How to make the perfect cup of tea (and cut a cake) | Vanessa Heggie

Scientists have been studying tea brewing for at least 150 years. We explain how to make the best tea, and how to cut an Easter cake without letting it go dry Materials scientist Prof Mark Miodownik has been in the news recently because of his claims that there are four basic rules to making a perfect cup of tea (use fresh water, get the temperature and volume right, let it brew and put the milk in second). While this might be a simplification of the 11 rules laid down by George Orwell seventy years ago, Midownik’s conclusions are in agreement with those of a scientist working over a century-and-a-half ago, Francis Galton, who had just three rules for a perfect cup of tea. Better known as the ‘father of eugenics’ – he defined the term and wrote several works about how positive and negative characteristics were inherited (and could be bred) in humans – Galton was a polymath who worked on a huge range of scientific topics, from tea and cake to meteorology and fingerprint technology. His tea studies are often mentioned in biographies, but most authors don’t say that his studies focused on tea drinking while travelling, and the findings were published in his book, The Art of Travel, or Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries. Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Tea Science History of science Food & drink Life and style Source Type: news