🍾 Wine's "Sober Sister": TEA | Introducing Susurrus Sparkling Teas | BD17 NEWBIE

[David_Bu3ker]

Well my wife does love iced tea!

[EllisonW]

That’s so neat to hear - thank you so much Sam! And I’ll be excited to hear your thoughts after you receive your bottlings of Susurrus. I hope you love them and they bring you lots of joy with family and friends

[EllisonW]

I hope she’ll love bubbly iced tea now too

Cheers!

[Ryan_A]

Went a little overboard but what’s new?

With both white and green having a higher antioxidant profile than black, and less caffeine, are those in the works?

How long will the antioxidant stay viable after opening?

Very interested in trying these out.

[EllisonW]

Ryan, thank you for the Q’s! I’ll go overboard with my answers

Here are some fun facts about tea generally that will help me speak to my Susurrus bottlings specifically:

1. Caffeine content and how that caffeine is extracted and experienced across tea types is really interesting!

Most think black tea is the most caffeinated, but raw caffeine levels are actually highest in young buds and white tea since it is the least-processed/least-oxidized tea type, with the buds - or the baby plant matter -containing the highest concentration of caffeine (so Silver Needle white tea can pack a real caffeine punch)!

This is because caffeine is a natural insecticide the plant uses to protect its new growth from being eaten by buggies. So general rule of thumb is the younger the plant matter and the less processing/oxidation of the leaves results, the higher the concentration of caffeine.

2. But aside from its inherent caffeine content, you have the “brew/steep” factor that ultimately creates the resulting caffeine content in your cup!

The hotter the water, the faster the caffeine is extracted, and most white tea is brewed at lower water temperatures than black/green and for shorter periods of time. In other words, the perception of more/less caffeine depends also on how you steep a tea.

It’s truly personal preference the way you steep any given tea and how caffeinated you want to make any tea type! There are all sorts of levers you can pull like:

• Ratio of leaves to water (potential strength of the extraction)
• Temperature of water (how fast caffeine and tannins are pulled out)
• Steep duration (how quickly you reach the point of diminishing returns and unsavory characteristics)

Note, that I cold-steep both my Sparkling Teas for a period of time that lowers the total potential for caffeine, balanced by tea’s natural concentration of L-theanine, to have a profound calming effect, increasing Alpha waves in the brain and helping to regulate sleep cycles.

2. For antioxidants, there are all sorts of different kinds that are unique to tea types and a result of what happens inside the cell walls of the plant when it is oxidized either very little or a lot.

Although white and green teas are rich in catechins like EGCG, black tea develops unique antioxidants called theaflavins and thearubigins during the oxidation process. These provide distinct health benefits, such as supporting cardiovascular health, and they’re brilliant prebiotics.

When it comes to tea, it’s not so much that any one given type is healthier or richer in antioxidants, so much as it is what type of antioxidant profile it has. Kind of like food and how you should “eat the rainbow” and get lots of different colors of fruits and vegetables in your diet, the same is true of tea: drink the rainbow

• My Osmanthus Golden Tip is a black tea made exclusively from the bud (or “tip,” hence the name) of the tea plant and is an old-tree, big black Yunnan cultivar. Being bud-only material means this tea has a concentration of nutrients, antioxidants, and caffeine, while also being smoother than black teas that contain mature leaves because it doesn’t have the potential for those harsh leaf tannins.

• My Magnolia Oolong is a Jin Xuan “golden lily” cultivar of tea which is “middle of the road” and only mildly oxidized when it comes to caffeine content. But in terms of the antioxidant profile, this oolong has what you can call a “best of both worlds” benefit by being in the middle between green and black tea:

Catechins (The Green Power): Like green tea, it retains significant levels of EGCG and other catechins that support metabolism and cellular health.
Theaflavins (The Black Power): Because it is partially oxidized, it also develops the complex polyphenols found in black tea, which are linked to heart health.
The “Jin Xuan” Edge: Scientific analysis shows that specialized cultivars like Jin Xuan are particularly rich in total polyphenols and amino acids like L-theanine, which promotes relaxation and focus.

PS: Caffeine is also good for your brain! Among other things, studies have also found healthy amounts to have neuro-protective benefits to lower the risk of neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

3. Antioxidant viability after opening:

Antioxidants are sensitive to environmental factors like light and oxygen, but my packaging (dark green glass bottle) and carbonation (offsetting O2) play a role in their preservation.

Best Practices: To maximize the “functional” life of the tea, keep your bottle tightly sealed with a bottle stopper and refrigerated. Enjoy it within 3 - 5 days after opening to enjoy peak antioxidant benefits alongside the best aromas/flavors.

[Ryan_A]

Thank you- wonderful information to only further my new found obsession! Really look forward to these teas, albeit earlier in the day due to the caffeine content, due to , like you, significant caffeine impacting sleep.

Can’t wait to see where your journey takes you.

Best of luck - and great news on the WB success!

Question- would repour work in any capacity?

[EllisonW]

Hey, Ryan!

Thank you and I’m so glad you appreciated my deluge of information haha

And quick correction if there was any misunderstanding, but tea can actually help regulate your sleep patterns thanks to its naturally occurring, high concentration of “Nature’s Xanax,” L-Theanine (which many people take in supplement form to help with sleep and combat anxiety: L-THEANINE Supplement by Thorne ← great info contained here)

And I’d love to address your other question, but am not sure I understand it - Do you mind rephrasing “would repour work in any capacity?”

Cheers

[Michael.Thimblin]

Believe he is asking about these

[EllisonW]

Thank you, Michael!

@Ryan_A I wish the Repour stoppers worked on sparkling bottles, but they do not. A traditional bouchon/bottle stopper works great, as does Coravin’s new Coravin Sparkling system - it fits on my bottle with a perfect seal and those systems inject CO2 so not only do you get the displacement of O2 for stability, but you’re effectively re-carbonating them and giving more life to the bubbles. It’s a win-win.