# Is hot water required to release the benefits of tea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829 "2011-07-21T08:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/1 "2011-07-21T08:55:35Z")
Can you add a little bit of boiling water to a cup, let it brew, and then top up with cold water? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/2 "2011-07-21T09:23:28Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > Can you add a little bit of boiling water to a cup, let it brew, and then top up with cold water? > > Thanks Yes, you can. Once tea has been drawn in boiling water, it’s drawn. Adding cold water will dilute it, but it will not turn it back into undrawn tea. Depending on how much tea you have in the cup (or, better, pot) you’ll probably want to add more than a “little bit” of boiling water. If you need to you can always tip some out in order to add enough cold water to dilute the tea to the degree you like. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/3 "2011-07-21T09:25:02Z")
i thought hot water is supposed to release the aromatics? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/4 "2011-07-21T10:00:54Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > i thought hot water is supposed to release the aromatics? Yes. But once they’re released, they’re released. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/5 "2011-07-21T10:14:23Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > Can you add a little bit of boiling water to a cup, let it brew, and then top up with cold water? > > Thanks Good Lord! You may be on to something there – as a summertime drink! Think of the marketing possibilities! We could call it “Cold Tea” - no, wait, that doesn’t sound \*refreshing \*enough. Should sound even colder than “cold.” I’ve got it! _Iced Tea_! We’ll make a mint! Maybe add some sugar or honey and call it “Sweet Tea!” Let me pop on off to the patent office before you get there. (What “benefits” are we talking about? Is this some more of the propaganda from the Tea Promotion Board?) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/6 "2011-07-21T10:30:57Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > (What “benefits” are we talking about? Is this some more of the propaganda from the Tea Promotion Board?) I think they offer stock options, signing bonus, matching 401K, medical and dental and 8 weeks paid vacation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/7 "2011-07-21T11:43:42Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Good Lord! You may be on to something there – as a summertime drink! Think of the marketing possibilities! We could call it “Cold Tea” - no, wait, that doesn’t sound \*refreshing \*enough. Should sound even colder than “cold.” > > I’ve got it! _Iced Tea_! We’ll make a mint! Maybe add some sugar or honey and call it “Sweet Tea!” > > Let me pop on off to the patent office before you get there. > > (What “benefits” are we talking about? Is this some more of the propaganda from the Tea Promotion Board?) I am British, so I am very much a pro tea advocate. I mean flavour and antioxidant benefits. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/8 "2011-07-21T11:49:58Z")
I cold-brew my summer tea. (Take tea, place in pitcher of water, place in refrigerator overnight, …, profit!) I have been using a jasmine green tea for this instead of my usual hot Oolong, English Breakfast or Yorkshire. As far as I can tell, hotter water makes the infusion faster but the same volatiles are leached from the leaves. I am prepared to be corrected by one of our resident chemists, or confronted by one of our resident naturopaths, on this point and wil concede graciously if required. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/9 "2011-07-21T12:06:05Z")
Drinking hot tea within a few minutes of being boiled is actually quite [bad for you](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea#Hot_drinking_temperature) in itself, it significantly raises your chances of developing esophageal cancer. I remember reading that there’s a town in Iran where a huge proportion of the population develops esophageal cancer, because they all drink a lot of hot tea immediately after boiling. If you leave it for 4 minutes or more after boiling, or if you add milk, it’s OK. However some studies [have supposedly shown that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea#Effect_of_milk_on_tea) adding milk destroys the health benefits of tea as protecting against cardiovascular disease. It’s a complicated mix, the tea business. I haven’t heard anything about brewing hot tea, then topping it up with cold water, but I don’t see why that would destroy the health benefits? The milk does because it binds to the beneficial chemicals in the tea and essentially cancels them out. If hot water doesn’t do that, I don’t see why cold water would. But that’s just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/10 "2011-07-21T12:51:33Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I cold-brew my summer tea. (Take tea, place in pitcher of water, place in refrigerator overnight, …, profit!) I have been using a jasmine green tea for this instead of my usual hot Oolong, English Breakfast or Yorkshire. > > As far as I can tell, hotter water makes the infusion faster but the same volatiles are leached from the leaves. I am prepared to be corrected by one of our resident chemists, or confronted by one of our resident naturopaths, on this point and wil concede graciously if required. What is termed “sun tea” is on the same lines – place tea in water (cold or room temperature) in a glass vessel. Cap loosely (optional) and place in a window or other sunny spot. Within a day or two you’ll have good tea, _with_ aromatics, which can be chilled for iced tea, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/11 "2011-07-21T13:46:34Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > Drinking hot tea within a few minutes of being boiled is actually quite [bad for you](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea#Hot_drinking_temperature) in itself, it significantly raises your chances of developing esophageal cancer. … The primary source for that claim. > [@](#): > > The mechanism by which thermal injury can cause oesophageal cancer is not clear but both direct and indirect effects have been suggested. Some authors have proposed that inflammatory processes associated with chronic irritation of the oesophageal mucosa by local hyperthermia might stimulate the endogenous formation of reactive nitrogen species, such as nitric oxide, and subsequently, N-nitroso compounds. … Thermal injury can also impair the barrier function of the oesophageal epithelium, which may increase the risk of damage from exposure to intraluminal carcinogens20 21 30 such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or the compounds present in opium dross. The population of Golestan is highly exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, most probably