I drink Chinese white tea all day at work. I use a tea ball and fill a 1.5L
thermo caraffe with boiling water and put the teaball inside. I start
drinking it after an hour. This method results in well-brewed, strong tea.
Especially later in the day.

My question is, since I am making one amount of tea go a very long way, due
to the time it has to brew, am I getting less of the healthful ingredients,
and instead just getting color and flavor? Put another way, since I am not
using one teabag per cup, am I greatly diluting the healthful properties of
the tea, and getting less antioxidants, etc, than if I were using one bag
per cup?

Thanks in advance,

Peter
Vancouver

"Peter" writes:

My question is, since I am making one amount of tea go a very long way, due
to the time it has to brew, am I getting less of the healthful ingredients,
and instead just getting color and flavor? Put another way, since I am not
using one teabag per cup, am I greatly diluting the healthful properties of
the tea, and getting less antioxidants, etc, than if I were using one bag
per cup?

You'll only be getting the amount of the `healthy' chemicals as are in
the tea leaves, of course. More tea leaves, more of the chemicals.

Nevertheless, concentration doesn't matter that much. Dilute drinks
taken over the course of the day should be fine, up to a point. In
fact, it's almost certainly better than drinking 20 cups (or however
many you average) with new tea leaves each time. That would probably
be far too much caffeine.

You should figure out how many fresh cups a day suit you, and then
refresh the leaves appropriately during the day.

Cheers,

- Joel

I see what you're saying, but what I really want to know is, if the tea is
rich and full, can I assume that there are plenty of catechins, phenols,
etc? Or, do those properties weaken and become dilute at a different rate
than the taste and color of the rest of the tea?

Peter

"Joel Reicher" wrote in message
...
"Peter" writes:

My question is, since I am making one amount of tea go a very long way,
due
to the time it has to brew, am I getting less of the healthful
ingredients,
and instead just getting color and flavor? Put another way, since I am
not
using one teabag per cup, am I greatly diluting the healthful properties
of
the tea, and getting less antioxidants, etc, than if I were using one
bag
per cup?

You'll only be getting the amount of the `healthy' chemicals as are in
the tea leaves, of course. More tea leaves, more of the chemicals.

Nevertheless, concentration doesn't matter that much. Dilute drinks
taken over the course of the day should be fine, up to a point. In
fact, it's almost certainly better than drinking 20 cups (or however
many you average) with new tea leaves each time. That would probably
be far too much caffeine.

You should figure out how many fresh cups a day suit you, and then
refresh the leaves appropriately during the day.

Cheers,

- Joel

"Peter" writes:

I see what you're saying, but what I really want to know is, if the tea is
rich and full, can I assume that there are plenty of catechins, phenols,
etc? Or, do those properties weaken and become dilute at a different rate
than the taste and color of the rest of the tea?

You can't make that assumption. Each chemical becomes dilute at a
different rate. I don't fully understand all the details, but I think
it comes down to how quickly a chemical leeches from the leaves during
infusion. If it leeches quickly, it will be present only in the first
few cups and then the concentration will drop off sharply. Other
chemicals may leech slower and maintain a more steady level from cup
to cup. All this *might* come down to water solubility, but I expect
it's more complex.

Caffeine is the typical example of a chemical that drops off in
concentration very quickly. That's why discarding an initial quick
infusion works as an ad hoc decaffeination. I'm sorry, but I don't
know how the other chemicals behave.

Cheers,

- Joel

"Joel Reicher" wrote in message
...
"Peter" writes:

I see what you're saying, but what I really want to know is, if the tea
is
rich and full, can I assume that there are plenty of catechins, phenols,
etc? Or, do those properties weaken and become dilute at a different
rate
than the taste and color of the rest of the tea?

You can't make that assumption. Each chemical becomes dilute at a
different rate. I don't fully understand all the details, but I think
it comes down to how quickly a chemical leeches from the leaves during
infusion. If it leeches quickly, it will be present only in the first
few cups and then the concentration will drop off sharply. Other
chemicals may leech slower and maintain a more steady level from cup
to cup. All this *might* come down to water solubility, but I expect
it's more complex.

Caffeine is the typical example of a chemical that drops off in
concentration very quickly. That's why discarding an initial quick
infusion works as an ad hoc decaffeination. I'm sorry, but I don't
know how the other chemicals behave.

Cheers,

- Joel

Thanks very much. That definitely sheds some light on the subject.

Largely if not mostly what determines the taste and color of tea are
the various antioxident polyphenols such as catechins, flavonoids,
tannins, theanine, vitamins, minerals, etc (I don't play a chemist on
TV.) These constituents are released on a bell curve and if I were
guessing a 10 minute infusions of white tea buds would release 90% of
the healthfull benefits. Obviously tea volume is no more than
concentrate. I always error on more volume. A teabag in a cup taste
bad a couple in a pot taste great and make sure you get the first cup
from gongfu service. You could pull the tea ball certainly after 30m
and not throw anything away. The bell curve says multiple infusions
can't taste the same. Sure you could slice it up for equal area but
then brewing times vary which certainly isn't gongfu. So let your
tastebuds do the talking and the healthfull chemistry takes care of
itself.

