"Dean Macinskas" asked:

As a side note, have you ever noticed that if you make a pot of Darjeeling
(especially first flush, which tend to produce a very pale liquor), drink
some, come back an hour or two later to pour another cup that the second
cup
is darker than the first? Sometimes I notice that the flavor is slightly
different, too. Can brewed tea "oxidize", just like the leaves?

I'm certainly not an expert on tea chemistry, but it seems very likely that
some of the componants of tea are pretty volatile, and some may develop
through the steeping process, so you'd expect that what you're tasting right
after steeping, after 15 minutes, after two hours and after six hours should
be different.

I used to use a one-quart pot but now I use a four-cup Chatsford pot. I
drink one potful with breakfast and then I do a second steeping and place it
in the fridge for iced tea with dinner (so you can measure my addiction at 8
cups a day). The aged, colder tea never tastes as good as the fresh brew,
but it's still pretty good. But it's clearly missing several levels of
taste that were part of the tea when fresh. I think that's one of the
reasons people often recommend preparing ice tea hot, allowing it to cool at
room temp and then adding ice at serving time, instead of refrigerating the
tea to cool it. Refrigerated aging changes the tea.

Anyway, that's my experience.

Warren