Can you over steep tea?
In this brief guide, we are going to answer the question “can you over steep tea” with in-depth details of how long to steep tea and its effects on taste. Further, we will discuss the steeping method and the difference between loose tea vs tea bags.
So without much ado, let’s dive in and figure out more about it.
Can you over steep tea?
Yes, you can over steep tea but the degree and the temperature at which you are doing so completely depends upon your preference.
Overstepping is the process in which you make an extra-strong tea while the nutrients present in the tea leaves or powders release their flavors and healthy compounds into the liquid i.e. water. Thus, steeping makes a flavorful tea that can boost up your energy level.
Tea flavor depends on the quality of leaves that you add to water. Dried leaves lose many of their aromatic compounds over a long period while the freshly ground leaves have a much better taste. Then steeping for a longer time extracts all these compounds into liquid and gives you a healthy, strong-flavored cup of tea.
What are the types of tea?
There are two types. One is “herbal” and the other is “true”. Herbal tea is a combination of roots, leaves, stems, or flowers of herbal plants including mint, ginger, cinnamon or hibiscus, etc.
True tea on the other hand is made from plants called “Camellia Sinensis” and gives green or black color to liquid, added in. Both types are equally famous and consume a shot beverage depending on taste or health preferences.
Factors affecting the Steeping process
Two factors affect the steeping process
- Quality of ingredients used to make tea
- Time and temperature of steeping
As mentioned, freshly ground leaves provide a much better taste as compared to leaves grounded before a longer period. While the boiling temperature and extra time of steeping is a best practice that helps to extract more flavors and caffeine into the liquid and give a strong color as well. Adding the ingredients into boiling water is the best practice. However, this time temperature varies for different teas i.e. black, green, white, and herbal tea.
Other FAQs about Tea which you may be interested in.
Can you put tea bags in cold water?
What is cold or hot steeping?
It depends on your preferences whether you like a hot cup of tea or a cold one. For hot steeping, you need to add tea leaves into hot boiling water for a specific period. While in cold steeping all you need to do is steeping tea leaves into water (cold or room temperature) for a longer period. This will add flavors into the liquid and make it less bitter and more aromatic.
Another practice is to steep it into hotter water and then adding ice cubes to chill it. This will lessen the time of steeping.
Benefits of overstepping tea
There are many other benefits of overstepping tea than the release of flavors and aromatic compounds. During the steeping, a compound called “Tannin” releases. This compound makes tea an astringent. When you steep for a longer time the many of these tannin compounds release at a higher rate and add into the water. These are healthy compounds and are liked by many people who like to have a strong cup of tea. Other benefits include:
Release of Antioxidant
Oversteep tea also releases the antioxidant compounds that are healthy and helps to combat cancer and other diseases. Antioxidants help to protect cell damage due to oxidation and also reduce the chances of cancer and other heart diseases.
Increase mental alertness
Most teas (including black tea) contain a stimulant compound called caffeine that has the property to increase mental alertness and boost up the energy level that makes you more focused on your work. Caffeine also helps in brain functioning and reduces body fatigue and improves concentration.
However, a moderate level of caffeine consumption is recommended.
You can read the benefits of green tea here.
Loose leaves vs. Teabags
Both tea bags and loose leaves are available in the markets. However, it doesn’t affect the steeping process but it does affect the taste of tea. When loose leaves are added to the water they release more aromatic compounds and more healthy antioxidants into water. While in teabags mostly the broken leaves, fannings, or dust added that release less healthy compounds and lower their quality.
During boiling the osmotic diffusion process starts that allows entering water into the tea particles and forces to extract the desirable compounds.
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we answered the question “can you over steep tea?” with an in-depth study of healthy compounds released after steeping tea. We further discussed the steeping method, factors that affect it, and the difference between loose vs tea bags.
Reference
https://www.livestrong.com/article/285107-health-benefits-of-over-steeping-tea/
https://www.goldenmoontea.com/blogs/tea/106688007-why-oversteeping-tea-turns-it-bitter
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/536417/how-long-steep-your-tea-according-science
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-herbal-teas#TOC_TITLE_HDR_9
