Question
1. A barista is asked to make a customer an iced tea They pour a cup of cold water, add ice cubes and a teabag Fifteen minutes later the brew is not yet ready, and the customer is getting annoyed. They fetch their boss who tells them that iced tea is made by adding the teabag to hot water first and then cooling it down. Why is this?
Answer
4.2
(221 Votes)
Tilda
Elite · Tutor for 8 years
Answer
The reason iced tea is made by adding the teabag to hot water first and then cooling it down is because the heat from the hot water speeds up the extraction of flavor particles from the tea, leading to a faster brewing process. Once the tea is brewed, it can then be cooled down to make iced tea. This method is more efficient and results in a more flavorful tea.
Explanation
## Step 1:The process of making tea involves the extraction of flavors, nutrients, and other chemicals from the tea leaves. This extraction process involves breaking down the cell walls of the tea leaves. ## Step 2:This extraction process can take place in cold water, but it is significantly slower. The reason for this is that the energy provided by heat speeds up the reaction rate, allowing for a faster and more complete release of flavor particles into the water.## Step 3:On a molecular level, higher temperatures mean higher kinetic energy. Therefore, particles of hot water will collide with tea particles more often and with more force, dislodging more of the tea flavor.## Step 4:Therefore, to make iced tea, it is more efficient to first brew the tea in hot water to extract the flavors quickly and then cool it down by adding ice.