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The discussion here reminds me of the lady tasting tea experiment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting_tea https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting

The discussion here reminds me of the lady tasting tea experiment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting_tea https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting_tea

Mistletoe 3y ago
I read all that and didn’t get the thing I want to know. Could the lady tell the difference?!
- thaumasiotes 3y ago
  > David Salsburg reports that a colleague of Fisher, H. Fairfield Smith, revealed that in the actual experiment the lady succeeded in identifying all eight cups correctly.
  - Mistletoe 3y ago
    Thank you. That’s very impressive!
- tomsmeding 3y ago
  It's on the page, pretty high up: > One could then ask what the probability was for her getting the specific number of cups she identified correct (in fact all eight), but just by chance.
ChrisKnott 3y ago
I'm struggling to believe this can be done by taste; I could understand it if you went milk+teabag, then added water, but this seems like brewed tea in a pot added to milk in cup v.s. milk added to brewed tea in a cup, which will get totally mixed either way...? The only difference I can think of in these situations is the temperature of the bottom of the cup. Can this really detectably affect the taste? Maybe she was subconsciously feeling this?
- RugnirViking 3y ago
  I do know that brewing tea with not-quite boiled water (70-80 degrees C) instead of boiled water 80-90 is recommended because otherwise the leaves go bitter. Perhaps if they were using water fresh from the kettle the milk-first way was preventing the "scalding"
  - barrkel 3y ago
    Bitter tannins are what you want in black tea, they're smoothed out by milk but a good cup needs to be grippy in the mouth. Black tea made with anything less than boiling water is usually not very nice, in my experience.
    - gmac 3y ago
      100% this. Which is why, as a Brit, my heart still sinks when ordering tea in most European countries: nine times out of ten you get a glass of once-boiling water to add a teabag to.
      - psd1 3y ago
        Yep, a proper cuppa needs the water at absolute boiling. 1000m above sea level is high enough that I won't even bother trying to brew a cuppa; it just won't hit the spot. Milk is a factor. Weirdly for a country with a robust approach to pasteurisation, French milk is insipid. In China, I couldn't even get hot enough water for coffee. The places I stayed offered water almost cool enough for a bath. I had thought I was clever, buying ground coffee in Beijing, but I might as well have carried a bag of sand. Hey ho. Travel without privation is merely holiday.
        barrkel 3y ago
        IME holiday without a moment of privation is less memorable, and if you're travelling with others, the struggle is bonding. If hot drinks are important to you, bring a travel kettle.
  - 3y ago

The discussion here reminds me of the lady tasting tea experiment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting_tea https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting_tea

Mistletoe 3y ago

I read all that and didn’t get the thing I want to know. Could the lady tell the difference?!

thaumasiotes 3y ago
> David Salsburg reports that a colleague of Fisher, H. Fairfield Smith, revealed that in the actual experiment the lady succeeded in identifying all eight cups correctly.
- Mistletoe 3y ago
  Thank you. That’s very impressive!
tomsmeding 3y ago
It's on the page, pretty high up: > One could then ask what the probability was for her getting the specific number of cups she identified correct (in fact all eight), but just by chance.

ChrisKnott 3y ago

I'm struggling to believe this can be done by taste; I could understand it if you went milk+teabag, then added water, but this seems like brewed tea in a pot added to milk in cup v.s. milk added to brewed tea in a cup, which will get totally mixed either way...? The only difference I can think of in these situations is the temperature of the bottom of the cup. Can this really detectably affect the taste? Maybe she was subconsciously feeling this?

RugnirViking 3y ago
I do know that brewing tea with not-quite boiled water (70-80 degrees C) instead of boiled water 80-90 is recommended because otherwise the leaves go bitter. Perhaps if they were using water fresh from the kettle the milk-first way was preventing the "scalding"
- barrkel 3y ago
  Bitter tannins are what you want in black tea, they're smoothed out by milk but a good cup needs to be grippy in the mouth. Black tea made with anything less than boiling water is usually not very nice, in my experience.
  - gmac 3y ago
    100% this. Which is why, as a Brit, my heart still sinks when ordering tea in most European countries: nine times out of ten you get a glass of once-boiling water to add a teabag to.
    - psd1 3y ago
      Yep, a proper cuppa needs the water at absolute boiling. 1000m above sea level is high enough that I won't even bother trying to brew a cuppa; it just won't hit the spot. Milk is a factor. Weirdly for a country with a robust approach to pasteurisation, French milk is insipid. In China, I couldn't even get hot enough water for coffee. The places I stayed offered water almost cool enough for a bath. I had thought I was clever, buying ground coffee in Beijing, but I might as well have carried a bag of sand. Hey ho. Travel without privation is merely holiday.
      - barrkel 3y ago
        IME holiday without a moment of privation is less memorable, and if you're travelling with others, the struggle is bonding. If hot drinks are important to you, bring a travel kettle.
- 3y ago