212 is NOT a magic number - green teas are better with cooler water and
pressure cooker does make meat and vegetable soups taste better. And coffee.
It also disinfects better.
But being a boiling point 212 is the easiest to maintain - once your pot is
boiling you know its 212 and never will get higher under normal
circumstances.

Magical number for extraction is 40% (80 proof) alcohol in water (standard
vodka). That is the absolute best proportion for alcohol extraction of
organics from herbs, etc.. And I do not think its just a coincidence that
it's the same percentage that is traditionally used for hard liquor.

Sasha.


"Ian Rastall" > wrote in message
...
> In rec.food.drink.tea Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
>
>> The only way to raise the boiling point in a household
>> conditions is to use pressure cooker which will make your tea
>> very astringent, bitter and smelling like a rotten hay.
>
> LOL. Thanks, Sasha. I guess 212 is the magic number, though why I
> have no idea. Perhaps nature adapts to limits such as that.
>
> Ian
> --
> I will not weary you with descriptions of quiet,
> similar, uninteresting days,--days of sleep,
> and pipes, and coffee. (Sir R.F. Burton)
> http://www.bookstacks.org/