Tainted tea

[Suffolkrafter]

Hi all, I use this little nesting cup on many day trips for brews and the occasional soup or supernoodles:

Baoblaze Stainless Steel Water Bottle/1L Outdoor Camp Sports Water Bottle Leak Proof + 750ml Foldable Cup + Mouth Spreader Hanger + Portable Bottle Storage Mesh Bag: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

Baoblaze Stainless Steel Water Bottle/1L Outdoor Camp Sports Water Bottle Leak Proof + 750ml Foldable Cup + Mouth Spreader Hanger + Portable Bottle Storage Mesh Bag: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

www.amazon.co.uk

Cheap and cheerful and does the job. Except tea from water boiled in the cup has an odd taste to it, to the point where my wife outright rejected a cuppa from it the other day, which is deeply worrying.
Today I boiled water at home in this pot on a wood burner, and made a cup of tea in an identical manner to a cup of tea made normally in the kitchen - same water, same ceramic mug etc. Definitely an odd taste and the water even looked a little cloudy.
I store a meth stove with mini bottle of meths in the pot, but in a Ziploc bag. Could this have tainted the steel somehow? Anyone else noticed an issue like this? I'll admit that on the scale of calamities facing the world this is not up there with covid and global warming. And yet it bothers me...

 

[Wander]

How odd.
I've never heard of stainless steel being tainted.
Have you tried boiling water in it on your hob in the kitchen and seeing what that tastes like?
So far, from what you've said, there's a potential that the fuels you're using (meths and wood) could give off vapours that may taint the contents.
I'm looking at the picture in the link you've posted and two thoughts occur to me.
Firstly, I wonder if vapours from the meths may be entering via the holes punched in the side for the bail arm? Maybe that could be where the taint is coming from?
Secondly (and unrelated to your query) doesn't liquid seep out of those same holes as you drink?

Either way, not sure I'd want a pot that has holes in the side. And £28 for a stainless pot doesn't sound that cheap and cheerful to me.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Yes that's a very good point about the bail holes. After sitting on the twig stove it soots all the way up, so I'd have thought some is bound to enter via the holes. I'll try and stick it on the kitchen hob and see if there is a difference. I don't particularly want to be drinking meth vapours if I can help it.
It was cheaper when I bought it - more like 12 of 15 quid as a remember. Also under a different brand name at that time. So long as I don't drink with the holes facing down and up I suffer no leakage.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Could it be worth giving it a good wash and making a cuppa with it from your standard kettle water?

 

[lostplanet]

I had this with a stainless flask by Tatonka, superb flask but one day it was "decided" that it needed to be sterilized with Milton and ever since then, no matter what I have done to it, I just cannot get rid of a subtle acrid taste when making drinks. you can see inside where the metal has changed colour and texture. Its been retired now to hot water for washing storage.

Tatonka SS flask strange taste after milton sterilise??

As title, not sure whats happended but it just doesn't taste right after being cleaned, have I killed it with a milton tabs clean? I have washed it 10 times and put boiling water through it 4+ times and still isnt right. At the moment i am trying my old vango SS flask to see how that tasted...

bushcraftuk.com

Disclaimer, This is my opinion, through limited research and not fact as far as I know.

I wonder if it has something to do with the stainless steel used in the manufacturing.
This was an interesting read and with so much stuff being made cheap, I wonder if some of the steel just isn't good enough for food or food grade to save on costs.

5 Things You Need to Know About Food-Grade Stainless Steel

Before you implement food-grade stainless steel in your production line, it's important to know a few things about this material first.

www.marlinwire.com

 

[Billy-o]

I find drinking tea out of a stainless mug is fine (though not always) but tea that has been sitting in a stainless thermos or similar for any length of time is always undrinkable. I think it is par for the course.

Dearest wife bought herself a ceramic coated steel cup for the car, but I think it cost sixty dollars.

You can get ceramic lined flasks between 250 and 750 ml. Stanley, Kokoro, Kyocera .. some others

https://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-Interior-Insulated-Stainless-Mug-Matt/dp/B071LLSWXK

 

[TLM]

That article contained some mixups, not very good. SS in the food industry is often passivated before taken into use, mild nitric acid or hot citric acid is used.

 

[zornt]

Try a soak and a good wash with white vinegar and baking soda ( Bicarb). That is how I refreshed my SS vacume bottles. Worked well.
Jon

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Well I bolted the bail holes to stop any smoke getting in but that causes the lid not to fit perfectly. After another brew on an exceptionally smokey fire, there was still a strange metallic taste to the tea. But when I brewed a cup not on a fire it tasted ok. So I suspect this is smoke related. I think an afternoon of further testing lies ahead of me. I'm going to give bicarb a go too.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

I blocked the holes with tin foil, sealed the lid and just brewed the perfect cuppa, so I'm satisfied it was smoke related. I'm all tead out now. The metallic taste was something I'd only have picked up in tea - not coffee or anything else. I wouldn't be overly concerned about a bit of wood smoke in food or drink, but vapours or smoke from a methanol stove is a lot less appealing.

 

[stevec]

I used to be cook for my old boys brigade company camp. We used to cook 2 hot meals a day for 40 people on an open fire. All the Dixie's used for cooking had a small chunk of wood floating in the top, apparently to take up the wood smoke. Can't really say how effective it was but worth a try perhaps?

 

[henchy3rd]

Hi all, I use this little nesting cup on many day trips for brews and the occasional soup or supernoodles:

Baoblaze Stainless Steel Water Bottle/1L Outdoor Camp Sports Water Bottle Leak Proof + 750ml Foldable Cup + Mouth Spreader Hanger + Portable Bottle Storage Mesh Bag: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

Baoblaze Stainless Steel Water Bottle/1L Outdoor Camp Sports Water Bottle Leak Proof + 750ml Foldable Cup + Mouth Spreader Hanger + Portable Bottle Storage Mesh Bag: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

www.amazon.co.uk

Cheap and cheerful and does the job. Except tea from water boiled in the cup has an odd taste to it, to the point where my wife outright rejected a cuppa from it the other day, which is deeply worrying.
Today I boiled water at home in this pot on a wood burner, and made a cup of tea in an identical manner to a cup of tea made normally in the kitchen - same water, same ceramic mug etc. Definitely an odd taste and the water even looked a little cloudy.
I store a meth stove with mini bottle of meths in the pot, but in a Ziploc bag. Could this have tainted the steel somehow? Anyone else noticed an issue like this? I'll admit that on the scale of calamities facing the world this is not up there with covid and global warming. And yet it bothers me...

I’ve had it with a titanium lixada cup, I too stored my meths stove in the cup in a plaggy bag, the vapers will escape & give the water a strange taste/ smell.
Just place it away upright in your sack away from food stuffs if you can.

 

[TLM]

Some of the denaturing chemicals used in ethanol do taste weird in small amounts, that might be one possible reason.

 

[z_bumbi]

Some of the denaturing chemicals used in ethanol do taste weird in small amounts, that might be one possible reason.

and in larger amounts they taste awfull. I will never, NEVER, again try to open the knot on the plastic bag around the trangia burner with my teeth. Burner and fuel is best kept away from cookware and food.

 

[Woody girl]

This is one reason I'm not keen on trangias. I do have a set, which I've had for many years and used a lot in the first years, as it was recommended by the college when I did my b tech in outdoor pursuits.
I'm much happier with my pocket rocket and gas, even though its noisy for a bit while heating the water for a brew.
No nasty taste or smell, and having set a bottle of fuel on fire once, thinking the thing was out when it wasn't.(big learning curve, and much panic!) Much safer too!