#tea experiment

Continuing the tea experiment, London Fog edition to celebrate the start of fall 🍂(So, so yummy)

Highlights:

For the milk, a good food processor is better than an emulsifier or even a milk foamer.

This is my 4th batch I've photographed here, and you're going to use more milk than you think. 250mL for 1000mL tea.

For a more prominent tea flavor, the milk actually shouldn't stack up on up much at all, looking more like a thin foamy glaze of milk bubbles (the one pictured is a more milky one)

Make the tea and mix the non-milk materials in before you poor the milk in.

Use AT LEAST 4 grams of tea for 1000mL of water. I recommend 6 grams, 4 of Earl grey de la crème and 2 of lavender.

I didn't measure in grams (sorry) but I found the best honey amount is 2tsp for 1000mL. This is going to vary by taste.

Add almond milk. 5 drops per 1000mL.

And I cannot stress this enough add as much vanilla as you can fucking handle

I love science it's so yummy 😍 (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠).⁠｡⁠*⁠♡💕

The goal is to find out how to really make the perfect pot of tea. The variables we will manipulate are the temperature of the water, amount of tea, steep time, and what it is served in. One variable will be changed at a time because otherwise, you can’t tell what caused the tea to be better or worse. Due to this, it’s kind of long. Another thing is that I simply not ambitious enough to write an experiment to test all aspects of what the tea is served in, so we will only be testing a couple. It still gives you a better idea of how to serve your scientifically ideal tea. This can be used to find the perfect way to make and serve any tea. But not all teas. All teas are best made slightly differently.

Variable 1: Temperature of Water: 1. Measure the amount of water your chosen teapot holds (at proper fullness) 2. Calculate the standard amount of tea to use for the amount of water your teapot holds. (or number of bags) 3. Measure out the correct amount of tea, put it in infuser(s), and then put the infuser(s) in the teapot. (Or put the correct number of bags in teapot) 4. Heat the correct amount of water to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celcius) (333.15 Kelvin) 5. Pour the heated water into the teapot. 6. Let steep for 3 minutes then remove tea infuser(s) or bags. 7. Pour from the teapot into teacup and rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how good it tastes (make the tea for multiple people and have them rate it separately and then average the ratings) (ratings can include decimals) 8. Repeat steps 1 to 7 several times with different teapots and teacups. 9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. 10. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. 11. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. 12. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. 13. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. 14. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. 15. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but heat water to 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Variable 2: Amount of tea: 1. Measure the amount of water your chosen teapot holds (at proper fullness) 2. Calculate the proper amount of tea to 1 gram (half a teabag) per 8 oz. for the amount of water your teapot holds. (If your teapot holds 8 oz. and you are using a tea bag, choose a different teapot.)(or cut the bag open, dump out half, and then sew the end shut again) (I do not recommend the second option) (please do not do the second option.) 3. Put the correct amount of tea into infuser(s) then put the infuser(s) into teapot. Or put correct number of bags into teapot. 4. Heat the correct amount of water to the temperature that was determined to be the best last time. 5. Pour the heated water into the teapot. 6. Let steep for 3 minutes then remove tea infuser(s) or bags. 7. Pour from the teapot into teacup and rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how good it tastes (make the tea for multiple people and have them rate it separately and then average the ratings) (ratings can include decimals) 8. Repeat steps 1 to 7 several times with different teapots and teacups. 9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but with 1.5 grams per 8 oz 10. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but 2 grams per 8 oz 11. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but 2.5 grams per 8 oz 12. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but 3 grams per 8 oz

Variable 3: Steep Time: 1. Measure the amount of water your chosen teapot holds (at proper fullness) 2. Calculate how much tea to use based on your results last time. 3. Measure out the correct amount of tea, put it in infuser(s), and then put the tea filled infuser(s) into the teapot. Or put the correct amount of tea bags into the teapot. 4. Heat the correct amount of water to the correct temperature. (We determined the correct temperature in Variable 1) 5. Pour the heated water into the teapot. 6. Let steep for 1 minute then remove tea infuser(s) or bags. 7. Pour from the teapot into teacup and rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how good it tastes (make the tea for multiple people and have them rate it separately and then average the ratings) (ratings can include decimals) 8. Repeat steps 1 to 7 several times with different teapots and teacups. 9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but let it steep for 2 minutes. 10. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but let it steep for 3 minutes. 11. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but let it steep for 4 minutes. 12. Repeat steps 1 to 8 but let it steep for 5 minutes.

Variable 4: What It Is Served In: 1. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a matching tea set. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 2. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people with the teapot and all the teacups being different. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 3. If the mixed set was better for this tea, then that means they were all different so you can not find things like color and pattern. This means that variable four ends here. You have succeeded. You know the best way to make this tea and serve it. If not, continue onto the rest of the steps. 4. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a clay tea set. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 5. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a glass tea set. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 6. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a porcelain tea set. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 7. There will not be many variables to alter for clay and glass tea sets. If either of those were your answer you can probably stop here. Continue onto the next steps if you got porcelain as the best material. 8. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a plain tea set. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 9. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a florally patterned tea set. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores. 10. Make your ideal tea and serve it to a bunch of people in a tea set with a pattern that is not floral or plain. Have them rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Then average the scores.