Jim

"Peter" wrote in message ...
I drink Chinese white tea all day at work. I use a tea ball and fill a 1.5L
thermo caraffe with boiling water and put the teaball inside. I start
drinking it after an hour. This method results in well-brewed, strong tea.
Especially later in the day.

My question is, since I am making one amount of tea go a very long way, due
to the time it has to brew, am I getting less of the healthful ingredients,
and instead just getting color and flavor? Put another way, since I am not
using one teabag per cup, am I greatly diluting the healthful properties of
the tea, and getting less antioxidants, etc, than if I were using one bag
per cup?

Thanks in advance,

Peter
Vancouver

Well, it sounds like I'm fine with leaving the teaball in and getting plenty
o'good stuff.

thanks for the info.

Peter

"Space Cowboy" wrote in message
m...
Largely if not mostly what determines the taste and color of tea are
the various antioxident polyphenols such as catechins, flavonoids,
tannins, theanine, vitamins, minerals, etc (I don't play a chemist on
TV.) These constituents are released on a bell curve and if I were
guessing a 10 minute infusions of white tea buds would release 90% of
the healthfull benefits. Obviously tea volume is no more than
concentrate. I always error on more volume. A teabag in a cup taste
bad a couple in a pot taste great and make sure you get the first cup
from gongfu service. You could pull the tea ball certainly after 30m
and not throw anything away. The bell curve says multiple infusions
can't taste the same. Sure you could slice it up for equal area but
then brewing times vary which certainly isn't gongfu. So let your
tastebuds do the talking and the healthfull chemistry takes care of
itself.

Jim

"Peter" wrote in message
...
I drink Chinese white tea all day at work. I use a tea ball and fill a
1.5L
thermo caraffe with boiling water and put the teaball inside. I start
drinking it after an hour. This method results in well-brewed, strong
tea.
Especially later in the day.

My question is, since I am making one amount of tea go a very long way,
due
to the time it has to brew, am I getting less of the healthful
ingredients,
and instead just getting color and flavor? Put another way, since I am
not
using one teabag per cup, am I greatly diluting the healthful properties
of
the tea, and getting less antioxidants, etc, than if I were using one
bag
per cup?

Thanks in advance,

Peter
Vancouver

(Space Cowboy) writes:

Largely if not mostly what determines the taste and color of tea are
the various antioxident polyphenols such as catechins, flavonoids,
tannins, theanine, vitamins, minerals, etc (I don't play a chemist on

Are you sure? You can tell superficially that many of the chemicals in
teas don't have a colour from the fact that green and white teas do
not infuse much colour into the water. Caffeine is tasteless,
odourless and colourless. Only some polyphenols, not even all of the
flavonoids, have a colour. Similarly with taste. Despite the name,
some flavonoids are tasteless.

TV.) These constituents are released on a bell curve and if I were
guessing a 10 minute infusions of white tea buds would release 90% of
the healthfull benefits. Obviously tea volume is no more than

While you're right about the bell curve as far as I know, wouldn't the
standard deviation of the curve vary from compound to compound?
That's what I meant by differint `rates' in my other post. I don't
know the details, but the solubility of these compounds will be
affected by other compounds, by the pH of the water, etc. A
rudimentary web search turns up at least one flavonoid that is
hydrophobic.

It would be nice if all these compounds behaved roughly the same way,
but I really don't think it happens, and I wouldn't trust taste and
colour.

Cheers,

- Joel

I think the chemistry of constituents in tea is pretty well known. I
just listed some that came out at my fingertips in response to the
health inquiry. The totality is the taste of tea and even the colour
for unoxidized teas. So whatever makes the hair stand up on the back
of my neck from gunpowder or the hot flash from a Chinese oolong is
part of the taste. I think most teas fit the standard bell curve
because it is the same plant and the multiple infusion argument would
make the curve platykurtic (flat) and the best single cup leptokurtic
(peaked). My experience the first cup is the best and all that varies
is the amount, time, volume with given constants that vary according
to your locale like altitude and water standards. Taste is all you
can trust. I'll accept the fact tea makes a good compost but I'm not
going to brew tea that long to find out.

Jim

Joel Reicher wrote in message ...
(Space Cowboy) writes:

Largely if not mostly what determines the taste and color of tea are
the various antioxident polyphenols such as catechins, flavonoids,
tannins, theanine, vitamins, minerals, etc (I don't play a chemist on

Are you sure? You can tell superficially that many of the chemicals in
teas don't have a colour from the fact that green and white teas do
not infuse much colour into the water. Caffeine is tasteless,
odourless and colourless. Only some polyphenols, not even all of the
flavonoids, have a colour. Similarly with taste. Despite the name,
some flavonoids are tasteless.

TV.) These constituents are released on a bell curve and if I were
guessing a 10 minute infusions of white tea buds would release 90% of
the healthfull benefits. Obviously tea volume is no more than

While you're right about the bell curve as far as I know, wouldn't the
standard deviation of the curve vary from compound to compound?
That's what I meant by differint `rates' in my other post. I don't
know the details, but the solubility of these compounds will be
affected by other compounds, by the pH of the water, etc. A
rudimentary web search turns up at least one flavonoid that is
hydrophobic.

It would be nice if all these compounds behaved roughly the same way,
but I really don't think it happens, and I wouldn't trust taste and
colour.

Cheers,

- Joel