Why Is My Homemade Iced Tea Bitter. Any longer than that and the leaves start releasing tannins which are the naturally occurring compounds in tea that make it highly astringent and give off a bitter flavor. Tannins are a type of chemical compound found in our tea.
The hotter the original brewing water the more caffeine and tannins are extracted from the tea leaves and the murkier the beverage will be. These tannins are strong in black teas and can be used as a homemade remedy for diarrhea when steeped for a long time. If you steep the tea at a high temperature or for too long more tannins are released into the tea.
This can make your tea bitter.
Some people recommend adding a pinch of baking soda to take away the bitterness. This can make your tea bitter. The hotter the original brewing water the more caffeine and tannins are extracted from the tea leaves and the murkier the beverage will be. To determine the brewing temperature at which clouding first appears we made several batches each with five black tea bags and 1 quart of filtered.
