Rubbish tea = science
On holiday in Colorado, staying in a cabin in the Rockies, I was pleased to be confirmed in my prejudice that Merkins can't make proper tea.
Yup, their tea bags are just shite. The tea was weak and insipid, and brewing longer only made it more tannin.

Except, no - it was the altitude. We were at about 9000 feet. The kettle boiled at about 90 degrees. It was like trying to make tea with the hot tap.
( Invisible Wizard - 10th Level Nerf-herder, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 18:14, 19 replies)

adding salt will raise the boiling point
hth
( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 18:26, closed)

Only 9°C off. Not perfect, but hardly catastrophic.
It probably was just shit tea.
( joefish It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 18:44, closed)

Nah, you really can't make tea with water that is off the boil.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 20:21, closed)

What's so magic about 100°C?
It's only significant for the state of the water, not any of the chemicals that make up the tea.
( joefish It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 21:02, closed)

What am I, a chemist now?
All I know is that if you make tea with water that hasn't reached boiling point, the results are undrinkable.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 21:26, closed)

Even at sea level
the tea is shitty.
Though not as shitty as I remember from British Rail cafes
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 19:40, closed)

Your science is twaddle.
The reason it tasted shite is because your taste buds are rubbish at high altitudes. You could have brewed it by the seaside and flown it up in a helicopter and it would still have tasted rotten. The marginal difference in temperature would have made very little difference. You can brew black tea down at 90C and green tea much lower.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 20:34, closed)

Dunno much about green tea, but making proper tea with not boiling water is worse than putting the milk in before taking the bag out.
Urgh.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 20:48, closed)

if you make tea with the floor-sweeping dust in a teabag and then soil it with milk then you've not really much to say on 'proper' tea
it's like complaining about the temperature of your wine when you drink Blue Nun.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 21:00, closed)

Yes.

( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 21:10, closed)

We can't all be fuelled by starshine and unicorn jizz, Doc.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 24 Apr 2014, 21:25, closed)

Given your endless bawling about Mr Marshmallow's portfolio, it seems a little hypocritical for you to be extolling the virtues of proper tea.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Fri 25 Apr 2014, 1:23, closed)

we've already done the proper tea vs property joke in the emvee thread
but I can nod and smile if you like
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 25 Apr 2014, 7:47, closed)

Red Zinger Tea is Boulder Colorado's Specialty
More of an herbal thing.
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Fri 25 Apr 2014, 9:09, closed)

Did...
...you...just...no, surely...but...did you...just...write..."an herbal"?

You did, I've checked and everything. Christ on a fucking lollipop stick, Sir, are you an fucking American?

I may have to withdraw to me chambers and make some chunder. Gah, you repulsive republicans.
(SlantedScience, Sat 26 Apr 2014, 4:51, closed)

This gives me an idea:
At locations with high altitudes and a decent demand for quality tea, build small cafes... with hyperbaric chambers! Sure, it would take a while to compress and decompress, but it has to be worth it for a piping hot cup of respectable sea-level brew made at the regulation 100c!
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Fri 25 Apr 2014, 13:56, closed)

Tannic, made it more tannic ffs.
(Lucker, Fri 25 Apr 2014, 15:30, closed)

Dammit, Lucker, I'm an engineer
not a chemist.
( Invisible Wizard - 10th Level Nerf-herder, Fri 25 Apr 2014, 16:32, closed)