"Derek" wrote in message
...
My experience with teaballs and the like is that small infusion
tools keep the leaves in the middle from really contributing to the
steep. That is, the exterior leaves give their all, but the good
stuff from the interior leaves gets trapped. So a normal steep time
provides a weaker tea. And if I extend the time to compensate, the
tea loses quality and doesn't taste right.

I think Derek's explanation is basically the argument for "elbow room."
Those of us who spent much time in biochemistry and physiology classes may
remember that the rate of diffusion of a substance (in this case the various
compounds in the tea leaf) is directly proportional to the difference in
concentration, in this case between the leaf and the surrounding water. If
the tea is in leaf form and has more room to expand, more leaf surface area
is exposed and the compounds get to diffuse into the water at a faster pace
than they would if the leaves did not get a chance for good exposure with
the water and the compounds did not get an opportunity to diffuse out into
the surrounding water. Now, how important longer and short steeping times
may be probably differs based on the type of tea, the diffusion rates of the
different compounds and your personal taste. And how important relatively
small differences in "leaf compression" may be I have no idea.

Of course, this suggests that the issue is probably much less important for
teas that are cut to a greater degree since they have more surface area to
begin with.

I think many of the issues we discuss here are more closely related to
subjective tastes than anything else. For example, I personally find that
the flavor of a good darjeeling improves somewhat if the poured tea sits in
the cup or mug for 10-15 minutes before drinking. That may due to the fact
that some substances develop as the tea cools. It could also be that my
taste buds are better with slightly cooler rather than hotter liquids. Some
of you may think this observation is nuts.

For me, all of these issues are interesting, but they pale against my
realization, a few years ago, that there is an entire delicious world beyond
grocery store tea bags. I own two different pots, two different infusers, a
thermometer and a digital timer. I pay some attention to preparation issues,
but they seem less important than issues of personal taste and my original
foray into loose teas and the realization that "I ain't in Kansas anymore."

Warren