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Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 6:47:31 PM   
freedomdwarf1


Posts: 6845
Joined: 10/23/2012
Status: offline 		A simple question that I haven't found an answer to (yet).
No doubt it's something to do with atomic particle theory or something equally weird. lol.

Here's my question -
If I brew a fresh cup of (normal) tea or coffee - it's brown.
If I add milk or cream to either - it's brown.
When it goes cool/cold and I heat it in it's pot over a heat source (cooker etc) - it's brown.
Even if I put it in a dish and baked it in an oven to warm up - it's brown.

I stick it in a microwave - it turns GREY!!!
It doesn't matter if I heat it up on full-blast or slowly - it's grey!

So... Can all you geeks out there explain to me, in very simple terms, why the fuck does the tea or coffee turn grey when heated in a microwave but stays brown when heated by most other methods???

I'm just curious as to why it does this.
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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 6:52:10 PM   
Baroana


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Status: offline 		I don't know. We only have colors here.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 6:54:59 PM   
littlewonder


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Status: offline 		eerr....get a new microwave?

Seriously, I heat tea and coffee in the microwave. It never turns grey.


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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 7:00:27 PM   
freedomdwarf1


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quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

eerr....get a new microwave?

Seriously, I heat tea and coffee in the microwave. It never turns grey.


It's alwayas turned a grey~ish colour.

Has done for years.
New microwaves, low-powered ones, high-powered ones, old ones.
Tried them all - hasn't made any difference.

Difference in voltage perhaps?

ETA: I've used microwaves in FL and they did the same thing so maybe the voltage thing is a red herring.


< Message edited by freedomdwarf1 -- 3/16/2013 7:01:47 PM >

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 7:01:06 PM   
Kirata


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Apparently the issue isn't confined only to beverages.But hey, nobody knew the answer to that one either.

K.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 7:43:37 PM   
LafayetteLady


Posts: 7683
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From: Northern New Jersey
Status: offline 		Why the HELL does someone put their poop in the freaking microwave? And I certainly hope that person lives alone and no one else uses the microwave. So gross, I gagged at the thought!

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 7:57:30 PM   
lovethyself


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quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

eerr....get a new microwave?

Seriously, I heat tea and coffee in the microwave. It never turns grey.



Do you add cream or milk to yours? Could that be the difference?

freedomdwarf, I have no idea. I tried looking it up for you and got nowhere. But, I don't nuke my tea ever. I usually leave the tea bag in my cup, so if it gets cold, it's usually too strong too, so I just add more hot water.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/16/2013 9:12:51 PM   
littlewonder


Posts: 15659
Status: offline 		I put sugar and milk in Master's tea and cream and sugar in his coffee. Never seen a change in color.

I put sugar only in my tea and cream and sugar in my coffee. Again, no difference.

I would say to maybe test your water for some kind of chemical that changes in your microwave? I dunno. The grey thing is just freaky to me lol.


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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 2:31:59 AM   
FrostedFlake


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From: Centralia, Washington
Status: offline 		You need a bigger mug.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 3:06:44 AM   
freedomdwarf1


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quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder
I put sugar and milk in Master's tea and cream and sugar in his coffee. Never seen a change in color.

That's how I have mine

I have tried varying types of milk and cream from semi-skimmed right through to double cream and it still looks grey.
I have even tried changing the sugar from white to demarera to light brown sugar, some sweeteners (Candida, Splenda etc) and even no sugar at all - it's still grey.

quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder
I would say to maybe test your water for some kind of chemical that changes in your microwave? I dunno. The grey thing is just freaky to me lol.

As for the water.... that's an interesting question.
I had thought about that.

Up north, the water is medium-soft and tends to come from reservoirs that are clay based or carved from granite-type rocks.
Over in the midlands, a lot of water runs off the hills where it is mainly peat bogs and is very very soft.
Down here in the south where I am now, the water runs through chalk and limestone bedrock and is very hard indeed.
I have also used water taken straight from mountain streams in Wales.
As I mentioned before, I lived in the US for 8 months - mainly in Jax and Tampa. I have no idea about the water quality there or the soil/bedrock conditions.

