nasty web of tea stains on teacup.

[LaybackPandas]

this has happen few times but not lately.

i brew my teas in a gaiwan then pours it into few teacups appox 80ml with some other cups left over sitting for later consumption, i noticed that later in time the left overs already accumulated a big sum of tea stains normally bigger than the average tea stains you see everyday around the cups, it's like theres this thin transparent layer covering the top, when i tilt the teacup it forms this nasty web along side the teacup. i lost my appetite. it's a little disturbing. what cause this, tap water, soap residue from washing the cups and gaiwan "highly unlikely" , dust from tea? ..i rinse once. ill try to take a picture next time when it happens again.





tea was oolong and puerh.

[Bert]

This layer contains of oil from the tea leaf.
If the cup cools down, the layer gets thicker (maybe because of the tea oil cooling down and getting a higher viscosity).

Higher roasted or oxidized or fermented teas tend to give more oil into the infusion. Hard water forces this oil layer, too.

[LaybackPandas]

tea leaf? i brew the same tea over and over and only happen few times. then i use spring water and it's sparkly clean, no stains, none. then few week later i use spring water again and thought web stains wont appear but it did, just as bad as tap water. wth?

i did notice that unfiltered tap water stains alot lot more than spring water.