From yellow to green?

[beforewisdom]

I just noticed something odd and I wonder if someone knows what is happening.

I bought some green tea bags from o-cha. I made about 3 very green-green steepings with it yesterday. I did a fourth steeping today and it came out yellow.

Deciding that tea bag was finished, I put it in a clear glass bottle ( 16 fluid ounces ) and poured some left over room temperature water in. The liquid from the spent tea bag is green.

The first 3 steepings were done at 170F for about 1 minute. The fourth steeping was at 170F for 2 minutes.

Any ideas?

I'm hoping by altering my technique I can get a 4th green steeping.

[Pig Hog]

After a number of steeps, the tea is naturally likely to lose some colour. It really depends on the type of tea, too.

Lightly steamed sencha will normally be paler in colour, while deep steamed tea is often pale on the first infusion, but turns a deeper green subsequently.

Your random yellow infusion is probably because you left the leaves alone to dry out for 8 - 12 hours. If you had done the 4th steep straight away, I'd think it would have been green.

In any case, I shouldn't get caught up over what shade of green on the Dulux colour chart your tea is. Taste is what matters.

[beforewisdom]

I discovered that the liquid looks greener with the tea bag still in it --- a trick of the lighting.

I'm guessing the photographers for the tea sites ( always green-green tea ) know about the other factors.

It is interesting to know what is going on.