through diet.31 32 Threshold temperatures have been suggested for the effect of hot beverages on the epithelial barrier of the oesophagus in rabbits (intraluminal temperature of 49°C for epithelium permeability and of 60°C for active ion transport). Once the threshold temperature is reached, the barrier function could be impaired rapidly and with short exposure times.30 … > > … The results of the cohort study showed that most inhabitants of Golestan drink their tea at temperatures higher than 60°C and in quantities greater than one litre a day. These patterns make the Golestan population particularly vulnerable to the possible carcinogenic effects of drinking hot tea. Several previous studies have assessed temperature preferences for beverages, and those from the United Kingdom have reported an average temperature preference of 56-60°C among healthy populations.16 22 42 43 44 45 One study reported a significantly higher tea drinking temperature among seven participants with oesophageal disorders (mean 62°C, range 53-73°C) than among 50 controls (mean 56°C, range 47.5-65°C, P\<0.001).43 Another study reported a mean temperature of 69.5°C (SD 6.5°C) for drinking maté among 1388 inhabitants in southern Brazil, a moderate to high incidence area for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.44 > > The association between drinking hot beverages and risk of oesophageal cancer suggests that thermal injury could be a cause of other cancers of the upper aerodigestive epithelial; however, this hypothesis has been investigated in only a few epidemiological studies. For hot tea drinking, the evidence is too limited to draw any conclusions. Interesting study. The proposed mechanism is thermal injury coupled with other dietary exposures in that region but they do note that those with esophageal disorders prefer hot beverages, so it could be the disordered esophageal function that both predisposed to the preference and to the cancer. In any case “hot” by usual British standards is under 60 C according to that article, which for the purposes of that study was considered “lukewarm”. As to which exact compounds, be they aromatics or antioxidants, come out at which temperatures and over what time course, that appears to be [quite complex](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383586605002637) with some compounds being very temperature dependent and some to varying degrees both time and temperature dependent. Or as [another source puts it](http://www.jacn.org/content/21/1/1.full): > [@](#): > > The flavonoid concentration of any particular tea beverage depends upon the type of tea (e.g., blended, decaffeinated instant) and preparation (e.g., amount used, brew time, temperature). … The highest concentration of flavonoids are found in brewed hot tea (541–692 μg/mL) [13], less in instant preparations (90–100 μg/mL) and lower amounts in iced and ready-to-drink tea [14]. The addition of milk or water (e.g., to iced tea) can reduce the flavonoid concentration per serving; however, this effect may be offset by a fixed serving size (e.g., a tea bag) and recipes generally recommend using 50% more tea when preparing iced tea to allow for dilution … Research results are largely consistent in demonstrating that the addition of milk to tea does not interfere with catechin absorption [15–17]. Milk may affect the antioxidant potential of tea, depending upon its fat content, the volume added and the method used to assess this parameter [15,18–21]. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/12 "2011-07-21T15:16:49Z")
If you’ve got some nasal congestion, the heat is the benefit of hot tea, so it’s necessary in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/13 "2011-07-21T16:01:04Z")
The thing is, you don’t want to release _everything_ in the tea. In particular, you want to keep the tannin levels down, because too much tannin tastes terrible. And different things are released at different rates at different temperatures. While you could get all the good stuff by letting it cold-brew overnight, you might also get more tannin than you’d like that way, too. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/14 "2011-07-21T17:51:36Z")
So, will a small amount of hot water in the cup release all the benefits of the tea bag? Then I can add cold water. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/15 "2011-07-21T21:37:39Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/16 "2011-07-21T23:15:23Z")
I don’t think what you want to do will work. You’ll put a little hot water on the tea bag, which will make a small amount of normal strength tea. Adding cold water will just make diluted tea. Hot water extracts the beneficial and tasty compounds out of tea faster than cold water. Since most of the water you use will be cool, it might take a day or even longer to get the tea to the strength you want. Are you trying to do this because you like drinking cold tea? You might need to plan ahead and stick it in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/17 "2011-07-21T23:18:43Z")
The standard method of making iced tea is to make a concentrate and then add cold water. At the office, we put two family size tea bags in a medium size pot. fill half way with boiling water. Ten minutes later this concentrate will make a two quart pitcher of ice tea. all you do is add cold water and stir. so, yes steeping tea in a small amount of boiling water releases all the flavor. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/18 "2011-07-22T11:32:23Z")
Our sticking point on your question hinges on the difference between “a tasty cuppa” and these “benefits” you are asking about. If the “benefits” are not defined we have trouble giving a solid answer. The methods described will produce a flavourful cup or glass of tea. If there are further “benefits” to be sought, you will need to explain what else you are looking to find during your tea break. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/19 "2011-07-23T03:23:11Z")
“Sweet Tea” is what I refer to as “Confederate Tea”. My Confederate relatives object to this, but fuck them. My theory is that the Confederates, during the US Civil War, couldn’t get much tea in through the blockade, and couldn’t get much sugar out. So they compromised. Use as much tea as you could get, to darken the water, then use as much sugar as you had, to “flavor” it. Result? Maximal sugar, minimal actual tea. They developed a taste for that shit, and have been perpetrating it on the rest of us, ever since. Fucking Confederates! That stuff sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829/20 "2011-07-23T05:41:02Z")
I think the real story behind sweet tea is that it started out as a concentrate, so it’d be about right when diluted with a whole bunch of ice, but that folks started diluting it less and less until it reached the current levels. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hot-water-required-to-release-the-benefits-of-tea/589829.md?page=2)