Loss or change of tasting

[Xeractha]

Hi!

I've noticed that my tasting is worse than it used to be. Most of the chinese greens taste like water. Some shengs taste like water or barely bitter if I overbrew them. Even the 2015 HLH Gao Shan tastes like water most of the time (tried overbrewing). If I overbrew greens they are mostly sour or sweet-sour and not bitter.
My favourite shu is the 2005 Yellow Labelled Lao Thong Zhi. I've drank 2/3 part of my cake already but it just doesn't feel good anymore. It tastes weird (stored it around 60-65% RH), can't describe the taste but it's not that earthy, sweet, calming tea that I liked before.
About japanese greens. I've started to drink lots of jap greens since February. At first they tasted quite "strong", easy to pick up the notes. Nowadays they are mostly astringent (if overbrewed) or slightly sweet but still easier to pickup notes from jap greens than chinese greens. (I store jap greens correctly and consume them in less than a month).

About smelling... I can smell the wet leaves properly, most teas smell really really good. I wish I could taste what I smell. And this is the thing I don't understand. If I can smell the teas correctly why can't I taste them?

I also tried black teas, my favourite is the Chiyabari but again, watery... It used to taste musty but most blacks started to become the same boring sweetness and nothing else, maybe bitterness if I'm lucky.

I have 3 drogs, 1 cat (had a budgie in my room but the stupid cat caught it) but it shouldn't matter because I could taste everything last year. And even if it mattered I think I should have lost my smelling and not tasting.

It's not a complete loss of taste, I can feel the foods and everything else. It's more like I get used to the tea's flavour in a day and it starts to become tastless. You know it's the same when someone farts and it stinks first but after a few minutes you feel nothing.

I drink tea before eating, I don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't like hot spicy foods, changed the water filter several times, tried several bottled water, played around with brewing methods etc.

Possible problems: stress, lack of good mood, dental problems (especially wisdom tooth), vitamin deficiency, tea is in the same room where I sleep etc...

Have you experienced something similar? Could you change anything?

[chrl42]

That's strange..I drink alcohol, smoke and darn love spicy foods but never had that problem,

Do you use filtered water? filtered water used to have too low pH degree..could affect tea taste as well...

[Xeractha]

That's strange..I drink alcohol, smoke and darn love spicy foods but never had that problem,

Do you use filtered water? filtered water used to have too low pH degree..could affect tea taste as well...

My tap water is too hard and full of chlorine so I have to filter it. pH is about 7.5 I think. I'll measure it later though. I tried Brita, Laica and now Hyundai Aqua Optima. I'd say Brita is the worse so far.

[Xeractha]

I'll try something tomorrow (rinsing a lot with water). I think my mouth is too acidic, the indicator shows the pH is around 6 (maybe a little bit lower, it's just a colour based indicator). I usually drink tea before brushing my teeth. Though I'm not sure how my the mouth's pH matters.

[entropyembrace]

Have you been drinking tea while it's still very hot? If I accidentally drink a really hot beverage my sense of taste will be ruined for a few days afterwards.

[Xeractha]

Have you been drinking tea while it's still very hot? If I accidentally drink a really hot beverage my sense of taste will be ruined for a few days afterwards.

It's been like this for months actually. I used to drink teas quite hot (especially pu-erh), I drink mostly greens lately. I don't know what's the lowest temperature that can damage taste buds. Maybe I'm too used to hot beverage and I don't even notice when I damage my tongue.
I also changed my toothpaste to something mild with less mint.

I suppose I should stop drinking tea for a few days and see what happens. But days without tea? That's an eternity.

Edit: Last month I made cold brewed sencha and bancha a few times. I've just remembered that the sencha was more flavourful than hot brewed. Maybe it's really a burnt tongue issue.

[Hezo541]

Maybe you should choose a tea with more flavor.

[Bok]

How about going extreme and see what happens? Purposely overbrew and test what you get. Sometimes it also has to do with personal mood. Or try let someone else brew the tea? Eliminate factors one by one and you might find the reason.

[Xeractha]

@Hezo541 The problem isn't the tea or it's quality.

How about going extreme and see what happens? Purposely overbrew and test what you get. Sometimes it also has to do with personal mood. Or try let someone else brew the tea? Eliminate factors one by one and you might find the reason.

