According to some recently updated info on Snopes.com, the answer may be yes. Putting a jar of water and tea bags in the sun will get the water hot, up to about 130° F, but not nearly hot enough to kill any bacteria in the water or the tea itself (that happens at around 195° F). Apparently the caffeine in black tea may help to stave off bacteria for a little while, but it isn't a guarantee. Some suggestions for you sun tea brewing daredevils include: start with a scrubbed, bleached vessel for brewing; don't leave the tea in the sun for more than four hours; don't make more than you can use in a day; refrigerate it immediately; and toss it if it gets "thick or syrupy." Also, don't use any excessively cheery jars that would make getting sick all the more ironic.Is sun tea a bacterial playground?
According to some recently updated info on Snopes.com, the answer may be yes. Putting a jar of water and tea bags in the sun will get the water hot, up to about 130° F, but not nearly hot enough to kill any bacteria in the water or the tea itself (that happens at around 195° F). Apparently the caffeine in black tea may help to stave off bacteria for a little while, but it isn't a guarantee. Some suggestions for you sun tea brewing daredevils include: start with a scrubbed, bleached vessel for brewing; don't leave the tea in the sun for more than four hours; don't make more than you can use in a day; refrigerate it immediately; and toss it if it gets "thick or syrupy." Also, don't use any excessively cheery jars that would make getting sick all the more ironic.Comments [8]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
16-13-2006 @ 4:45AM
Razib Ahmed said...
" Putting a jar of water and tea bags in the sun will get the water hot, up to about 130° F, but not nearly hot enough to kill any bacteria in the water or the tea itself (that happens at around 195° F)."
I live in South Asia and here we are crazy for our cup of tea. However, I have never seen anyone putting the jar of water and tea bags in the sun to get the tea hot.
5We made (and still make it for all I know, though I don't live at home any more) sun tea for at least 20 years. I can promise there are days when we left it outside for 8 hours and no-one ever got sick. People are just so germaphobic these days. They are afraid of everything. Everything is going to get you sick or it's bad for you or this or that. Boo Hoo! Be smart, wash what you use, don't introduce nasty elements into you food, etc. Get over it.
6I've never gotten sick from sun tea, but in light of this information I wouldn't be serving it to anyone who's very young, very old or who has an immuno-deficiency disease, which is my default course for anything that gets declared "iffy."
I'm a healthy adult and probabyl won't get sick and if I do, I'll probably be fine in a week anyway.
7What kind of water are you using. If it is city tap water in the US there is usually enough chlorine in it to kill the living squigglys. Hey Reverse osmosis or distilled water is the only safe way to drink water anyway and even that is not 100%. if you have well water the U.V. process replaces the chlorine and in Europe etc. they use ozone. Bleached vessels? Chlorine mixed with organic compounds, (Human bodies) form THMs witch are cancer causing.
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