Why Sun Tea Tastes Different and Bacterial Safety Tips

Sometimes a glass of iced sun tea can taste so good that you are left staring at it, wondering how anything so good can come out of a glass. For some reason, sun tea has a crisper and more satisfying flavor profile. Although one can put tea bags in the same glass container and wait for a tea to brew indoors or in the refrigerator, the result is not even close. What is it about the brewing process that makes sun tea taste so different?

In short, it really is the tea jar resting happily on the porch on a sunny day that makes it taste just right. It turns out that the temperature that the brewing sun tea reaches when sitting in the open sun is ideal for releasing the flavors of tea. If the tea is brewed at a room or refrigerated temperature, only a fraction of the flavors are released into the beverage. When tea is made with very hot water, voluble oils are broken down that remove some of the flavor At between 80 and 130 Fahrenheit, the tea is able to release flavors that would stay hidden if brewed at lower temperatures while not destroying sensitive oils that are broken by boiling water.

Unfortunately, the reason that sun tea tastes so good is also the reason that the beverage is cautioned against by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Because sun tea does not brew at a temperature greater than 190 Fahrenheit for a few minutes, the water never becomes hot enough to destroy bacteria that may be present in the water or tea leaves. Instead, it is at just the right temperature temperature range to encourage bacterial growth.

Preventative measures against brewing bacteria ridden tea aren't as simple as you might think. Most tea producers make their tea assuming that it will be brewed in water hot enough to kill bacteria. As Christine Bruhn of UC Davis told the Sacramento Bee, there is no guarantee that the tea common leaves in your kitchen were treated to be safely brewed. However, there are some teas that are produced specifically for brewing sun tea that are available on the market, and these products should have been treated against bacteria accordingly. Regardless of whether you decide to use the specially packaged sun tea or just to go ahead and risk it like the generations before us, be sure to thoroughly wash the sun tea jar, lid and rim before beginning your brew.

SOURCES
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp
http://everything2.com/title/sun%2520tea
http://lifehacker.com/software/how-to/weekend-project--make-sun-tea-183016.php
http://www.sacbee.com/161/story/1100772.html