(If I am beating a dead horse, a subject that has been covered to death
before, my apologies, please point me to a link.)

Clear, mucus-like slime in teapot. No off-flavor.

For years I prepared green tea in a small ceramic teapot. I bring water
to a boil in a kettle, pour some into a cup to cool it, then pour that
into the pot over a bunch of green tea leaves. I've used nice green tea
-- senchas -- from a local Japanese store, but find that Trader Joe's
"Uncle Lee's" loose leaf is plenty fine for me. The tea steep for a few
minutes then I pour it. Later in the day, I'll often just add more dry
leaves atop the older leaves already in the pot to make a
stronger-flavored tea. I did it like this for years. It makes a cup that
I like.

Moved to a new house in August and something odd is happening. If I
leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.

The slimy tea tastes just like the regular tea with no off-flavors. But
the consistency is totally off-putting. What /is/ this stuff? Oh -- one
more thing: in this house I am using reverse-osmosis filtered water. At
the old house I used just plain tap.

Rinse out the pot and start fresh -- regular green tea.

I've read about kombucha and it is described as having a distinctive
taste? What new form of life am I creating here?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 VW Type 2 -- the Wonderbus (AKA the Saunabus in summer)

"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" wrote:

> If I
> leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
> and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
> with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
>
> The slimy tea tastes just like the regular tea with no off-flavors. But
> the consistency is totally off-putting. What /is/ this stuff?

Rot?

crymad wrote:

>
> "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" wrote:
>
>
>>If I
>>leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
>>and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
>>with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
>>
>>The slimy tea tastes just like the regular tea with no off-flavors. But
>>the consistency is totally off-putting. What /is/ this stuff?
>
>
> Rot?

Overnight? Perfectly clear? No odor other than tea? But viscous, like,
well, mucus.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 VW Type 2 -- the Wonderbus (AKA the Saunabus in summer)

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 15:20:32 -0800, "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
et> tripped the
light fantastic, then quipped:

>>>If I
>>>leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
>>>and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
>>>with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
>>>
>>>The slimy tea tastes just like the regular tea with no off-flavors. But
>>>the consistency is totally off-putting. What /is/ this stuff?
>>
>>
>> Rot?
>
>Overnight? Perfectly clear? No odor other than tea? But viscous, like,
>well, mucus.

I had this happen to me once, years ago; I made a batch of sun tea
with a brand of teabags I'd never used before. I used the same
procedure I'd always used with good results, but this batch was as you
described... gloppy is a good word for it. Thick, slimey, and utterly
disgusting. I didn't even pour it down the drain for fear of what it
might do. Instead, I took it outside and poured it into a rain drain
in the street. To this day, I don't know what caused it, but it was
ghastly stuff indeed.

Tee
http://www.geocities.com/tee_king
Remove -no-spam- to email me.

>>>>If I
>>>>leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
>>>>and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
>>>>with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
>>>>

I have not had this happen to the extent you describe, but I *have* had teas
that left a perceptible film on the pot's interior. I commonly just rinse my
pots out with very hot water, rub the sides with my fingers, and that's
usually enough. But when I get a tea like this, I use dish soap or detergent.

For me, it always had to do with specific teas. Not that they tasted bad at
all; just some characteristic of the tea. It didn't take all night for the
film to form, either.

Three ideas:

1) Try saving your spent leaves overnight as usual, and in the morning NOT
adding new leaves, but just rebrewing the old ones...and see what happens.
Maybe there's some reaction between the new leaves and old?

2) Perhaps your new environment has some unusually vigorous airborne bacteria
that go to work on your spent tea leaves overnight. I never found wet leaves
to be an ideal growth medium, but had a heckuva time with this issue when I
used to do homebrewing.

3) Send Uncle Lee packing. ;-)

Joe

Joseph Kubera wrote:

>>>>>If I
>>>>>leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
>>>>>and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
>>>>>with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
>>>>>
>
>
> I have not had this happen to the extent you describe, but I *have* had teas
> that left a perceptible film on the pot's interior. I commonly just rinse my
> pots out with very hot water, rub the sides with my fingers, and that's
> usually enough. But when I get a tea like this, I use dish soap or detergent.
>
> For me, it always had to do with specific teas. Not that they tasted bad at
> all; just some characteristic of the tea. It didn't take all night for the
> film to form, either.

Tried the following highly-scientific experiment: This morning, at crack
of dawn, brewed cup of tea in pot with fresh leaves on yesterdays
1-cup's-worth of spent. /Teeny/ bit of viscous slime sorta-kinda
detected. Steep time about 3 minutes. Then added more fresh leaves and
another cup of nearly-boiling water (should kill /all/ life forms, yes?)
and drove the kids to school. Returned one hour later. All liquid had
transformed into viscous slime. We're talking the stuff they had
dripping out of the mouth of the Alien.

