In rec.food.drink.tea Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

> 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.

I'm sorry, I meant black tea. Goes to show that I rarely drink
green!

I was thinking of a post I read earlier in the year when someone
was wondering why 212 deg F exactly is good for black tea, as if
it were some sort of magic number, whereas it's just the highest
temp you can achieve when boiling water. IOW, why not 205 or 200?
Why does the perfect steeping temp for water happen to be the
upper temperature limit? If you say black tea tastes bad with
water at higher temps, than 212 must be some sort of mystical
number in to black tea.

Sorry, I'm philosophizing over a mug of lapsang. :-)

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/