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Will boiling water ruin green tea?

myjapanesegreentea.com

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Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#21

Post by StrangeATractor »

zokier wrote: post #13
taraparo wrote: post #8

the german tea expert Ernst Janssen recommends to also use boiling water to prepare green tea as most of the teas are contaminated with germs and other things. different green tea brands including organic tea brands were tested by the renowned German test.de magazine and they confirmed that, also most of organic teas are contaminated. and since this is nothing you can easily check at home, better use boiling water. h…

That seems paranoid considering that I have never heard anyone getting food poisoning from tea, no matter how it was brewed. edit: Reading the linked article, it seems mostly concerned about contaminants and not germs. Intuitively thinking, I'd imagine higher temps would end up extracting more of those from leaves to the drink than lower temps?

Yeah it seems so dried out you wouldn't have too much to worry about.

As for boiling tea for sanitation, I took a wilderness first responder class and they taught us that you could bring water to a boil at any altitude a human can breath at (without holding it at a boil for 15 minutes as some claim) and it's considered sterilized. In Cusco, that would be around 191F/89C (humans can breathe quite a bit higher up than Cusco). Not a bad tea-brewing temp!

Also, I suggest trying kukicha. It's high in l-theanine and lower in caffeine. Tasty too.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#22

Post by triyambakam »

prophesi wrote: post #9

There's a lot of factors to it. The way the leaves are processed, the quality/freshness of the leaves, ratio of leaf to water, steeping time. I think in general it's safest to brew green teas at 175f. But I'm doing quick gongfu brewing sessions with a late-march sichuan green tea, and it tastes great at 205f. Less intense at the usual 175f, but picks up more subtle flavors.

I appreciate the connoisseur vernacular

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#24

Post by stametseater »

taraparo wrote: post #8

the german tea expert Ernst Janssen recommends to also use boiling water to prepare green tea as most of the teas are contaminated with germs and other things. different green tea brands including organic tea brands were tested by the renowned German test.de magazine and they confirmed that, also most of organic teas are contaminated. and since this is nothing you can easily check at home, better use boiling water. h…

All foodstuffs are contaminated with germs, unless you go to extraordinary effort to prevent it (e.g. intense gamma radiation.) Unless there is some particular reason to care (you're a hospital feeding people who had their bone marrow nuked by cancer/chemo), then the correct solution is to stop caring. Who ever heard of people dropping dead because they brewed their tea with sub-boiling water? This isn't happening, it's not something you should worry about.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#25

Post by kayodelycaon »

colordrops wrote: post #14

As I get older I notice my senses get less refined and weaker, especially smell and taste, and especially after a couple covid infections. This on top off constant distraction and stress makes it nearly impossible for me to taste any subtlety in things like coffee and tea and wine. To be frank I'm jealous of these people that can dedicate all this time and passion to various techniques and flavors.

From experience, if it’s not a passion or priority, it helps externalize the decision process. Have a friend (or online service) who does the research for you. Then you buy the minimum equipment (a temperature controlled kettle and a strainer) and a few teas. When you get time, brew them to the instructions. If you have some free time, you can start it with a cup of tea.

There no need to get massively invested.

This is how I learned to paint minis. All I did was buy some unpainted ones and drop by a friend’s place. He has all of the supplies and equipment. All of my unpainted minis are in his closet. :)

Edit: By having a friend, I mean if you have a friend who is into tea/coffee/wine/etc. I enjoy hanging out with people who have hobbies I wouldn’t pick up on my own.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#26

Post by thfuran »

stametseater wrote: post #24
taraparo wrote: post #8

the german tea expert Ernst Janssen recommends to also use boiling water to prepare green tea as most of the teas are contaminated with germs and other things. different green tea brands including organic tea brands were tested by the renowned German test.de magazine and they confirmed that, also most of organic teas are contaminated. and since this is nothing you can easily check at home, better use boiling water. h…

All foodstuffs are contaminated with germs, unless you go to extraordinary effort to prevent it (e.g. intense gamma radiation.) Unless there is some particular reason to care (you're a hospital feeding people who had their bone marrow nuked by cancer/chemo), then the correct solution is to stop caring. Who ever heard of people dropping dead because they brewed their tea with sub-boiling water? This isn't happening, i…

People mostly get by fine without boiling their salads but they do occasionally get e coli or something.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#27

Post by taraparo »

stametseater wrote: post #24
taraparo wrote: post #8

the german tea expert Ernst Janssen recommends to also use boiling water to prepare green tea as most of the teas are contaminated with germs and other things. different green tea brands including organic tea brands were tested by the renowned German test.de magazine and they confirmed that, also most of organic teas are contaminated. and since this is nothing you can easily check at home, better use boiling water. h…

All foodstuffs are contaminated with germs, unless you go to extraordinary effort to prevent it (e.g. intense gamma radiation.) Unless there is some particular reason to care (you're a hospital feeding people who had their bone marrow nuked by cancer/chemo), then the correct solution is to stop caring. Who ever heard of people dropping dead because they brewed their tea with sub-boiling water? This isn't happening, i…

they even found salmonella in tea. to kill them one would need to heat the tea constantly above 70 degree Celsius over a period of ten minutes.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#28

Post by sva_ »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #18
sva_ wrote: post #17

Sadly, boiling water will absolutely ruin matcha. But I'm too hooked.

If you like it so much, it's probably worth buying a kettle with temperature control.

Oh I don't need it, I have an eye for it.

I meant that the matcha powder probably has pollutants which might get decreased by boiling it, as the article suggests, but that would ruin the flavor.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#29

Post by prophesi »

triyambakam wrote: post #22
prophesi wrote: post #9

There's a lot of factors to it. The way the leaves are processed, the quality/freshness of the leaves, ratio of leaf to water, steeping time. I think in general it's safest to brew green teas at 175f. But I'm doing quick gongfu brewing sessions with a late-march sichuan green tea, and it tastes great at 205f. Less intense at the usual 175f, but picks up more subtle flavors.

I appreciate the connoisseur vernacular

Becoming a tea snob helped me stay away from alcohol during quarantine :/

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#30

Post by taraparo »

zokier wrote: post #13
taraparo wrote: post #8

the german tea expert Ernst Janssen recommends to also use boiling water to prepare green tea as most of the teas are contaminated with germs and other things. different green tea brands including organic tea brands were tested by the renowned German test.de magazine and they confirmed that, also most of organic teas are contaminated. and since this is nothing you can easily check at home, better use boiling water. h…

That seems paranoid considering that I have never heard anyone getting food poisoning from tea, no matter how it was brewed. edit: Reading the linked article, it seems mostly concerned about contaminants and not germs. Intuitively thinking, I'd imagine higher temps would end up extracting more of those from leaves to the drink than lower temps?

> I'd imagine higher temps would end up extracting more of those from leaves to the drink than lower temps?

that is actually an interesting aspect.

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