost coffee black.
Marlene

>I have noticed this for a while now but never thought to comment on it.
>When I brew a green, when it's still hot/warm, the liquor is still whatever
>it's fresh-brewed original color was (light green or blue-green or
>whatever) but as the liquor cools off, it turns to more of a brown or a
>straw color. It's really interesting. I can tell my tea is cooled off by
>the color.
>
> Melinda