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How Long Can Sweet Tea Sit Out?
Sweet tea can only sit out for eight hours at room temperature before it starts to go bad. After this, it is not safe to be consumed by humans and should be thrown away as bacteria will start to grow in it. It is best if you drink it within six hours of making it.
If you are thinking about keeping your steeped teas in your fridge, then you should avoid adding sugar into your steeped sugary teas, because the sugar will start the process of fermenting your sweet teas, which provides a nice environment for the bacteria to grow. While many prefer the sweetness of sweet tea and think that the flavor is quite wonderful, making the tea with sugar will result in the growth of bacteria and faster fermentation. Sweet tea is tasty, but making tea with sugar can lead to a more quickly fermented and bacterially grown tea. No sugar or fruit should ever be added during or after brewing, as it can make the tea ferment more quickly.
If you add fruits and/or sugar, realize you should not store this tea more than 24 hours, sealed, in a refrigerator. By this, I mean the tea may be reasonably safe up to 72 hours, as long as it is kept in the refrigerator, sealed, and there is no added sugar or fruits. If you put tea in the fridge, covered, it may last 3-5 days depending on brewing method, leaf quality, and other factors. Without a sealed container, the brewed tea may still survive for 48-72 hours before the bacteria and flavors from the fridge spoil the quality.
| Tea | At room temperature (60-68°F) | In the refrigerator (32-34°F) |
| Sweet tea | 10-12 hours | 2-3 days |
| Brewed tea | 8 hours | 3-5 days |
| Iced tea | 6 hours | 7-10 days |
Tea can be left for up to 8 hours without harm, but this does not mean that it tastes the same as immediately after it is been brewed. Brewn tea slowly loses complexity in flavours when left out at room temperature for longer than a few hours.
Sun tea does not spoil in just a few hours, but the risks are far greater if left out or left at room temperature overnight. You also do not want to let tea sit out in direct sunlight for a long period, not longer than a couple hours. The sugars in your tea, the temperature of the room the tea is sitting in, and the type of tea are all factors that will determine how long your tea can stay outside. The type of tea brewed will also impact the amount of time that it will be able to sit out at room temperature before going bad.
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Most people do not keep their brewed tea at room temperature, as it generally tastes better when piping hot or iced. If you are as big a fan of Iced Tea as we are, then you should know it is always best served chilled right out of the fridge, but that being said, you can still enjoy your iced tea at room temperature. While keeping iced tea cold would be recommended for getting the best flavor, you can still enjoy this tea at room temperature.
Not only would your tea lose the flavours or even get sour after 8 hours of sitting at room temperature, it could be hazardous to you if you consume this type of tea. It is never a good idea to drink tea that has gone bad, not only that, as mentioned earlier, expired iced tea has a foul taste and smell which is most likely going to keep anyone from drinking it. Sweetened iced tea, or tea that has been prepared for drinking already, with sugar or honey, will go bad a lot quicker than tea that has not added sweetener.
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Not only will the flavour of the Sweetened Tea wane largely after around 8 hours, but sugar may begin to ferment, and the chances for bacteria contamination are there too. After three to four days, the flavors may become strange and, if you added sugar or fruits to your tea, your tea may start fermenting too. If you have added sugar, milk, or fruit, more than eight hours is too little time since sugar will encourage bacteria growth. Tea made with sugar sugar only lasts 1 day before losing flavour, even if stored in a refrigerator, since sugar is a stimulant to bacteria growth and rapid fermentation.
The longest time you will be able to leave tea outdoors is about 10-12 hours, and that is because of the safety of the product, not flavor. Tea you brewed and stored correctly may keep several hours, but it is important to know the risks of leaving your tea out for too long. You can also freeze your tea if you make a big batch of it and cannot brew any of it anytime soon. Now, placing your tea into a sealed container and placing it into your refrigerator, this will help to extend your teas lifespan and make sure it stays fresh.
To store your tea like cold brewed, the best method is to keep it in a cool area like your refrigerator in a sealed container, which helps prevent it from taking on any odors or flavors from the other items in the refrigerator. Using this keeps tea from absorbing odors and flavors from other items in the refrigerator, as well as keeping any bacteria or mold away. Sweet tea has the overall ability to absorb smells, so keeping iced sweet tea in a sealed container can also prevent it from picking up odors from other items in the refrigerator.
Heat also breaks the chemical bonds of flavours and nutrients more rapidly, so tea brewed in hot water may spoil more quickly than tea brewed in cool water. Too-hot water can cause leaves to burn and have an adverse effect on flavors, and it may also break some nutrients from tea. Speaking of flavors, the CDC also recommends steeping tea with water hot enough to kill off any potential pathogens (195 degrees F. or higher).
According to the CDC, the practice of making sun tea, by steeping tea bags in a container of water outside, can pose higher theoretical risks than steeping tea at higher temperatures, as it provides an environment in which the bacteria are more likely to live and reproduce. Steeping for too long would result in too bitter brewed results, while steeping too briefly results in weaker tea. Remember, if you wish your simple steeped tea to last longer, keep it in the refrigerator, where it will stay safely available to drink for up to five days, provided that it is kept sealed.
What happens if you dont refrigerate sweet tea?
You should avoid iced tea that has been left out of the refrigerator for longer than 8 hours, according to a memo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Bacterial Contamination of Iced Tea. Bacterial development causes the iced tea’s sugar to ferment over time.
What happens if you drink tea left out?
The main issue with keeping tea out overnight is the possibility of bacterial growth. In addition, the tea polyphenol will oxidize and the majority of the vitamin will be lost. So don’t drink the tea if you detect mold or if it turns murky.
How long is tea good for left out?
If brewed tea is kept at room temperature for a prolonged period of time, its flavor complexity will gradually deteriorate. If the tea is kept for more than 12 hours, it will eventually go bad. There are many different types of tea, and some are fine for at least 24 hours.