I'm sure that a lot of tea lovers have had this sudden urge and craving to drink a cup of your most beloved tea at night while struggling to finish it. Now comes a question that most of us will ask, the unfinished tea is just too valuable to throw away but will it still be drinkable tomorrow? We have all heard rumors, some say tea isn't drinkable overnight, but is this really true?
In short, please don't drink it!
We'll be revealing to you the truth about overnight tea.
Overnight tea usually refers to tea made the night or day before. Tea that has been sitting around for way too long is also referred to as overnight tea as well.
When tea sits around for too long, a substance called TP (tea polyphenol) that it contains will start to oxidise, this darkens the tea. A great example would be Green Tea, its color will turn from bright green to yellow when put in a high heat environment. This is because when TP oxidises, non-toxic and harmless chemicals [technical term alert] such as theaflavins, thearubigins and theabrownins are also produced.
However, it will become cold when you just leave it there (or put in the refrigerator). Drinking cold tea does provoke our digestive systems, this is because of the heavy doses of stimulants such as theophylline and caffeine that cold tea contains, which will cause negative impacts on our health. Surely, tea becomes undrinkable too when it starts to turn a little bit sour, so please be extra cautious in hot weather! A lot of vitamins are also lost when tea sits around for too long, for example, vitamin C and vitamin E. Additionally, the proteins and sugars in the tea attract bacteria and mycete.
In a nutshell, drinking overnight tea not only doesn't provide you with any vitamins but also will infect your body with bacteria. So please don't!
The right ways to drink tea:
- Drink tea while it's warm. Drinking boiling hot tea as a habit damages our throat and the lining of our mouth. Drinking cold tea as a habit provokes our digestive system, it also produces phlegm. So the key is to drink tea while it's not too cold, nor too hot.
- Separate the tea leaves from the tea liquid. The most delicious and nutritious way to drink tea is to finish it within half an hour. If you plan to take a little more time to enjoy it, we would recommend you to separate the tea liquid from the tea leaves.
Enjoy a cup of warm tea!