ska invita
back on the other side
Im looking for black tea, that i can drink without milk or lemon, preferably in a bag (though im starting to think might have to go loose leaf) that doesnt leave all the crap in the cup. its a bit rank
Green tea doesnt do this, nor does some turkish loose leaf tea ive got. Herbal teas dont do it. But black tea does.
Ive found this in regards to what creates the scum:
Q: When making teabag tea, an iridescent film forms on the top, and then clings to the side in the form of a brown scum while the cup is drained. What's causing it - the tea, or the London water?
A:
It never fails to amaze me that such seemingly simple questions can be the cause of real scientific controversy. Up to the mid-1990s scientists believed the scum on a cup of tea came from a thin layer of a waxy substance that coated the leaves and helped to waterproof them. When the leaves were put in hot water, the film melted to form a thin oily layer that floated on the surface of the tea. However, in 1994, chemists from Imperial College did some very careful research. They sampled the scum from cups of tea made in different ways and with different types of water, and did detailed chemical analyses to find that a key component of the scum layer is calcium. The scum, or at least 15% of it, is calcium carbonate - the rest being a lot of complex organic chemicals. In other words, it is not oil.
The major finding from this ongoing research is that for the scum to form, the water needs to contain a lot of calcium ions (more prevalent in hard water areas), while the tea leaves supply the organic chemicals.
So the answer to your question is that the scum comes from the combination of the chemicals in the tea with those in the water. To reduce the scum you could use a water softener, add lemon (or any other acid) or move to Manchester!
---
So this may well be a London problem.
But anyone got any advice?
Green tea doesnt do this, nor does some turkish loose leaf tea ive got. Herbal teas dont do it. But black tea does.
Ive found this in regards to what creates the scum:
Q: When making teabag tea, an iridescent film forms on the top, and then clings to the side in the form of a brown scum while the cup is drained. What's causing it - the tea, or the London water?
A:
It never fails to amaze me that such seemingly simple questions can be the cause of real scientific controversy. Up to the mid-1990s scientists believed the scum on a cup of tea came from a thin layer of a waxy substance that coated the leaves and helped to waterproof them. When the leaves were put in hot water, the film melted to form a thin oily layer that floated on the surface of the tea. However, in 1994, chemists from Imperial College did some very careful research. They sampled the scum from cups of tea made in different ways and with different types of water, and did detailed chemical analyses to find that a key component of the scum layer is calcium. The scum, or at least 15% of it, is calcium carbonate - the rest being a lot of complex organic chemicals. In other words, it is not oil.
The major finding from this ongoing research is that for the scum to form, the water needs to contain a lot of calcium ions (more prevalent in hard water areas), while the tea leaves supply the organic chemicals.
So the answer to your question is that the scum comes from the combination of the chemicals in the tea with those in the water. To reduce the scum you could use a water softener, add lemon (or any other acid) or move to Manchester!
---
So this may well be a London problem.
But anyone got any advice?
