The Re-Use of Leaves

Obviously many teas benefit from re-steeping (not too mention it being
economical), but I'm curious about how and how long the leaves can be
stored between steeps.

For a decent oolong, 7 steeps is pretty average for me, but this means
that the tea is out for at least 2 or 3 hours. Is this okay? Do
the leaves go bad being wet and left out? Is there a limit? I
remember reading a while ago an inconclusive study regarding oolong
leaves that had been left out for a while and some bacteria (I
believe) growing in them that caused cancer among mice. (I know, it
sounds odd.) Has anyone else heard this and has anything been
substantiated?

Thanks!

By me, leaving leaves 2-3 hours is OK, I know many people who leave
them even overnight - but it depends on your climate, too, if it is
hot or cold. By me 6 hours is the most.

On Jun 17, 2:52 am, Ferris92 <andrewf...@> wrote:
> For a decent oolong, 7 steeps is pretty average for me, but this means
> that the tea is out for at least 2 or 3 hours. Is this okay?

On Jun 17, 2:52 am, Ferris92 <andrewf...@> wrote:
> For a decent oolong, 7 steeps is pretty average for me, but this means
> that the tea is out for at least 2 or 3 hours. Is this okay? Do
> the leaves go bad being wet and left out? Is there a limit?

As said before, depends on the tea, mood, weather and time of the day.
At the end of each gong-fu session I usually fill the pot or gaiwan
with hot water and leave it there overnight.
My pots seem to like it, and I have some cold drink to start the next
day with.
I neither think nor feel that I´m exposing myself to anything even
remotely harmful this way.
However, leaving them out overnight the way you described it they
usually smell "funny" and I wouldn´t necessarily try to re-steep them.
For myself it all boils down to "I trust my schnotz/guts rather than
my watch" and/or "no sleep between steeps". YMMV.

Karsten

Ferris92 <andrewferr@> wrote in news:1182041562.896235.258240
@k79g2000hse..com:
....
> For a decent oolong, 7 steeps is pretty average for me, but this means
> that the tea is out for at least 2 or 3 hours. Is this okay? Do
> the leaves go bad being wet and left out? Is there a limit? I
> remember reading a while ago an inconclusive study regarding oolong
> leaves that had been left out for a while and some bacteria (I
> believe) growing in them that caused cancer among mice. (I know, it
> sounds odd.) Has anyone else heard this and has anything been
> substantiated?
>
> Thanks!

In the presence of non-sterile air, ex-organic substances like tea
leaves will decay. In general, water helps decay along (that's why
drying is sometimes used as a preservation method). Cold delays this
process, hence refrigerators. :-)

As for the cancer, well, I think some bright person will garner a nobel
prize for conculsively proving that all laboratory mice are *born* with
cancer, and will die of it eventually unless something else kills them
off... :-))

Ozzy

"Ferris92" <andrewferr@> wrote in message
news:1182041562.896235.258240@k79g2000hse. o...
> Obviously many teas benefit from re-steeping (not too mention it being
> economical), but I'm curious about how and how long the leaves can be
> stored between steeps.
>
> For a decent oolong, 7 steeps is pretty average for me, but this means
> that the tea is out for at least 2 or 3 hours. Is this okay? Do
> the leaves go bad being wet and left out? Is there a limit? I
> remember reading a while ago an inconclusive study regarding oolong
> leaves that had been left out for a while and some bacteria (I
> believe) growing in them that caused cancer among mice. (I know, it
> sounds odd.) Has anyone else heard this and has anything been
> substantiated?
>
> Thanks!
>
I've reused leaves in my (covered) gaiwan over a 2 or 3 day period without
any (noticeable) ill effect.

Dean

The overnight taste to me is more purer than puer. It acts as a
mouthwash to clean the palette for the first morning pot. It's the
only tea I've found that overnight isn't more of the same in the
morning. It's a new day for different teas.

Jim

PS The leaves overnight cling to the pot in the morning after
brewing. I don't see that with normal multiple infusions. Perhaps
more evidence of the pu'er fairy.

HobbesOxon wrote:
....
> Leaving pu'er overnight (in a closed vessel) is a fairly normal habit
> for me, particularly for the occassional rarer pu'er that I really
> want to get the best out of, including another day's brewing. Also, I
> have come across a few pu'er that actually tasted much better the
> morning after, oddly enough, in which previously-absent vanilla tones
> appeared from nowhere. Perhaps placed there by the pu'er fairy.
>
>
> Toodlepip,
>
> Hobbes

I think that's the point. Since boiling or almost boiling
water is poured, one should assume that would kill
most bacteria. I was told in this forum that water
temperature is supposed to be increased for successive
steeps.

It would be different if you had to swallow the leaves ...

Space Cowboy ha escrit:
> I always use boiling water so I don't care if
> my pot became a petri dish overnight.