Tea doesn't continuously get stronger. At some point the infusion
reaches stasis. Some teas taste more bitter than others the longer
they sit. However that bitter taste is present from the beginning and
only manifest itself as a concentrate. It is not a magical byproduct
of too much time in the pot. I think Yunnan green silver tips is a
perfect example of this. You brew a concentrate and you can raise the
hair on a dog. I like the background astringency. I'll even go so far
and say where it is present you can smell it without brewing. You
could let a sun tea sit as long as you like and it won't get any more
bitter after 48hr than 24hr. The Russians drink a form of concentrated
tea. However they start with a lot and continuously brew all day long
with simply adding more water causing a continous saturation like
gongfu that stops the bitter taste from developing. Ice tea in the
South in brewed as a concentrate. Just look at the size of the quart
teabags. It is diluted in a gallon pitcher. Lipton's ice tea is well
known for it's 'brisk' taste. I contend if caffeine is missing from
the taste of tea we consider it flat like decaf tea and no longer worth
drinking. And to put the inferior decaf bag tea argument to rest I can
buy a full leaf CO2 decaf Ceylon whose initial first infusion isn't as
good as the second infusion of any district I have in stock. That is a
weak example because I don't consider any Ceylon or Indian tea really
worth a second cup but I do sometimes because I am too lazy to start
with fresh tea. That is experience in taste over time without
planning. All you have to do is drink some decaf of a taste you know
well and ask yourself what is the missing ingredient. Besides the
obvious answer just note how much is missing in the taste. Don't make
me get curt and accuse you of riding my coattails. If you know
anything about tea change the subject and start your own thread. I've
given my side of the story explaining why taste and caffeine go hand in
hand because of similar rates in leaching and solution. It isn't an
academic argument perse but something to give you pause to ponder when
another cup has more kick and taste than predicted by an unproven
assumption about solution rates of caffeine by weight. Your tastebuds
and physiology are a better indicator of caffeine solution in any
subsequent infusion than a meaningless factoid which is no different in
kind than the medical claims of Puerh also supported by scientific
research. The oil industry has their scientists saying there is no
global warming and the tobacco industry scientists saying smoking
doesn't cause cancer.

Jim

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Space Cowboy > wrote:
> >The only reason tea taste different over time is the concentration of
> >solution not the variability of the components.
>
> In that case, why don't we make a very strong tea and then dilute it
> down for drinking? That way, we'd get more tea from a given amount of
> leaf. But we do not do this. Why? Because it tastes noxious if tea
> is steeped too long and then diluted. Because your basic premise is
> incorrect.
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."