Actually I did it a few times. It's not a complete loss of tasting. My main problem is I can't taste the subtle notes anymore. For example: many teas from Yunnan has a certain peach like flavour, it's easy to smell if the leaves are wet but I can't taste it anymore. Many people said (months ago) the 2016 Xiaguan Nan Zhao would be too "strong" to drink now. I drank the whole tuo and I liked it. It wasn't bitter just slightly smokey as I remember but it felt "creamy" like butter. I suppose it shouldn't have been like that. Also bought a 2006 Xiaguan Te Ji that I really liked last year but this time it tasted like water (first one was from DTH second one from Berylleb). Xiaguan shouldn't be like water. Obviously I got used to bitterness (even started to like chocolate with 99% cacao) but at the cost of subtle notes? That's not good.

About my mood: I'm rarely in a good mood nowadays and the decreased tasting coincides with the start of my frustration. Though whining is against the rules "It's not a soap opera board". I started to eat lots of sugary snacks again which might be another problem. Increased sugar intake > decreased tasting.

While typing I just brewed up some Kamairi-cha. I rinsed my mouth with lots of water before. This tea is tasty, though what I picked up is a nutty flavour and it's not a subtle note (Super premium Kamairi from Zencha).
Maybe my saliva is really too acidic which means I should see a doctor. This + burnt tongue + increased sugar intake might be a problem together. Fortunately I have many teas for testing.

[ethan]

Pouring rain has me inside my hostel where now there is a computer for free use; so, I am in Taiwan looking at teachat as if I were home. Years back I had a metallic taste in my mouth for months. I went to doctors and read up on that condition and other things going on. My own conclusion is that all the time I have spent in swimming pools damaged my nose etc. Forget the whole story, a few months after giving up cigars and swimming, my tastebuds were functioning okay, metal was not in my mouth.... I can swim again but don't smoke.
Our friend from Hungary: There is probably a lot of things combined to bother your body and removing all that can upset tasting etc. might be necessary as well as finding your own conclusion of what you can come back to and what you must abandon. It might be more likely a matter of months than it is of days. In the long run a couple of months or so is not so long to sort something out. Personally, doctors were not helpful.

[victoria3]

I also had a metallic taste in my mouth for a while so quit drinking so much Kombucha that I was making, I also quit chewing Nicorette gum that I was addicted to for a few years. I started drinking more tea at this time, so good results came out of this issue. Any sinus issues will affect how you taste, as will hormonal fluctuations. I have always liked my drinks on the strong side so body balance/chemistry I'm sure comes into play.

[Xeractha]

I don't have any metallic taste fortunately. I'll be more careful about tea temperature and see what happens. I don't know what causes acidic saliva but I'll try to take care of it too.
I don't really have an idea about how I could find out any issue regarding hormonal stuff.
I think I might be zinc deficient too. Zinc is related to tasting if I remember correctly. I also have 2-3 grey hairs (and I'm just 27 years old wtf...) which can be a sign of zinc deficiency. I hope Ethan isn't right and it won't be a matter of months to figure out my problem(s).

I think I should get some tea samples with distinct flavours for testing. Better solution would be a group tasting but I'm "forever alone" if it comes to tea.

[Bok]

I don't have any metallic taste fortunately. I'll be more careful about tea temperature and see what happens. I don't know what causes acidic saliva but I'll try to take care of it too.
I don't really have an idea about how I could find out any issue regarding hormonal stuff.
I think I might be zinc deficient too. Zinc is related to tasting if I remember correctly. I also have 2-3 grey hairs (and I'm just 27 years old wtf...) which can be a sign of zinc deficiency. I hope Ethan isn't right and it won't be a matter of months to figure out my problem(s).

I think I should get some tea samples with distinct flavours for testing. Better solution would be a group tasting but I'm "forever alone" if it comes to tea.

Rest assured 3 grey hairs at 27 is nothing to worry about! Most people just don't detect them until years pass...

But they way you describe it your issue might really have something to do with your nutrition and general state of mind/health. Timing is also of the essence. 1 hour after a meal is usually advised before drinking tea as to get the full scope of flavours without the side effects of an empty stomach or on the other hand muting which some foods incurs.

[joelbct]

Pur makes a faucet filter called mineralclear that is supposed to add back minerals.

I can get habituated to a tea if I drink it too much, but switching things up helps. Also, maybe taking a break from tea for a week or so could reset things.

If something so noticeable were happening to me, though, I'd ask my Doctor. Better safe than sorry.

[Xeractha]

It's time to brew some herbal tea then. I've got like 2kg herbal tea (few unopened packs), some rooibos and found mate "tea" too. I've just remembered that I had got 1kg gunpowder tea stashed away somewhere, probably not good anymore. I should clear the cupboard already, totally forgot about a 100g chunk of random sheng cake sitting there.