Thought It Was

In the eyes of many tea lovers, wasting tea is a shameful thing. We often hear that we should “love tea” and “cherish tea,” and not waste it. However, there are times when some people end up harming their health because they don’t know how to properly discard certain teas. I once read a report about Mr. Cai who, unwilling to throw away his damp and slightly moldy premium tieguanyin, thought it was too expensive to discard and continued drinking it. A week later, he suddenly experienced symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness, and weakness in his limbs, falling ill in bed. Many tea enthusiasts have had the same mindset as Mr. Cai, unwilling to waste tea because of its cost, and thus continue to drink moldy or spoiled tea. Moldy and spoiled tea contains various mycotoxins like penicillic acid, chlorocyclohexane, and xanthone, which, if ingested, can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness, and weakness in the limbs; long-term consumption can lead to diseases such as organ degeneration, necrosis, and even cancer. Therefore, you must learn to discard moldy, tainted, and otherwise spoiled tea. Sometimes, wasting tea isn’t a bad thing; don’t let the price of the…