Would you redry (then re-use) old leaves?

[lazyliteratus]

I’m putting this out to everyone I know because I’m just stumped.

A question for the “tea-nut” gallery:

My brother and his girlfriend were at a teashop, and the vendor said,
“Our teas are of such high quality that you can steep the leaves once,
take ’em out, let ’em dry, then reuse them again.”

He later asked me if this was a legit practice. I said I’d never heard
of anyone doing that. My “opnion” was that it seemed unsanitary. (That
and the leaves might not have very much flavor.) But what do I know…

So, the question is, have you folks done this or heard about anyone who’s done this? If so, it’s new news to me.

[bram]

*Not on purpose but I did steep a few teas the day after their first steep. I noticed  that it can be fine if:

• It dried properly
• Was not too long after
• Sometimes a short rinse washes the worst away
• Smell/taste before you steep
• Did not try cool storage after drying. It might help

It can still provide a nice cuppa. I prefer freshly steeped and resteeped though.

[Jackie]

Gosh, we had a discussion about just this on Leafbox Tea eons ago, and there were a few people who had tried doing that, and others who kept them in a fridge overnight and re-brewed. 

Personally, I wouldn’t do it either, although sometimes I regret feeling unable to. Especially in the evenings, if I decide I don’t want a second steep after all, but know they’d still hold up. 

Either way, when I read your post, I had visions of people pegging tea leaves on a clothes line to air dry. Made me, err, giggle. 

[Xavier]

I would be afraid about the lack of flavour of the tea (and it could be worse if it is a flavoured tea).

[Gingko]

*I didn’t get it. If one would like to resteep the leaves, why not just resteep it and why let it dry before resteeping? That sounds a little tedious :-p

[bram]

*The only reason I can think of drying before resteeping is that there is some time between first and second steep. Lets say the next day or the day after.

[lazyliteratus]

Thanks all for chiming in. Across three different forums, the results were pretty much the same – those that did, those that didn’t. Those that did usually used flavored teas or high-priced aged ones for redry/reuse. However, the expert sorts recommended using caution, like with sun tea.

[Anonymous]

This is a form of tea adulteration. The leaves are used, dried, and then sold on to the unsuspecting. I wonder how common this practice still is?

[bram]

*Not I think. This was common when tea was very expensive. This was also done by the maid to take home some used tea for her family. 

Nowadays tea is so cheap that it would not give any profit to adulterate it this way. Although there might be some rare exceptions.

[Author]

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