> Three ideas:
>
> 1) Try saving your spent leaves overnight as usual, and in the morning NOT
> adding new leaves, but just rebrewing the old ones...and see what happens.
> Maybe there's some reaction between the new leaves and old?

Next on the agenda. Jeepers - how complicated can pitching hot water
onto wet leaves be?

> 2) Perhaps your new environment has some unusually vigorous airborne bacteria
> that go to work on your spent tea leaves overnight. I never found wet leaves
> to be an ideal growth medium, but had a heckuva time with this issue when I
> used to do homebrewing.

This is indeed a poser. If there are some mysterious airborne critters
they are unaffected by 90C water. And they grow nowhere else. Not that I
normally keep bunches of wet leaves lying around the place.

> 3) Send Uncle Lee packing. ;-)

But . . . but . . . Ol' Lee has been an old friend for over five years
now! Dependable, inexpensive, easy to obtain. Kind of like an old
girlfriend I used to have.

Besides, Trader Joe's sells this tea by the container-load. If it is
somehow contaminated or comes bearing some evil thermophilic life from
another planet, surely someone would have noticed by now. Also, about a
month ago, the packaging changed to vacuum-sealed bags. Now we have a
life form that tolerates high temperatures and the vacuum of space. My
comparison to "Alien" is starting to look plausible.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 VW Type 2 -- the Wonderbus (AKA the Saunabus in summer)

It sounds like boiled okra. I prefer black pepper with mine.

Jim

"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" et> wrote in message >...
> Clear, mucus-like slime in teapot. No off-flavor.
>
> Moved to a new house in August and something odd is happening. If I
> leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
> and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
> with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
> I've read about kombucha and it is described as having a distinctive
> taste? What new form of life am I creating here?

While intrepidly exploring rec.food.drink.tea, Space Cowboy rolled
initiative and posted the following:

> It sounds like boiled okra. I prefer black pepper with mine.

Ew. Okra is only good battered and deep fried.

--
Derek

A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of
destruction.

Black Eye Pea is a good source for the heart clogger version. The
other two dishes I like with their veggie meal is fried corn on the
cob and red beans and rice. All the cornbread you can eat with
monstrous glasses of iced tea. Bring a bib. Wednesday night is their
chicken dumplings special if the crunchy fried okra didn't stop the
ticker. The fried zucchini at Carl Jrs isn't bad either but I prefer
sticks to round.

Jim

Derek > wrote in message >...
> While intrepidly exploring rec.food.drink.tea, Space Cowboy rolled
> initiative and posted the following:
>
> > It sounds like boiled okra. I prefer black pepper with mine.
>
> Ew. Okra is only good battered and deep fried.

Hey Troll, just what kind of tea do you make with black eye peas?

Lamar


On 20 Mar 2004 07:56:57 -0800, (Space Cowboy)
posted:

>Black Eye Pea is a good source for the heart clogger version. The
>other two dishes I like with their veggie meal is fried corn on the
>cob and red beans and rice. All the cornbread you can eat with
>monstrous glasses of iced tea. Bring a bib. Wednesday night is their
>chicken dumplings special if the crunchy fried okra didn't stop the
>ticker. The fried zucchini at Carl Jrs isn't bad either but I prefer
>sticks to round.
>
>Jim
>
>Derek > wrote in message >...
>> While intrepidly exploring rec.food.drink.tea, Space Cowboy rolled
>> initiative and posted the following:
>>
>> > It sounds like boiled okra. I prefer black pepper with mine.
>>
>> Ew. Okra is only good battered and deep fried.

While intrepidly exploring rec.food.drink.tea, Lamar Neil rolled
initiative and posted the following:

> Hey Troll, just what kind of tea do you make with black eye
> peas?

Lamar, I'm all for censuring Jim for trollish behavior when the
description fits. And, obviously, I have no problem challenging his
assertions of how all this information would be lost if not for his
willingness to share his genius with us in this newsgroup.

But when he is directly responding to a comment that I made and it
fits within the context of the coversation, a troll he is not.

--
Derek

"Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of sXXXch, or the
right of the people peaceably to XXXemble, and to peXXXion the
government for a redress of grievances."
--but your ISP might.

I went through a salad bar this weekend and least we forget pickled
okra. They had a decent unsweetened brewed tea tub with lots of lemon
and lime. I'd say I was the only one drinking iced tea while
everybody else including kids was drinking fountain pop sweetened with
corn fructose now public enemy number one next to nicotine.

