I have been having a problem with the tastes of the flavored teas. I have been getting bitter flavors out of these teas(peach, apricot, cranberry). Here are the ways I prepare the tea:
Hot:
Boil filtered (brita) water in kettle to desired temperature as indicated on tin.
Put amount of tea (~1tsp per cup) into tea press.
Steep for amount of time indicated on tin.
Pour into room temperature mug.
Add sweetner (organic cane sugar, or honey).
Iced:
I use this machine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/...
Add 4 cups filtered water.
Add ~7-8 tsp of tea (total iced tea is 2 liters).
Add organic cane sugar into bottom of pitcher.
Run machine.
Stir tea when it is done.
Let Cool.
Dilute when it reaches room temperature, then fridgerate.
I have not noticed any problems with these methods when making green or white tea hot. I have also made iced tea with many of adagio's herbal teas, and I have used ceylon sonata and some assorted green teas with fairly good success. I purchased the peach and apricot tea for my finace, and have made them both for her to try and she complained of them both being bitter, at first I thought she was oversweetening them or something, but last night I tried making some iced tea out of the cranberry and it sure was bad. It tasted extremely bitter, almost sour. I have read that the press may make bitter tea, so that may be part of my problem, but why then the problem with the iced tea? The machine runs for ~9mins when full and runs almost like a coffee maker (spraying the leafs with hot water and then it slowly drains through). Anyone have any ideas?
-John
Problems with Flavored Teas
Last edited by rhpot1991 on Jan 17th, '06, 17:06, edited 1 time in total.
Hrm, I have the cranberry and peach and have never found them to be bitter. Maybe you could experiment with smaller quantities to figure this out? Try steeping the tea for less time firstly. Also, make sure when you use the press thing that you do not completely mash the tea leaves with it, but leave some of the liquid behind with the leaves.
As for the iced tea maker, I've never used one personally. The link you provided doesn't really describe how it handles the tea, just that it takes 5-10 minutes. It might be that the water flows too long over leaves.
I'm really suprised that it works fine with green and white teas as these are even more delicate and really shouldn't be used with boiling water but instead slightly cooler water.
I'd say, try to make just 1 cup if you can, use a coffee filter for a teabag if you don't have anything else. See what adjustments you need to make, then apply that to these bigger machines. Good luck, I hope you get it figured out. I really like a lot of Adagio's flavored teas and have never had problems with bitterness, but I make small amounts not using fancy machines. Hope this helps a little!
As for the iced tea maker, I've never used one personally. The link you provided doesn't really describe how it handles the tea, just that it takes 5-10 minutes. It might be that the water flows too long over leaves.
I'm really suprised that it works fine with green and white teas as these are even more delicate and really shouldn't be used with boiling water but instead slightly cooler water.
I'd say, try to make just 1 cup if you can, use a coffee filter for a teabag if you don't have anything else. See what adjustments you need to make, then apply that to these bigger machines. Good luck, I hope you get it figured out. I really like a lot of Adagio's flavored teas and have never had problems with bitterness, but I make small amounts not using fancy machines. Hope this helps a little!
I have done the green and white teas in the tea press and they have worked fine. I have mixed some green tea in with my ceylon sonata in the iced tea machine with OK results, maybe it should taste better and I just didn't know it since I have only done this in the iced tea machine. As far as the press goes, I had always pushed it all the way down, I will try not squishing the leaves to see if it makes a difference. I just find it really strange that I am having a problem with all 3 similiar teas when I have used the iced tea machine with many (old, leftover) tea bags and other adagio teas with decent results.
I guess I will try to see if I can pinpoint the problem, unfortunately I used up almost all my cranberry sampler making an undrinkable pitcher of iced tea last night.
-John
I guess I will try to see if I can pinpoint the problem, unfortunately I used up almost all my cranberry sampler making an undrinkable pitcher of iced tea last night.
-John
I brought my peach tea in to work with me today, just to make sure it wasn't bitter. It made a lovely cup, but I noticed that it did brew really quickly. I took out my tea bag within just a few short minutes, taste-testing and observing the color to see when it was done. Maybe the only problem is brewing too long?
Loose leaves absorb a lot of water, and pressing them is only going to bring out bitter flavors, not the tea infusion that you want. Don't look at it as wasting tea, look at it as wasting a bit of water.
Good luck. I know how frustrating this can be. I can't make a decent cup of Oolong and it really frustrates me. If you get another bitter batch, try adding sugar to even out the bitterness without wasting the tea. Maybe add a bit of regular sugar or Splenda if too bitter, I'm not sure if the more exotic sweetners you mentioned in your post do the same, but probably.
Ps. Sorry you used up most of your cranberry on a bad brew. Unfortunately, cranberry is a holiday tea and won't ba available until next fall I think.
Loose leaves absorb a lot of water, and pressing them is only going to bring out bitter flavors, not the tea infusion that you want. Don't look at it as wasting tea, look at it as wasting a bit of water.
Good luck. I know how frustrating this can be. I can't make a decent cup of Oolong and it really frustrates me. If you get another bitter batch, try adding sugar to even out the bitterness without wasting the tea. Maybe add a bit of regular sugar or Splenda if too bitter, I'm not sure if the more exotic sweetners you mentioned in your post do the same, but probably.
Ps. Sorry you used up most of your cranberry on a bad brew. Unfortunately, cranberry is a holiday tea and won't ba available until next fall I think.
I had a problem with what I felt was a bitterness aftertaste with black teas. I don't use as much tea as it calls for (1/2 tsp/cup instead of 1 in fact) and I don't steep it for the full 7 minutes that it says to do (usually just 3-5). It is really good that way and I don't get the bitter aftertaste. I'm not into strong black teas though I have discovered.
Update:
I made some apricot with the tea press again last night, but this time I did not squish the leafs with it. My fiance said that it was much better. So it seems that my problem is the tea press, and hopefully oversteeping in the iced tea machine. As a result I ordered a ingenuiTEA to use instead of the tea press. I will update again after I try making these flavors w/o using the tea press.
Thanks for the help.
-John
I made some apricot with the tea press again last night, but this time I did not squish the leafs with it. My fiance said that it was much better. So it seems that my problem is the tea press, and hopefully oversteeping in the iced tea machine. As a result I ordered a ingenuiTEA to use instead of the tea press. I will update again after I try making these flavors w/o using the tea press.
Thanks for the help.
-John