...is cloudy iced tea. To make a long story longer...I drink a lot of iced-tea, and was looking for a replacement for the cracked and scratched Mr. Coffee iced-tea maker carafe. Online: $9 and change plus $8 and change in shipping. At a major discount store in Montgomery: $19 for an entire new iced tea maker, including carafe. Cha Ching! But here's the rub: all of a sudden I'm getting awful, cloudy tea. Same model of tea and tea maker, same water source, no change in routine, but cloudy tea! Suggestions?
Run some vinegar water thru the tea maker to clean it out...followed by running just some straight water through it and see if that helps.
ReplyDelete"Weeeellll doggies!" (Doin' the "Uncle Jed" there...)
ReplyDeleteTim, you ha' dun gawne an bekum a reel Southerner!
Iced tea! "Ain't you a mess, gettin' a perm'nent?"!
Next thing you know, we'll be hearing you 'talk' about the pea patch, your tomato garden, peach cobbler and homemade ice cream!
Ain't it grand! (Southern living, that is.)
On the cloudy tea thang... you probably already know that tea - like any beverage - contains particulate matter, including coffee. Only thing is, we never see cloudy coffee... or, come to think of it, cloudy hot tea. But we DO sometimes see cloudy cold tea.
Right off the bat we see that heat has something to do with it. So if you were to begin to draw some connection there, that's good! (Because there is!)
Have you ever seen anyone make iced tea... and NOT boil the water? Why, heavens no! Why not? Well, that's because the heated water causes the chemicals (and even larger, particulate matter) to go into solution - which we then call "tea."
Water MUST be heated in order to make tea. Whether by the sun or any other means, it MUST be heated to make solution.
Among the tasty little things that make up "tea," are tannins. Tannins are found throughout nature, including in trees (the oak, for example) and a veritable host of other plants. Tannins were so named because they were used in the tanning of animal hides to make leather.
Part of the intrinsically bitter taste associated with tea is due in great part to the presence of tannins (also known as tannic acid). As well, tannins are present in wines, especially the reds, such as merlot, cabernet, montepulciano and the sangiovese. However, and as you might imagine, the fewer tannins present in wine makes for a better, higher quality (and therefore less bitter) wine.
But back to your cloudy tea problem.
Tannins are inherently dark colored, hence also the name. Tannins give tea its characteristically dark color, and are released when tea is steeped. Heat dissolves the tannins, while cooling the tea causes them to return, or precipitate. Tannins have an affinity for protein, which is why when milk (not that artificial junk) is added to hot tea, it becomes less tart.
If - as you indicate - nothing has changed in your tea-making routine, perhaps you might examine the steps you take in making it. For example, after making it, first allow the tea to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate it. If the solution is cooled too rapidly, the tannins can come out of solution - thus causing the cloudiness which you deplore.
Alternatively (though you do not mention it) excessively hard water can also cloud the tea. The solution (pun intended) is to 1.) add hot water to it; or 2.) heat it up.
Here's a reassuring note for you: tea of higher quality will contain more tannins because it also has more particulate matter!
I believe Kevin L found the solution: "first allow the tea to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate it. If the solution is cooled too rapidly, the tannins can come out of solution - thus causing the cloudiness which you deplore."
ReplyDeleteI let it cool to room temperature before adding ice to the carafe yesterday and ti came out fine, though I'M still not clear on why the change was needed! (-: Thanks Kevin!