"Rick Chappell" > wrote in message
...
> Ian Rastall > wrote:
>> The other day I was making tea (of course) and thinking about how
>> people add a pinch of salt to boiling water when they make pasta.
>> My understanding is that they do it to raise the temp of the
>> water beyond 212 deg F ... not that I understand science, mind
>> you. But perhaps adding some sugar does the same thing. There was
>> that paper on tea that someone posted a link to the other day
>> that suggested that black tea should be steeped at as high a temp
>> as possible. I've often wondered why it *has* to be 212 deg F,
>> and perhaps the answer is that 212 is the highest you can get,
>> barring adding some sort of mineral that would allow you to go
>> higher.
>
> That makes sense, Ian (the other alternative is to move to the Dead Sea -
> does Alaric or any other likely suspect have the boiling point of water
> there?). But didn't Aloke say:
>
> "My parents used to add a pinch of sugar to the pot while steeping black
> tea,
> saying it would improve the brew."

That's right, it was added to the pot (and strirred in for 1 second) right
after the boiling water was poured on to the leaves.

> The pot, not the kettle? Adding a bit of sugar to water which is off the
> fire should cool it, I think, due to the heat of crystalization, but only
> trivially I imagine. Anyway, it would need to be in the kettle for it to
> raise the boiling point.

I suspect it was some chemical effect of sugar on the leaching of tea
compounds .. assuming this wasn't an old family tradition without any
substantiation..
--
Aloke
----
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