I take such pleasure every morning in pouring boiling water over first Jocelyn's tea bag, then mine, and seeing the rich red-brown cloud of flavour instantly blossom out from each in turn and grow to fill each cup. Except the water is not literally boiling at that point, is it?—it loses heat in the course of being poured. And there is always a little span of time between the shutting off of the kettle and the pouring of the tea – poised though I may be over the counter, teacups already prepared, I can only react and move the kettle so quickly. Persons wise in these matters say that black tea should be brewed with boiling water: but is that even possible?
—Further, is it desirable? For the truth is, the glorious cloud of tannins does not always bloom forth from the tea bag with equal swiftness – so I have observed; some cups of tea are potent and cheering, others weak and piteous. You may expect the latter to result from water that is not hot enough, and that is certainly true; my contention, however, is that it can equally arise from water that is too hot. My informal experimentation suggests that a delay of a second or two after the water boils – really a mere lack of haste in pouring the water – greatly benefits the quality of the resulting tea.
You might point out that this is just how normal people make tea and that only I would ever aspire to transfer boiling water onto a teabag instantaneously. That is true, but I believe my observations are still a valuable prelude to an as-yet-unfertilized area of research. Shanti Tea, a highly regarded Canadian tea distributor, says that black teas should be brewed at 93–100 degrees Celsius. That is a range of seven entire degrees! On the one hand, this accords with my hypothesis; on the other, I suspect that this range can be narrowed considerably with careful experimentation.
The optimal brewing temperature for coffee has long been thought to be 200 degrees Fahrenheit, plus or minus five; scientists have found, however, that the precise temperature turns out not to matter much on its own. When similar research is done upon the brewing temperature of tea, what will be revealed? Will the temperature turn out not to make such a difference as is commonly supposed? Or will it turn out – as I conjecture – that tea plays by different rules than coffee, and that 98-degree water is required for a proper brew?