So... you can't get a good cup of tea on an airliner because they keep the cabin pressure at 75 percent of sea-level causing water to boil at around 90 degrees.
This is clearly unacceptable, not to mention unhygienic.
I can't believe I can't find a single hit for a pressure-teapot.The steam within a kettle is trapped causing pressure to rise within the container until the water reaches 100 degrees before being allowed to vent.How hard can it be?-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 16 2015 Always watch the staff... http://www.forbes.c...e-and-tea-on-board/...the staff knows stuff. [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 19 2015] http://www.rareteac...perfect-cup-of-tea/ //For good leaf tea the water should be below boiling. This is because the amino acids (which produce the tea's flavour) dissolve at lower temperatures than tannin. Tea made with water at 100°c will be more astringent and less sweet. (Don't try this with industrial tea-bags. The delicate, subtle flavours of leaf tea are not there - and it will just produce grey water).// [pocmloc, Nov 19 2015] 90C water and instant ice tea mix should suffice for just about any class of citizen taking to the skies.-- the porpoise, Nov 16 2015 Most tea seems too weak to me. Amenable to repackaging, I'd be just as happy just sucking on the bag.-- 4and20, Nov 17 2015 /Tea as a water based beverage is usually pretty safe no-matter how badly brewed.//
It's the bacteria in the containers that never reaches sea-level boiling point temperature which is unhygienic.Tea just tastes funny steeped at 90 degrees.
This invention solves both of those issues without having to alter cabin pressure.I'm just having a hard time believing that it doesn't already exist... in this particular universe.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 17 2015 Isn't most dead by 70C? What kind of war-hardened bacteria survives 90C anyway?
Also, mountaineers probably solved this problem long ago and it might involve placing a rock on the lid of the pot. (Correction: for 6 inch pot at 10,000 ft, you'd need a 100 lb rock. Who'da thunk air was so heavy?)-- the porpoise, Nov 17 2015 See?... rock on a lid. tsh!
This is not the stone-age people. We have the technology. We can re-percolate them.
//What kind of war-hardened bacteria survives 90C anyway? //
I don't know. Most autoclaves or sterilizers go to about 121 C or 250 F.I figured there must be a reason for that... and I don't see why a kettle at altitude shouldn't be able to at least reach a roiling boiling 100 degrees.
So there.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 17 2015 There are plenty of bugs that are happy at 90°C or more. On the other hand, if you get infected with something that can survive in boiling water, it sort of deserves to win.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 17 2015 Why not use a pressure cooker to brew the tea?-- xaviergisz, Nov 17 2015 That's what this is, just a very specific pressure cooker.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 17 2015 I originally thought this was going to be cherry flavored tea, owing to the fruit that is commonly associated with a city in the Northern part of Michigan's Southern peninsula that shares a name (or at least part of a name) with this tea.-- mwburden, Nov 18 2015 Solutes raise the boiling point of water. There should be something tasteless that can make water boil at 100°C at cabin pressure.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 18 2015 You're not injecting the tea intravenously for god's sake. The water they start with is presumably potable, and any way you'll be just fine with a few stray bugs floating around in it - it's not like the water they put in the jug prior to boiling is sewer effluent.
That said, a small jug scale pressure cooker would be a trivial exercise to design - if there really is a tea quality issue at stake.
Honestly, one of the problems I have with air travel is the very low humidity. Perhaps the occasional venting of a tea-making pressure cooker would help to raise cabin humidity to tolerable levels as well?-- Custardguts, Nov 18 2015 //Solutes raise the boiling point of water.//
Really? I thought salt-water boiled sooner than straight water. I assumed that this meant a lower boiling temp.
//a small jug scale pressure cooker would be a trivial exercise to design - if there really is a tea quality issue at stake.//
That's what I figured. Funky tea is a pretty large passenger complaint on the net. I imagine that a contract to supply the gadget to fix this would be a fairly lucrative one.
//The water they start with is presumably potable, and any way you'll be just fine with a few stray bugs floating around in it - it's not like the water they put in the jug prior to boiling is sewer effluent.//
Not according to the EPA... if Forbes is credible anyway. [link]-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 19 2015 Really high end tea (like single estate vintage hand-rolled stuff) is better brewed slightly cooler, say 75 to 90 ° or so. Perhaps airlines could offer this as an alternative.-- pocmloc, Nov 19 2015 // I thought salt-water boiled sooner than straight water.//
Nope - it's the other way. Salt water boils at a higher temperature.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 19 2015 Good luck getting your pressure vessel aboard an airplane.-- RayfordSteele, Nov 19 2015 You wouldn't bring your own on board [Ray] it would be standard galley equipment. Just another pressure vessel within the existing pressure vessel.
//Really high end tea (like single estate vintage hand-rolled stuff) is better brewed slightly cooler, say 75 to 90 °//
Never heard that before. To be honest I hardly ever drink tea... or fly, this just seemed like one of those little overlooked thingies that has an easy fix. If there are teas which taste better at lower boiling temps then they must not be economical enough for business-class or coach.
//Nope - it's the other way. Salt water boils at a higher temperature.//
Interesting.Both answers are sort of right, although yours is "technically" righter.It turns out that salt water does have a higher boiling point than fresh-water, but if the same volume of both is raised to the same temperature, the salt-water will boil first because the volume of actual water is lowered by the volume of the salt in solution, which led to the urban-chef legend of adding salt to boil more quickly.
Hey, it's only 9:00 and I've already got my something-new-for-the-day under my belt and an unexpected day off work!
It's gonna be a good day.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 19 2015 Salt is added to water for seasoning. To change the BP significantly you'd have to add a lot more than would be palatable.-- the porpoise, Nov 19 2015 Sounds like a pressure cooker tea idea.-- travbm, Nov 19 2015 Depends how hardcore your palate.-- pocmloc, Nov 19 2015 //The steam within a kettle is trapped causing pressure to rise within the container until the water reaches 100 degrees before being allowed to vent.//
What will happen when you release the pressure?-- Wrongfellow, Nov 22 2015 //an old program that said 97C was the best for tea
97C as measured in the kettle, pot, or cup? And, if in the pot or cup, measured at what time during the infusion process? Are we supposed to sample temperature over time and arrive at an average and, if so, what averaging methodology is to be used? Details, man! Personally, I prefer 98.1C based on weighted samples at both kettle and pot, but there's no way in hell I'm disclosing my weightings.-- the porpoise, Nov 23 2015 random, halfbakery