I have begun my traveling in China since teenage when tea was not as common a daily drink in that country as it is now. You may wonder why I said this since most people think tea has been there forever. The decades of destruction and turmoils that Chairman Mao and his Communist Party had brought to China had once made tea unaffordable by many in the country. So was most common sense about tea. Most traditions of China were once overthrown in the Mainland. Some have slowly come back, most are “re-constructed”. So have been many memories of history.
I won’t let myself astray in this topic however. The practice of soaking tealeaves in the mug throughout the day is indeed very common. That was how it was in my earliest experience with tea: tea brewed throughout the day in the thermo.
Artifacts from as way back as the 18th century reflect the practice of keeping a large pot of tea warm as an important household set up in different parts of China.
In fact, I do agree to certain degree that some teas are good when made in a large pot and soaked in there for a long time. However, I think as our knowledge of our world develops we continue to change our behaviour as human beings. For example, we normally do not drink ashes of temple incense for cure of disease as people did in the past. Or many other common practices that would be considered today as totally out of place or even insane.
Leaves soaked for an extended amount of time in warm water would release a lot more than what we know as salutary substance in tea. I shall write more about them later, but what I can say now is that they deliver some uncertainty about the total goodness of tea as a healthy and delicious drink. Try to minimize the “soaking” to less than one hour. Drain the teapot, or mug, or whatever as frequently as you feel the tea is strong enough. Change the tealeaves in the mug at least two times in your 8 hour work day.