Additives??
Now that, I have no real clue about.
I know over here, various different water companies use different amounts of flouride in the water for bacterial control and supposedly to help tooth decay.
What they do in FL I have no idea at all.

All I know is, no matter where I've been, if I nuke tea or coffee it turns a very grey-ish colour.



quote:

ORIGINAL: FrostedFlake
You need a bigger mug.

My regular mug for tea holds about 500ml - almost a pint and it's made of clay.
My regular mug for coffee holds slightly less - about 3/4 of a pint and is made of dark blue glass.
I also have some posh bone china cups that only hold about 1/4 pint.
Sometimes I use a huge mug that holds almost 2 pints - that's most of the coffee caraffe!
How much bigger does it need to be??

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 5:59:21 AM   
Muttling


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Status: offline 		I've got a curious test for you to try.   Buy a jug of distilled water and see if it does the same thing.  (If you have access to an RO water filter use it instead.)

When I was doing environmental sampling, I always had to have a lab grade RO/DI filter to make ultra pure water for cleaning my sampling equipment.  The coffee snobs on my crews always swore it made THE BEST coffee as it didn't have anything any it to alter the flavors and it certainly did look darker.  (I don't know first hand as I don't drink coffee.)

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 6:18:14 AM   
JeffBC


Posts: 5799
Joined: 2/12/2012
From: Canada
Status: offline 		I don't have any answer to this. We turned coffee snob a few years back and every cup nowadays is cold-brewed and reheated in need in the microwave. I have never seen this greying of color you're talking about. We generally use creamer but I can't recall it happening with real cream either. I can't recall it happening in any of the cities or countries we've lived in.

Now you're making me want to get a grey card and some regular cream and actually measure for color changes in photoshop.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 6:38:20 AM   
freedomdwarf1


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Muttling
Buy a jug of distilled water and see if it does the same thing.  (If you have access to an RO water filter use it instead.)

Good idea!!
Now why didn't I think of that??

I don't have an RO unit (although I really should seeing as I keep marine fish!).
I'll give that a whirl.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 6:54:50 AM   
sweets1966


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Joined: 1/14/2013
Status: offline 		Unfiltered water changes the taste of everything and one might theorize it could alter the colour as well. We use dionized water in our labs at work because of this.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 6:58:20 AM   
leonine


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quote:

ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady

Why the HELL does someone put their poop in the freaking microwave? And I certainly hope that person lives alone and no one else uses the microwave. So gross, I gagged at the thought!

This.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 7:26:57 AM   
ShaharThorne


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From: Somewhere in TX
Status: offline 		We have to get our water from the store or my brother's house because our well water has too much iron in it. When Mom nukes her coffee, it stays brown (really a creamy color because she uses creamer)...no color change.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 7:31:32 AM   
DarkSteven


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Muttling

I've got a curious test for you to try.   Buy a jug of distilled water and see if it does the same thing.  (If you have access to an RO water filter use it instead.)



Brilliant.

It's possible that there are trace amounts of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in your local water, that get hot enough in the microwave to do something, but not hot enough when heated in other ways.

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 8:41:04 AM   
littlewonder


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Status: offline 		Maybe you need to get a vision test?

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RE: Why does tea and coffee change colour??? - 3/17/2013 9:01:02 AM   
theRose4U


Posts: 3403
Joined: 8/22/2005
Status: offline 		I'm going with the water theory. Microwave Tea made in very alkaline water would stay brown & my cichlids loved it.
"City water" 7.2ph, chlorine & metals need removing, higher ammonia my catfish love, cichlids hate & tea is grey even with 2 bags.

Short answer get a reverse osmosis unit, change filters on fridge dispenser (should be done annulally at minimum) or water softener.



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