brewing old tea

[purerealm]

is it ok to rebrew tea that's been infused once 3 days ago?

[olivierco]

No.

[beachape]

...why?

Technically it could be ok if you dried the leaves after you used them. My grandma used to do that with teabags. Now I'm not sure why she wanted to save that extra 5 cents to have a really crappy cup of tea.

Short answer. Buy more tea.

[olivierco]

I don't see how green tea leaves could be dried effectively: it is already quite difficult to keep green tea leaves fresh, even in a airtight cannister.

[beachape]

Oh they will not be fresh. You dry them on a window sill. I'm not saying it will taste good. I'm just saying it can be done.

[brad4419]

You "can" do it. As long as you let the leaf dry out it shouldn't hurt you but I bet you will only try it once because its so awful.

[Chip]

... bleh ... Why?

I guess some Chinese greens could be dried, but not really Japanese ... more likely going to end up with a moldy mess.

[beachape]

Like I said, my grandma used to do it. Its part of a skill set you learn during the great depression. Its also why she would never throw out used containers of any sort.

[Chip]

Heh, wasn't talking about your grandma, just wondering why the OPer wanted to do it "today"?

[purerealm]

cuz... green tea ain't cheap!

what about day old tea? is that rebrewable after sitting in tea for a day?

[olivierco]

What precise green tea are you talking about?

Anyway, I wouldn't rebrew one day old leaves, not even one hour old leaves in fact although some actually do it regularly.
I prefer to brew smaller but consecutive steeps.

[Proinsias]

I often brew green tea a few times at night, leave the tea steeping overnight and then get another few brews the next day.

Some people do brew the same leaves for weeks on end, usually pu-erh or oolong so it can be done. I believe when using this method the tea is normally submerged most of the time, and the tea is of very high quality.

[beachape]

Green tea only gives about 3 steeps before it becomes flavorless. Other teas may last longer. As mentioned pu er and oolong teas will give you a longer session.

Before you tell yourself that tea is expensive, break it down. You can get some quality "cheap" greens from places like adagio for a very reasonable price. At first I thought it was expensive to spend 10 bucks on a container of tea, before I realized how long it lasted and how much it compared to coffee/soda/etc.

[Chip]

The answer is "No". I found a good site that gives plenty of information on green tea brewing. green tea experience dot com