I've been unable to find any scientific or industry information about
the drop in caffeine for rebrewing of really top rate whole leaf tea.
Commonsense says that the second brew should contain less, though
since the flavor holds up well, then this is not moving to
decaffeinated blandness. For my caffeine-fearful friends, this could
be an incentnive to get them to try out decent tea instead of the low
grade "lawnmower" herb teas they suffer through. I'd appreciate expert
opinion. Thanks

I've been unable to find any scientific or industry information about
the drop in caffeine for rebrewing of really top rate whole leaf tea.
Commonsense says that the second brew should contain less, though
since the flavor holds up well, then this is not moving to
decaffeinated blandness. For my caffeine-fearful friends, this could
be an incentnive to get them to try out decent tea instead of the low
grade "lawnmower" herb teas they suffer through. I'd appreciate expert
opinion. Thanks

I'm what you might label a novice afficionato of tea, and it never
required wisdom of the ages to surmise that the transitory qualities
of anything are greatly depleted/altered by heat, but why would you
want to cook whole tea leaves more than once? I mean, when I brew a
cup of tea, I want as virgin a sensorial experience as possible -- or
not at all.

However, I've yet to venture beyond grocery store flow-thrus, and that
means I have a lot to learn.

writes:

[...]
I'm what you might label a novice afficionato of tea, and it never
required wisdom of the ages to surmise that the transitory qualities
of anything are greatly depleted/altered by heat, but why would you
want to cook whole tea leaves more than once? I mean, when I brew a
cup of tea, I want as virgin a sensorial experience as possible -- or
not at all.

Because you enjoy letting the varied qualities in the leaves show
themselves over a series of steeps rather than having all flavor and
aroma components combined, and possibly masking each other, in a
single, presumably longer, steep.

However, I've yet to venture beyond grocery store flow-thrus, and that
means I have a lot to learn.

Stick around.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Apr 2, 1:49 pm, wrote:
I've been unable to find any scientific or industry information about
the drop in caffeine for rebrewing of really top rate whole leaf tea.
Commonsense says that the second brew should contain less, though
since the flavor holds up well, then this is not moving to
decaffeinated blandness. For my caffeine-fearful friends, this could
be an incentnive to get them to try out decent tea instead of the low
grade "lawnmower" herb teas they suffer through. I'd appreciate expert
opinion. Thanks

I'm what you might label a novice afficionato of tea, and it never
required wisdom of the ages to surmise that the transitory qualities
of anything are greatly depleted/altered by heat, but why would you
want to cook whole tea leaves more than once? I mean, when I brew a
cup of tea, I want as virgin a sensorial experience as possible -- or
not at all.

However, I've yet to venture beyond grocery store flow-thrus, and that
means I have a lot to learn.

The simple reason for rebrewing is that, as with pot roast and chile,
it is as good or better the next day, but more consequentially it
transforms the economics of buying the very best teas. You can only
brew the mediocre stuff once, but you get 2-5 brews from whole leaf.
If yo buy, say, high end Silver Needle, the cost per cup can seem high
-- but in just about every instance 2-3 brews makes it cheaper than a
tea bag or IFE -- Imported from England mix of broken leaf and fanings.

On Apr 2, 2:21 pm, "pgwk" wrote:
On Apr 2, 1:49 pm, wrote:





I've been unable to find any scientific or industry information about
the drop in caffeine for rebrewing of really top rate whole leaf tea.
Commonsense says that the second brew should contain less, though
since the flavor holds up well, then this is not moving to
decaffeinated blandness. For my caffeine-fearful friends, this could
be an incentnive to get them to try out decent tea instead of the low
grade "lawnmower" herb teas they suffer through. I'd appreciate expert
opinion. Thanks

I'm what you might label a novice afficionato of tea, and it never
required wisdom of the ages to surmise that the transitory qualities
of anything are greatly depleted/altered by heat, but why would you
want to cook whole tea leaves more than once? I mean, when I brew a
cup of tea, I want as virgin a sensorial experience as possible -- or
not at all.

However, I've yet to venture beyond grocery store flow-thrus, and that
means I have a lot to learn.

The simple reason for rebrewing is that, as with pot roast and chile,
it is as good or better the next day, but more consequentially it
transforms the economics of buying the very best teas. You can only
brew the mediocre stuff once, but you get 2-5 brews from whole leaf.
If yo buy, say, high end Silver Needle, the cost per cup can seem high
-- but in just about every instance 2-3 brews makes it cheaper than a
tea bag or IFE -- Imported from England mix of broken leaf and fanings.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I am assuming you mean "infusions".
Most good Asian teas hold up through multiple infusions. As far as
going a day or two and then re-brewing, you may be dealing with
airborne molds or mold growth that can temper the flavour and quality
of the tea - or not.
Caffeine, it is generally said, will dissipate with an initial 30-60
second leaf bath and tends to dissipate with multiple infusions.(there
is a great deal of this discussion in the archives of this group).
Shen
Shen

Someone, somewhere, posted a link to this scientific paper on the
effects multiple brews have on caffeine concentration. I found it
interesting enough to bookmark it:

http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~davidc/Tea/caffeine.pdf

-cha bing-