Jim

(Space Cowboy) wrote in message . com>...
> Black Eye Pea is a good source for the heart clogger version.>

> Derek > wrote in message >...
> > While intrepidly exploring rec.food.drink.tea, Space Cowboy rolled
> > initiative and posted the following:
> >
> > > It sounds like boiled okra. I prefer black pepper with mine.
> >
> > Ew. Okra is only good battered and deep fried.

My guess--and it's only a guess--based on what you've said (about it
being clear, colorless, mucousy, and forming more or less
instantaneously), is that it might be powdered rice or something like
it, as a drying agent (like the way some people use rice in their salt
shaker as a desiccant). The powdered rice will congeal with boiling
water into....slime. The good thing is that it's more or less
flavorless, and harmless.

I doubt very much that any bacteria/fungus could grow so quickly--or
at all--with tea and boiling water around it, and changing every day
or so.

Jason

> Clear, mucus-like slime in teapot. No off-flavor.
>
> For years I prepared green tea in a small ceramic teapot. I bring water
> to a boil in a kettle, pour some into a cup to cool it, then pour that
> into the pot over a bunch of green tea leaves. I've used nice green tea
> -- senchas -- from a local Japanese store, but find that Trader Joe's
> "Uncle Lee's" loose leaf is plenty fine for me. The tea steep for a few
> minutes then I pour it. Later in the day, I'll often just add more dry
> leaves atop the older leaves already in the pot to make a
> stronger-flavored tea. I did it like this for years. It makes a cup that
> I like.
>
> Moved to a new house in August and something odd is happening. If I
> leave the old, wet leaves in the pot overnight (per normal sometimes)
> and prepare a new cup in the morning by adding new leaves to the old
> with hot water, the water seems to turn into a clear thick slimy liquid.
>
> The slimy tea tastes just like the regular tea with no off-flavors. But
> the consistency is totally off-putting. What /is/ this stuff? Oh -- one
> more thing: in this house I am using reverse-osmosis filtered water. At
> the old house I used just plain tap.
>
> Rinse out the pot and start fresh -- regular green tea.
>
> I've read about kombucha and it is described as having a distinctive
> taste? What new form of life am I creating here?

Jason in Oakland wrote:
> My guess--and it's only a guess--based on what you've said (about it
> being clear, colorless, mucousy, and forming more or less
> instantaneously), is that it might be powdered rice or something like
> it, as a drying agent (like the way some people use rice in their salt
> shaker as a desiccant). The powdered rice will congeal with boiling
> water into....slime. The good thing is that it's more or less
> flavorless, and harmless.
>
> I doubt very much that any bacteria/fungus could grow so quickly--or
> at all--with tea and boiling water around it, and changing every day
> or so.

But here's the thing. If I pitch fresh leaves into a clean pot, I can
make a nice cup. A little bit later, I can toss more on the stale and
make another. This can pretty much go on all day, bladder permitting.
However, if I let the stale sit very long, like overnight, and then toss
fresh leaves and make a new cup in the morning, the water gets
transmogrified into Alien Drool(TM). Rice powder would not wait
overnight. Not unless it was /evil/ rice powder.

I have been trying various highly scientific experiments to see if I can
"breed" the stuff by tossing slimy tea fluid into mason jars with leaves
old and new, and water, hot and cold, and no dice. This stuff only
grows in the pot, in stale leaves, and overnight. It's a haunted pot.
Pixies or spooks are at work.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 VW Type 2 -- the Wonderbus (AKA the Saunabus in summer)

I was thinking maybe the leaves leach some pectin-like substance,
which would explain why it congeals overnight instead of immediately,
but then it seems it only happens with this *one* pot.... Yep,
definitely haunted. :-)

> But here's the thing. If I pitch fresh leaves into a clean pot, I can
> make a nice cup. A little bit later, I can toss more on the stale and
> make another. This can pretty much go on all day, bladder permitting.
> However, if I let the stale sit very long, like overnight, and then toss
> fresh leaves and make a new cup in the morning, the water gets
> transmogrified into Alien Drool(TM). Rice powder would not wait
> overnight. Not unless it was /evil/ rice powder.
>
> I have been trying various highly scientific experiments to see if I can
> "breed" the stuff by tossing slimy tea fluid into mason jars with leaves
> old and new, and water, hot and cold, and no dice. This stuff only
> grows in the pot, in stale leaves, and overnight. It's a haunted pot.
> Pixies or spooks are at work.

I like this thread. Any conversation which mixes tea, transitional
states of matter and xenobiology ought to be an interesting one.

And of all the various hyperesthetic words I have heard to describe
mouthfeel for beverages, I have never come across "mucinous". We are
trodding new ground here (lets hope we don't sink in).

