Why does tea get bitter after steeping for too long?

I think you can tell a lot about someone by their morning beverage. For instance, I drink coffee and Ben drinks tea. Coffee drinkers (like me) are usually more exciting, energetic, interested in the finer things in life, like to feel uncomfortably anxious, and are generally sweaty. Tea drinkers, (like Ben), are mellow, think they are Asian, feel superior since they don't "need" a lot of caffeine, like to sit around and discuss different teas, and are substantially less sweaty. Today's question is about tea, and specifically why it gets nasty and bitter after steeping too long. 


Ben? 

The answer is tannins.  Tannins are bitter-tasting compounds that are found in many plant-based products.  In wine, for example, tannins are responsible for leaving the "dry" feeling in your mouth (as far as the undertones of boysenberry and lamb shank with hints of peanut butter, beechwood, and quartz, I have no idea what causes those flavors).

Most tannins are water soluble so the longer that plant material sits in water, especially hot water (tea), the more tannins will be dissolved into the water.  Beer brewers also spend a lot of effort keeping tannins out of their beer by making sure that they remove all of the grains before the boil and by removing as much left over grain sediment as possible before the long fermentation process.

How is ice cream transported?

High Road Craft Ice Cream is the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my whole life. Period. (http://highroadcraft.com) During one of their tours (they do tours with tastings) they were talking about ice cream delivery and how important it is that the ice cream stays a consistent temperature. So that got me wondering…

How do companies transport ice cream?

Ben:

They (makers of delicious creamy goodness) have big climate controlled trucks, just like the Ice Truck killer in Dexter. They basically just take a walk-in freezer and stick it on the back of a truck and then add a generator so that it doesn't have to be plugged in for power.

Beer Bubbles

If you know Ben at all, this question was bound to happen eventually. I figured I would get our first blog week started with an easy one for Ben.

How do bubbles form in beer? 

Beer is made when malted barley is soaked in water and then yeast is added.  The yeast are single celled fungi that eat sugar, piss ethanol (this is the stuff that makes you a better singer), and fart carbon dioxide.  If you seal the container the beer is in, then the carbon dioxide that is released causes the pressure to build up until it starts to dissolve in the beer.  Then when you relive the pressure by opening the bottle or can the carbon dioxide is released and forms tiny bubbles.  However, in most beer the yeast is filtered out before the beer is bottled so they just add carbon dioxide to the beer to the same effect.