soapy bubbles on brewing tea?

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joelbct
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 3:25 am

Does anyone recall whether soapy/ looking bubbles, more than is typically found when making tea, on the surface of the brew and liquor could be an indicator of excess pesticide residue? (aside- any progress on the searchable old-school TC static archive?)

I just started noticing it particularly with a few teas from a certain established but budget-oriented western-facing chinese tea exporter.

I'm considering throwing them out. I spent about $350USD last year at this vendor when I returned seriously to tea, have abt 900g left and have gifted/tossed some already, and don't plan on making any future orders from him. The leaf has great appearance, but maybe that is due to overuse of pesticide.

Lately, when I drink some of these teas that have the slightly soapy/oily bubbles, I seem to notice unpleasant reactions- some twitchiness and nervousness, and a dehydrated feeling.

On the other hand, I just noticed this possible adverse reaction after the vendor was caught in the act of a rather unsporting astroturfing campaign, leading me to look at his operation in a new light. So I could well be projecting.
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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 3:38 pm

I've never noticed this to be a consistent feature of teas from one vendor or region, but maybe I don't pay enough attention. I've occasionally wondered if some of the teawares weren't rinsed well enough--some of the sturdier ceramics do go through the dishwasher or get handwashed with soap (the more delicate pieces only get rubbed with damp baking soda).
Atlas
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Fri Dec 15, 2017 3:21 pm

Not that this is necessarily the place for it, but since anyone with a brain can connect the dots and identify said vendor
the vendor was caught in the act of a rather unsporting astroturfing campaign
Is not how I'd characterise what went down as much as "vendor was caught bashing on competitors on an alt (with justification, even if it isn't a good look), and some circumstantial evidence appeared suggesting that there may be other accounts".

Big difference between talking some shit on an alt and "conducting an astroturfing campaign". I say all this as someone who made a small order 12 months ago, didn't think much of the teas, and hasn't interacted with them since.
kirkoneill1988
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Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:07 pm

Some say "saponins". Others also say (the tea may be "low quality or a little dirty."

This is what I've been told.
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Elise
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Sat Dec 16, 2017 12:55 am

kirkoneill1988 wrote:
Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:07 pm
Some say "saponins". Others also say (the tea may be "low quality or a little dirty."

This is what I've been told.
This is also
My point of view. I only noticed it with worldwide large distribution teabags. Never happened with the tea from the vendors I buy from now.
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joelbct
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Sat Dec 16, 2017 11:47 pm

Could be a phytochemical, but this particular foam is thicker and more persistent than typical agitation of the pour onto the dry leaf. Rinsing did not help much.

I'm not saying I necessarily think it's something harmful. Could be as harmless as something similar to actual soap.

Anyway, I tossed the tea in question today. Not sparking joy. Shouldn't have ordered so much. I'd just returned to exploring new teas seriously after a few years of drinking mostly sencha, so, re-tuition.
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Elise
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Sun Dec 17, 2017 12:56 am

What type of tea is it?
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joelbct
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Sun Dec 17, 2017 10:35 pm

Elise wrote:
Sun Dec 17, 2017 12:56 am
What type of tea is it?
Autumn Dianhong.

For science, I fished the pouches out of the refuse bins to photograph what I'm talking about. As shown, foam persists for 6 min, probably longer. I used to drink a lot of Dianhong when I first got seriously into tea over a decade ago, and I don't recall this phenomenon. Searching tea foam saponins, I found this 2012 TC thread, and a few blog posts without citations.

Anyone care to offer an educated guess, whether below are natural C sinensis compounds, pesticide residue, or other?

~30 seconds after pour:
Image

3:30
Image

5:50
Image

Image
YatraTeaCo
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Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:01 pm

That’s too much froth to be saponins IMO.

I’ve seen similar froth with bagged tea. But to be fair, I do not have any experience with this type of tea.
entropyembrace
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Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:28 pm

When I first saw this thread I was wondering if it was a Dianhong...

I buy a lot of Dianhong from Yunnan Sourcing and many of them leave a lot of oily residue in my cups and pots and form more bubbles when the water is agitated than most other black teas.

I still haven't seen anything quite so persistent as the ring of foam in your last picture though.
gatmcm
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Tue Dec 19, 2017 6:38 am

Drinking some of their dianhong and it doesn't have that scum, I've found it in several of their yancha though
wildisthewind
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Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:55 am

I've seen that scum before in cheaper teas, I'd usually just skim it off and drink the tea to no ill effect. I don't think it's soap; it almost seems to be actual dust stirred up by the convection, but if a (thorough) rinse didn't get rid of it then probably not. Did you ever try scooping off some of the foam and tasting it? I'm wondering if maybe it indicates a tampering with the tea during production to boost the appearance/aroma/etc. of low-quality leaves.
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Bok
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Fri Dec 29, 2017 6:37 pm

I only recall that from very very cheap gunpowder from back in the days when I knew nothing about good tea. Must have drunk a lot of it, as at the time I didn’t think much about it.
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Nis
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Sun Dec 31, 2017 6:40 am

I've seen it suggested that it has to do with the mineral content. Don't actually know though.

Personally I've seen it on a number of teas, some of them from Mei Leaf and others organic, so it's not obviously tied to quality or pesticides.

An organic Indian "oolong" (tastes a lot like a woody white tea):
IMG_20171231_132448.jpg
IMG_20171231_132448.jpg (199.83 KiB) Viewed 9285 times
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