Tea Antioxidants in Thermos - How Long Do They Keep?

by Greg
(Oregon)

Does tea loose its antioxidants and other benefits if left out for say 8 or 10 hours?

I make tea in the morning and keep it in a thermos.

I'll still drink cups of it in the evening I wondered if it is still high in benefits even after that long.

I read somewhere that Gunpowder tea has the lowest caffeine content. Is there a green tea that has more caffeine than the rest?

Sorry seems like a weird question but even a genius ask questions. Thanks.

Answer:

Greg, tea antioxidants do not tend to keep long. If you brew a high quality tea and keep it in ambient for a few hours, you will notice that the tea liquor turns brown.

This "browning" effects is oxidation.

I suspect when you store you hot tea in thermos, this oxidation effects is somewhat mitigated.

To check if your green tea antioxidants is still intact, pour your tea into a glass and check its colour and taste.

But first, you should test your tea by leaving it in ambient for a few hours.

If you are drinking a quality tea which is high in benefits, you will notice the difference that browning makes to the quality.

Green Tea Caffeine

It may be true that gunpowder green tea contains less caffeine, as they are less likely to be made of tender tea buds, which often contain higher levels of caffeine.

Tea caffeine levels does not correlate with quality. The highest quality green tea often has the highest caffeine level, but its caffeine is being more than offset by the presence of another compound: theanine.

The result is that high quality green tea is more soothing to drink that other so called low caffeine variety.

It may sound radical, but it is true. Check out the story here:

Green Tea Caffeine

Further links along the way will lead you to another article explaining why moderate levels of caffeine is highly beneficial to health.

In fact, tea antioxidants EGCG and caffeine are highly synergistic - they function much more effectively together than separately.

Hope my answer helps.