Water temperature for tea: cooling your water down

So you intended to watch the water come up to temperature, you were waiting to see those little crab eyes (see my previous post), and next thing you know, you have been distracted, and the water is bubbling away. So how do we get this water back to a desirable tea brewing temperature?

There are a few different methods you could use to cool your boiling water down. It really depends on how desperate you are to make your cup if tea. Here are a few suggestions.

Instant Gratification

Come to the rescue, thermodynamics. Thanks to a little bit of physics we can instantly return boiling water to our desired tea brewing temperature! Determine the water temperature you desire, apply thermodynamics and voila! 

The physics formula used is a weighted average and can be applied when applying one liquid to another liquid:

Final Temperature = (T1 x V1 + T2 x V2) / (V1 + V2)* 

* where T is temperature and V is volume

Most of us aren't physicists so here is a little cheat sheet: 

A couple of minutes

Pour the water between vessels (e.g., kettle – pitcher – cup) which assists in the water in cooling down more quickly than waiting for the water to reach temperature as described below. The temperature will change between 5-10˚C with each pour. Not as scientific and precise but it is effective, particularly if you are used to the touch of certain water temperatures.

A few more minutes

Pour the water into an open glass / porcelain jug and allow it to stand uncovered. A rough guide for cooling times is provided below.

Many variables make it impossible for this guide to be absolute but they are designed to make achieving the right water temperature as easy as possible.

Over to you. Do you have any special techniques or processes to achieve a desired water temperature for tea? We would always love to hear them.