Thursday February 18, 2010 | 4 comments
For decades, perhaps over a century, Americans have been making sun tea. For some people, it is the only way they experience tea at all. So frequent are customer questions about sun tea during the summer that I have developed a sun tea training guide for my team. And mind you, we don’t make a drop of the tasty stuff.
Sun tea is fun, and for some, a true passion. I count myself passionate about the passions of the good people who walk through our doors.
In my work, I have long noticed that for many people tea is a sometime thing. It is entwined deeply in social and seasonal traditions, sources of tremendous strength. But they are limiting factors as well, and so I attempt to nudge tea drinkers toward a broader appreciation – to make sun tea drinkers into plain old everyday tea drinkers. A humble, but worthwhile, mission.
As far as I can tell, there are only two honest disadvantages to solar-powered tea – time and, well…sun. I figure my sun tea fans are already a patient bunch, but try as they may, they cannot bend its radiant power to their whim. For the unfortunate majority of us who live in colder, cloudier climes, this means that sun tea season is just that…a season.
But if we can have asparagus at Thanksgiving dinner – a most improbable option – why should we not have the sweet satisfaction of slow-brewed tea in the very doldrums of winter?
For many years, I have been a fervent cold brewer. Armed with little more than a few Hario and Bodum glass teapots, I have been tinkering 52 weeks a year. I even made Christmas iced tea. While cold brew is likely no news to you, my dear reader, it is a revelation to many others.
Could cold brew inspire sun tea enthusiasts to dust off their pitchers?
Before I could convince sun tea lovers to add cold brewing to their repertoire, I had to ask the obvious question: Will people drink cold tea in the winter?
Absolutely.
Put a pitcher of cold brew tea in your fridge and try to resist it when you go for glass of water. And it’s work friendly too, warming up to room temperature at your desk. Throw in the fact that it is a convenient way to meet tea-drinking resolutions and that studies point to lower caffeine levels resulting from cold brewing when compared with conventional hot steeping, and you get people listening.
I like Robert Wemischner’s recommendation from last summer – 2.5 grams of tea for each six ounces. And he is on target again when he suggests using the good stuff – you will see a new side to some of your old favorites, some of which can be steeped a second time to great effect. On that note, it’s about time I put another batch of Darjeeling White tea in the fridge. See you next month!
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When I starting reading this post, my first thought was why is he writing about sun tea in the winter? Here in the pacific northwest, we just don’t have much sun to speak of. You really got my attention however when you talked about seasonal foods – I’ve often wondered why I never make turkey other than in November. Seems a shame actually. Then it started to dawn on me ………What an inspiring idea Sam. I am not a huge fan of iced tea but I think you’ve made an important point when you remind me that it has less caffeine. And the truth is, it certainly beats water – on oh so many levels. The first lady is focusing on kids and obesity – I think tea would be a huge hit for kids – especially flavored/fruit blended teas. What could be better than to eliminate soda for kids and shift them to tea for a HUGE health advantage and NO sugar. Now how can we get Michelle’s attention?
Granted we are in Southern California, so winters aren’t blustery, but we do a jumping business in iced teas all year long and ice everything from yerba mate to Rooibos to all types of teas
Question: We don’t do sun tea because, from my understanding, ultraviolet destroys the antioxidants and antioxidants begin to degrade quickly after brewing, so we brew fresh by the cup, all loose leaf. Which is why, so far, we also don’t sell bottled teas or plan to bottle.
If I can be dissuaded from this, I’d love to be. Anyone have expertise on what happens to the antioxidants within a time after brewing and also from ultraviolet, would love to hear (again) and more.
Excellent question Diane – I’m hoping Sam might be able to enlighten us! That would certainly elevate refrigerator tea to a new level….even if it needed to be drank that day or during the next meal.
Hi Diane and Michelle,
I am afraid that I will not be able to offer a concrete answer on the subject, but hopefully I can add a few pieces of information.
Regarding the deterioration of antioxidant content in RTD beverages, for some time I have heard that this is a problem. At the 2009 World Tea Expo, a speaker from ChromaDex argued that their studies showed a marked deterioration (that could then be partially mitigated by certain factors). This was, apparently, contentious, as a gentleman in the audience had some rather direct questions challenging this idea. The UV issue was not raised in particular, so it is difficult to comment on it specifically. Unfortunately, I do not have access to any of the studies in question, but perhaps ChromaDex would be willing to comment on the matter.
Regarding cold brew and consumption within, let’s say, 36 hours, I have a study from Taiwan that looked at this question with bagged green, oolong, black, and pu-erh teas. One of the study temperatures was 4C (39F) and would compare favorably with home cold brew. Along with lower caffeine you also get lower antioxidant levels when compared with hot brew, although cold brew did affect the “infusing efficiencies” of catechin subtypes in different ways.
The longest cold brew steep time in the study was 16 hours…about twice what I normally do. Assuming that the tea remains refrigerated around 40F, it would seem reasonable, based on the study, to suggest that cold brew tea would maintain antioxidant content very well after 24 or 36 hours. But, put that same tea at room temperature, and things go downhill quickly.
This insight would, in turn, seem to suggest that RTD tea is at a disadvantage from an antioxidant retention perspective. That said, this is only one small study, and I am, by no means, a scientist. Various packaging methodologies may mitigate the problem and certain teas may behave differently. There are tons of variables at play here, and it would be foolish to make generalizations about specific brands or products.
This Prevention article from 2004 sums it up pretty well: http://tinyurl.com/y9l5hyf
In short, RTD may or may not deliver. Fresh brew/cold brew delivers nearly every time.
Best,
Sam