How much is too much?
My folks are doctors and are very meticulous when it comes to dosing things. I understand their concern for my health, which is one of the reasons why they support my venture into tea. But the question came up, as I poured hot water into my 350ml pot for a third steeping of my new Noble Mark Ripe Pu’erh (from Mandala Teas), what are the side effects of too much tea?
And of course, how much is too much? Is there such a thing?
What are your thoughts?
Also mind, we actually brew all our teas light. We use like, much less than a teaspoon for one pot.
I don’t think history has recorded any deaths from too much tea.
The ratio of tea to water you are using is very small. Nowhere near gongfu amounts of equal leaf to water. If your parents worry, there are more boozy drunks around to point to than stoned tea heads,
The worst that can happen is a caffeine addiction.
If anything you’re probably more likely to die from over hydration than anything from the tea itself.
And it gets you really drunk. Like I am right now…:P scratch what I said about the drunks, cuz the puerh I have been drinking lately makes me want to put on a Mae West dress and strap on a gun. Your parents are right to be worried.
Well there is the case about the woman who drank such huge amounts of tea everyday that she got bone cancer. (I think it was brewing like 100 tea bags in 1 huge container or something like that.)
Wait, what about resteeping? Or is it that as the number of infusions go up, eventually you run out of stuff to suck out of the leaves?
Yes, with puerh tea the number of short steeps until steeped out is one of the characteristics. Number of steeps is frequently mentioned in reviews of puerh tea. I think the high steep count makes puerh a great value for the money, there are cakes for every budget and some can steep out over days, the better cakes do.
Gonna need to learn more about that, then. I don’t want to accidentally throw out leaves that are still steepable. Also how do I deal with steeped leaves if I want to spread them out over days, as you said?
I just leave them in my pot without water, or turn your gaiwan upside down on a plate to air out the leaves if your climate is very humid.
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