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Will boiling water ruin green tea?

myjapanesegreentea.com

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Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#81

Post by stametseater »

thfuran wrote: post #26
stametseater wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's widely understood, but I hope nobody is boiling their salads in response to that statistic. Maybe tomorrow I'll trip on my shoelace and crack my skull open on the sidewalk, but I'm not going to wear a helmet just in case. There is an endless supply of extremely low probability ways to die, but if you spend your time worrying about all that crap you'll ironically hasten your own demise by stressing yourself out. Round those small possibilities down to zero and stop worrying about it.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#82

Post by rexpop »

ruph123 wrote: post #73
foobarbecue wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boiling isn't going to do anything about arsenic.

Sure, just wanted to add a data point about food poisoning yourself with tea.

Colloquially, "food poisoning" refers exclusively to (per Wikipedia) "Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning); any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites."

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#83

Post by justinclift »

ruph123 wrote: post #67
zokier wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

A person I know had to get tested for toxins at work regularly and at some point showed really high arsenic levels. At which point they had to figure out what poisoned him. He worked in material science but no materials he handled would have given off arsenic to his body. After some investigating, they found out that the Pu'Erh tea he consumed was the culprit. They tested the tea in a lab and after he stopped drinkin…

> After some investigating, they found out that the Pu'Erh tea he consumed was the culprit.

Oh wow. Wonder if they tested the same tea at the place he bought it from too.

Just in case... you know... the tea from there didn't have the arsenic in it. (!)

Of course, if he lived by himself that's unlikely to have been a problem. ;)

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#84

Post by elif »

3np wrote: post #80
elif wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"green tea" is an English term which essentializes Asamushi, Chumushi, and Fukamushi versions of Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha, Bancha, Genmaicha, Hojicha, Kukicha, Shincha, Tamaryokucha, Kamairicha, Konacha, Mecha, Guricha, Hentaigama, Batabatacha, Wakocha, Karigane, Tencha, Aracha, Yanagi, not to mention the regional specializations.

Aside from matcha (powdered), konacha (powdered), hojicha (brown) and perhaps kukicha (twigs), most (all?) of the other ones are also just sencha, or loose-leaf green tea. Shincha would just refer to freshly picked sencha, for one. "Green tea" would be 緑茶 (ryokucha). Hojicha is not ryokucha nor green.

That is another way of needlessly essentializing the complexity.. though your distinction between matcha and sencha is not internally coherent with your own ontology.

Matcha and Sencha are the same plant, only differing in growing conditions and processing.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#85

Post by Groxx »

olivermarks wrote: post #34

I drink ridiculous amounts of English Breakfast tea with 1% milk every day. The water HAS to be boiling when it hits the tea. You cn really tell the difference if the water is less than boiling. Same but more subtle with green tea imo

English teas are very much bred and selected for boiling water - this is definitely the right choice for them.

For most greens though (particularly the more fragile ones), oh heck no. They taste absolutely awful at high temperatures.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#86

Post by Groxx »

tl;dr: YES. Mostly. A few varieties are alright or maybe even good with boiling water. Houjicha is one that you're fairly likely to encounter (the kinda-roasty / toasted tasting tea you get in many restaurants).

But for the vast majority of green teas: heck no, it'll taste awful.

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#87

Post by [deleted] »

galangalalgol wrote: post #47
dima55 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you actually drink not-bottom-of-the-barrel sencha? If not, your experience is not applicable, respectfully. With even middle-of-the-road sencha the difference is far from subtle.

15% of people don't taste bitterness in the same way. Hops taste floral and a bit sweet to me and I like to chew on Artemisia species my family finds hideously bitter. I could put cheap gunpowder green tea in a percolator for an hour and it wouldn't taste bitter to me. Perhaps the gp has the same trait?

[deleted]

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#88

Post by brnt »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #25
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…

Just be cognisant that it is entirely optional to care. And it is a free choice to care in whichever way you want (you might simply have a preferred supermarket tea brand).

Re: Will boiling water ruin green tea?

#90

Post by bhl »

For all lazy matcha makers, I’d recommend getting a milk frother: it heats up water and also mixes matcha powder. For those who like matcha lattes, I think it’s even more essential as frothing milk makes it more sweet and fluffy.
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