This write up is late and for that I apologize. I had another migraine Friday, April 15, 2016. It was also a day that I was scheduled to work.

With enough time before leaving, I brewed the tea along with my partner’s help in conducting the experiment. I did not look to see if the brew was charged or not before beginning to drink it.

Unable to really wait to see if it would relieve my migraine, I left for work with the experiment in hand.

Upon arriving at work, my condition worsened and I too pain killers in an attempt to help me get through the day. My thoughts were: if the medication works, then the tea was likely charged. If not, then the tea was not.

I say this because even 1000mg of tylenol usually does nothing at this point.

My timeline goes as followed:

12:00pm EST: Migraine makes its appearance and begins affecting stomach with nausea.

12:45pm EST: Condition continues to worsen and I end up lying on the floor for a small amount of time, concerning my roommate.

1:10pm EST: The decision is made, after discussion and my continued laying on the floor, that we will brew my experiment, but my partner must not tell me if it is charged or not as per keeping the experiment sound.

1:45pm EST: Some tea has been consumed, the rest put into a travel mug so I may continue drinking it at work. I leave for work.

1:53pm EST: I take pain medication and nearly finish consuming the tea. My nausea is worse and I feel as though I will throw up, but manage to keep everything down.

2:55pm EST: The pain has been significantly reduced and I can resume normal functions through the rest of my shift.

I was only able to really test one cup today, making my current data skewed in favor of the charged tea’s effectiveness. My only hope is the next time I have a migraine it is not on a day that I work so that I may properly test this tea.

With these two tests, however, I find it interesting that the charged teas seem to, for a lack of a better word, accelerate the symptoms I experience in migraines. They don’t offer immediate relief, which is fair, but it does get me through the worst of it faster so that I may get to a point where medication will actually be effective.

This is currently just a hypothesis that’s adding onto my original hypothesis that charging the tea will relieve a migraine at any intensity. Instead of just relief, I’ll also be looking for this outcome of accelerating the migraine so it may be relieved through mundane measures.

Margins for Error:

I am the only one being experimented on with the tea

I took pain medication early on in the experiment, helping to skew results in favor of the charged tea.

Currently, there is not much data to really sort through and there is much margin for error to be taken into account.

First, I feel as though I should recount how I generally experience my migraines.

I never have experienced the migraine aura phase. I either have the prodome phase, should it start in the later parts of the day when I’m about to go to bed, or I jump straight into the pain phase. If I ignore the prodome phase, as I usually do, then I will wake up with immense pain that leaves me immobile and incredibly sensitive to light and, occasionally, sound. The pain is generally centered on either half of my head going into the eye on the same side.

If left untreated, this pain will usually last at such intensity for 12-24 hours often affecting my stomach and leaving me nauseous. It will then lessen in intensity until a full 72 or so hours had passed since the beginning of the prodome phase. Rarely, I may vomit during the first day suffering the migraine.

Now, I will write my observations of this experience with the knowledge I gained this morning regarding the status of the tea I consumed.

With the first cup of tea, which was uncharged, I experienced a placebo for a short time. The natural pain relieving properties of the herbs temporarily worked and dimmed the pain allowing me to continue normal activity for a short time. However, it did not calm the nausea, which should have been my first clue to the ineffectiveness of the first cup.

The second cup of tea, which was charged, while I needed to drink it in two portions, seemed to have acted as a start for the actual healing process. While I felt no immediate relief, after resting in the appropriate setting (dark, face pressed into something like a pillow), I was able to come to a point where I could interact with the world again. My roommate allowed me to take medication alongside finishing off the rest of the charged tea. Within half an hour, how long it usually took the medicine to work back when it was effective, my migraine was almost completely relieved.

Margins for Error:

The only person the tea was tested on was myself.

This is the first time testing the tea

Yesterday, I had a migraine which made it impossible for me to really function in the later parts of the day after entering a store lit with, of course, fluorescent lights.

It was while I was trying to minimize the pain by covering my eyes that I decided to make the tea spell.

I had two cups, which I had gathered the materials and prepared them for the spell and had my roommate, also a wizard, finish the brew for me and not telling me if it was charged or not. It was only until after I could reflect on the experience of this spell.

Both cups of tea were consumed with the intent in mind of relieving myself of my pain, as stated in my hypothesis in my previous post.

A brief timeline of events:

Friday, April 1, 2016, 9:30pm EST: I began drinking the first cup of tea.

10:00pm EST: I believed the effects were beginning to take affect. The pain was dimming, but the nausea experienced because of the migraine did not diminish at any point.

11:00pm EST: The effects began to wear off, leaving me to assume a brief placebo affect had taken place. My roommate and I prepared a second cup of the tea.

11:20pm EST: I began drinking the second cup of tea.

11:45pm EST: After half of the cup had been emptied, I found myself incapable of staying in the light of the room. I stayed awake, while keeping my eyes covered until eventually falling asleep.

Saturday, April 2, 2016 5:30am EST: I awaken, feeling much better with very little pain in comparison to when I first went to the bed. I still considered myself as having the migraine. My roommate suggested that I have the rest of the tea and I requested my usual migraine medication to go along with it as it was at the point that I believed it would actually be useful with the pain level being as low as it was.

6:00am EST: I remove myself from the bed, the pain starting to disappear for good. I talk with my roommate for a bit about the tea and learned which of the teas had been charged.