Now, this latter assertion is assuredly
untrue, because, if tea be actually boiled in water, an emetic and partly
poisonous drink is the certain result. I had a tin lid made to my teapot,
a short tube passed through the lid, and in the tube was a cork, through
a hole in which a thermometer was fitted, that enabled me to learn the
temperature of the water in the teapot, at each moment. Thus provided, I
continued to make my tea as usual, and to note down what I observed. In
the first place after warming the teapot in the ordinary way, the fresh
boiling water that was poured into it, sank invariably to under 200
degrees Fahr. It was usually 180 degrees, so great was the amount of heat
abstracted by the teapot. I also found that my teapot--it was a crockery
one--allowed the water within it to cool down at the rate of about 2
degrees per minute. When the pot was filled afresh, of course the
temperature of its contents rose afresh, and by the addition of water two
or three times repeated, I obtained a perfect mastery over the
temperature of the pot, within reasonable limits. Now, after numerous
days in which I made tea according to my usual method, but measuring
strictly the quantity of leaves, and recording the times and the
temperature, and noting the character of tea produced; then, taking as my
type of excellence, tea that was full bodied, full tasted, and in no way
bitter or flat, I found that this was only produced when the water in the
teapot had remained between 180? and 190 degrees Fahr.
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