Problems with Flavored Teas

[rhpot1991]

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

[rhpot1991]

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

[garden gal]

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.

[rhpot1991]

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

[rhpot1991]

I responded to a different thread about tea presses and realized that I never gave my final solution in here. IngenuiTEA solved all my problems. The iced tea machine does not allow enough control, and the tea press was causing bitterness by squishing the leaves.

-John