Here's one experiment: try to see if it dissolves limestone. Several
years ago a new form of cave-creating bacteria (yes, _creating_ not
just colonizing) which produced sulfuric acid and dissolved its own
subterranean condos. It lived in long drooling streamers of mucous
which their discoverers, in a fit of quasiliteracy, termed
"snottites." Maybe that is what you have here. Is your teapot
pitted? Are your molars?

> transmogrified into Alien Drool(TM). Rice powder would not wait
> overnight. Not unless it was /evil/ rice powder.

Also, rice powder would wash away with the first steep wouldn't it?

> Pixies or spooks are at work.

Sprites maybe? Or do I have the wrong beverage?

Yours,

Rick.

Rick Chappell > writes:

> [...rice powder or excavative bacteria...]
>
> > Pixies or spooks are at work.
>
> Sprites maybe? Or do I have the wrong beverage?

Shui Xian = water sprite

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

Rick Chappell wrote:

> I like this thread. Any conversation which mixes tea, transitional
> states of matter and xenobiology ought to be an interesting one.

I like that I have baffled science and the collective wisdom of this
group. I thought my question would be answered with the usual "This
common. See the various threads about oily green tea." But no. I have
launched an entirely new field of inquiry. Darn proud, I must say, darn
proud.

> And of all the various hyperesthetic words I have heard to describe
> mouthfeel for beverages, I have never come across "mucinous". We are
> trodding new ground here (lets hope we don't sink in).
>
> Here's one experiment: try to see if it dissolves limestone.

Now where the heck am I gonna find some limestone? This is southern
California and the local rock is degenerate granite. Limestone comes
from faraway places like Georgia and Italy.

> Is your teapot
> pitted?

Nope.

> Are your molars?

Well, no more than usual I reckon. Time for some fillings.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 VW Type 2 -- the Wonderbus (AKA the Saunabus in summer)

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 19:11:10 +0000 (UTC), Rick Chappell
> wrote:
>I like this thread. Any conversation which mixes tea, transitional
>states of matter and xenobiology ought to be an interesting one.

Yes, indeed.

To the OP:
Have you tried other types of tea in the pot or the same tea in a
different pot yet? Is it the pot, the tea, or only both together? Did
you try it with different water (i.e. bottled)?

>> Pixies or spooks are at work.
>
>Sprites maybe? Or do I have the wrong beverage?

Have you angered any Cthulhu cultists in your area lately? If the
slime begins to move on its own and grow tentacles, that's a Bad
Thing.

I'm just joking. Actually this sounds like the doings of a näkki, a
malicious water troll. What you need to do is to go to the nearest
source of open, standing water (a lake or pond, a swamp will also do),
tie together two young tree stalks that grow there so that they cross
over the water, hang a piece of a burned stone in the intersection of
the stalks, and pitch one piece of amber, two pieces of silver, three
pieces of gold and four teaspoons of tealeaves (fresh, mind you) in
the water under the stone. Then walk or wade widdershins around this
offering three times and recite something in Latin or ancient
Sumerian. Sanskrit will also do in a pinch.

If that doesn't help, you'll just have to get some lab to do a proper
analysis of the stuff for you (and please let us know what they say).


Jarmo Louet

Jarmo Louet wrote:

> To the OP:
> Have you tried other types of tea in the pot or the same tea in a
> different pot yet? Is it the pot, the tea, or only both together? Did
> you try it with different water (i.e. bottled)?

No, but I have enlisted the aid of a real organic chemist. Under
direction I am performing experiments to help determine whether the
slime is mineral, vegetable or animal. I will post interesting results
as they happen. The first experiment was to add a pinch of salt to the
goop. As I understand it, the conversion of the slime to a less-viscous
state would indicate Something Important. It did not, which is Equally
Important. Probably eliminated the presence of silicone-based life or
something. The scientist ain't talking. More experiments to come. I've
ordered the rubber apron, welding goggles and clipboard.

> Have you angered any Cthulhu cultists in your area lately? If the
> slime begins to move on its own and grow tentacles, that's a Bad
> Thing.

I'll keep that in mind. So far, the slime seems pretty passive. It just
lies there.

> I'm just joking. Actually this sounds like the doings of a näkki, a
> malicious water troll. What you need to do is to go to the nearest
> source of open, standing water (a lake or pond, a swamp will also do),
> tie together two young tree stalks that grow there so that they cross
> over the water, hang a piece of a burned stone in the intersection of
> the stalks, and pitch one piece of amber, two pieces of silver, three
> pieces of gold and four teaspoons of tealeaves (fresh, mind you) in
> the water under the stone. Then walk or wade widdershins around this
> offering three times and recite something in Latin or ancient
> Sumerian. Sanskrit will also do in a pinch.

Too complicated. Isn't there something simpler I can do?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 VW Type 2 -- the Wonderbus (AKA the Saunabus in summer)