I see what you're saying, but what I really want to know is, if the tea is
rich and full, can I assume that there are plenty of catechins, phenols,
etc? Or, do those properties weaken and become dilute at a different rate
than the taste and color of the rest of the tea?

Peter

"Joel Reicher" > wrote in message
...
> "Peter" > writes:
>
> > My question is, since I am making one amount of tea go a very long way,
due
> > to the time it has to brew, am I getting less of the healthful
ingredients,
> > and instead just getting color and flavor? Put another way, since I am
not
> > using one teabag per cup, am I greatly diluting the healthful properties
of
> > the tea, and getting less antioxidants, etc, than if I were using one
bag
> > per cup?
>
> You'll only be getting the amount of the `healthy' chemicals as are in
> the tea leaves, of course. More tea leaves, more of the chemicals.
>
> Nevertheless, concentration doesn't matter that much. Dilute drinks
> taken over the course of the day should be fine, up to a point. In
> fact, it's almost certainly better than drinking 20 cups (or however
> many you average) with new tea leaves each time. That would probably
> be far too much caffeine.
>
> You should figure out how many fresh cups a day suit you, and then
> refresh the leaves appropriately during the day.
>
> Cheers,
>
> - Joel