</lurk>
Hi
I am a lurker here, and a green tea drinker. After following the ng for a
few months (and orders from Upton tea) I have a question.

I like loose leaf greens, usually ordered from Adagio or Upton. But, I am
going on a long road trip and for some reason, perhaps my head was not too
clear because of this heat wave in the west, I purchased some instant green
tea (unsweetened) made by Tea Tech. (they have a web site at
www.teatech.com) I am not advocating it or anything, the damn stuff tastes
like swamp water and I don't care if it has 800% of polyphenols or whatever.
I drink green tea because I like it (and a bit of caffeine is always nice).

Anyone ever heard of this, have any experience with instant stuff? Or, know
a good way to cold brew green tea? I can use tea bags if I have to, but
don't like them.

Thanks
L
<lurk>

Well, if I were trying to save the swamp water, the first thing I'd do
is try it with lemon juice added. If that didn't work, I'd toss it (or
give it to a sister-in-law), but there might be other thing to add.
Upton suggests iced tea brewed double strength with cold water in the
refrigerator- look on their centerfold. Apparently they think this
works with any leaf;
I'd try the cheapest first. Toci

"Lara Burton" > wrote in message

> But, I am
> going on a long road trip
....
> Anyone ever heard of this, have any experience with instant stuff?

At my grand-ma. I have hated tea all my youth thanks to that.

>Or, know
> a good way to cold brew green tea?

One way is to brew about 3 times the quantity of leaves with hot water and
when it's steeped pour it immediatly in a pitcher or cups full of ice. That
works with any tea.
Another way is to put tea leaves in cold water and let it in the fridge.
That takes 2 hours for most leaves of Chinese green, sencha... For gyokuro
or sencha+matcha, that can be done in 20 minutes (I put the pot in the
freezer).

On a road trip, I'd try the cold brew : Put leaves in your travel thermos,
add cold water about 2 hours before the time when you want to drink it, then
make a stop at a place where you can get ice cubes to refresh the drink
before having it. You can let the leaves in the pot, they don't overinfuse
much if it's cold. So you can refill as much as you need.

Kuri

"Lara Burton" > writes:

> [...]
> Anyone ever heard of this, have any experience with instant stuff? Or, know
> a good way to cold brew green tea? I can use tea bags if I have to, but
> don't like them.

It depends on what you mean by *cold*. I don't usually drink iced
drinks unless I'm really suffering from the heat. In the summer, I
often brew green teas at room temperature for maybe 15 minutes.
There's no astringency, and often a creamy mouth feel.

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

Lara Burton > wrote:

> I like loose leaf greens, usually ordered from Adagio or Upton. But, I am
> going on a long road trip and for some reason, perhaps my head was not too
> clear because of this heat wave in the west, I purchased some instant green
> tea (unsweetened) made by Tea Tech. (they have a web site at
> www.teatech.com) I am not advocating it or anything, the damn stuff tastes
> like swamp water and I don't care if it has 800% of polyphenols or whatever.
> I drink green tea because I like it (and a bit of caffeine is always nice).

> Anyone ever heard of this, have any experience with instant stuff? Or, know
> a good way to cold brew green tea?

Dear Lara, I'll make you a deal. You are on the right path but just
haven't taken the step of chucking the stuff down the toilet. If you
promise to throw it out, I will send you the equivalent weight in
decent quality fairly fresh Chinese green tea (Long-Jin). Just e-mail
me your address (P.O. box, work or friend's address fine). Believe
me, it's caffeinated. Alternatively, since I'm visiting Boston in a
couple of weeks, you could send your instant green tea to me and I'll
chuck it into the harbor. It will be patriotic.

Best wishes,

Rick.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Chappell, Ph.D. <> Professor, Dept. of Statistics and of
Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin Medical School
600 Highland Avenue, K6/430 <> Madison, WI 53792 USA
<> Work (608) 263-5572 <> FAX 263-1059 <> Home 233-3664

thank-you group.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been lurking here for several
months, and a few flame wars aside, I've found this group to be helpful,
interesting and quite pleasant. But of course, that is inherent in tea
drinkers, isn't it?

I think I will go for a large nalgene bottle, many cold bottles of spring
water and my loose sencha, dragonwell, and some lu an from last year that
has lost some of its punch for my road trip. But its the ritual of tea
drinking at home that I will miss--putting water on to boil, my favorite tea
cup, a nice morning breeze on the deck . . . but I digress.

Perhaps I should take Rick up on the offer to toss the instant stuff in the
harbor, but then I don't know if I want to be involved with toxic waste
pollution. However, the instant tea and the harbor water probably don't
taste that much different.

Thank-you again. When I get back, I will have to start inquiring about
pu-er. Didn't know much about it, but all the posts have intrigued me.

Thanks again
LB

"Rick Chappell" > wrote in message
...
> Lara Burton > wrote:
>
>> I like loose leaf greens, usually ordered from Adagio or Upton. But, I
>> am
>> going on a long road trip and for some reason, perhaps my head was not
>> too
>> clear because of this heat wave in the west, I purchased some instant
>> green
>> tea (unsweetened) made by Tea Tech. (they have a web site at
>> www.teatech.com) I am not advocating it or anything, the damn stuff
>> tastes
>> like swamp water and I don't care if it has 800% of polyphenols or
>> whatever.
>> I drink green tea because I like it (and a bit of caffeine is always
>> nice).
>
>> Anyone ever heard of this, have any experience with instant stuff? Or,
>> know
>> a good way to cold brew green tea?
>
> Dear Lara, I'll make you a deal. You are on the right path but just
> haven't taken the step of chucking the stuff down the toilet. If you
> promise to throw it out, I will send you the equivalent weight in
> decent quality fairly fresh Chinese green tea (Long-Jin). Just e-mail
> me your address (P.O. box, work or friend's address fine). Believe
> me, it's caffeinated. Alternatively, since I'm visiting Boston in a
> couple of weeks, you could send your instant green tea to me and I'll
> chuck it into the harbor. It will be patriotic.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Rick.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Rick Chappell, Ph.D. <> Professor, Dept. of Statistics and of
> Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin Medical
> School
> 600 Highland Avenue, K6/430 <> Madison, WI 53792 USA
> <> Work (608) 263-5572 <> FAX 263-1059 <> Home
> 233-3664
>
>
>
>
>
>

"Lewis Perin" > wrote:

>> Anyone ever heard of this, have any experience with instant stuff? Or, know
>> a good way to cold brew green tea? I can use tea bags if I have to, but
>> don't like them.
>
> It depends on what you mean by *cold*. I don't usually drink iced
> drinks unless I'm really suffering from the heat. In the summer, I
> often brew green teas at room temperature for maybe 15 minutes.
> There's no astringency, and often a creamy mouth feel.

I cold brew tea all the time by the gallon, almost always with black teas.
Start with cold (40-45F) water, go overnight (8-10 hours) in the fridge.
Works great.


--
Randy
(To reply by e-mail, remove DeLeTe and SPAMFREE from my address)