Spec me a china mug

In what way does it make a difference? :confused:

She said the tea tasted better out of a china mug. The tea she made me did taste very good. I thought I'd get myself a china mug/cup and see if there is a difference.

I do believe she might be on to something, I've heard it said before and I know that plastic bottles vs glass bottles vs cans is a difference. There's even a difference with plastic wine corks compared to real corks.
 
They are glazed, but I honestly don't know if that makes them completely non-porous or not. Are you guessing that the glaze makes them that way or are you sure?

It makes them waterproof. I'm just not sure that a porcelain mug would have any different glaze to a normal one. And that's the only thing that's going to come into contact with the tea.

Glazes are basically glass, with some impurities. In chemistry circles glass is known for it's lack of reactivity with pretty much everything.

Don't get me wrong, there are physical advantages to porcelain. I just don't see any way taste could be one of them.
 
Nothing you've said about the science of it is wrong I think, however the glaze being glass... that's pretty much the end of any real possibility of a difference between them (unless the temperature comes into it). I've just googled and it right enough glaze is basically glass - I had assumed it was some kind of varnish which when baked turned hard.

Glass is as you say inert, and that's why when I mentioned cans/bottles/plastic bottles there's a difference there (although there's also fruit sugars too..).

That means it has to be a temperature thing, or placebo.
 
Was the tea being brewed initially in a tea pot? Now that does make a difference as the tea has more room to diffuse. PG tips introduced the pyramid tea bag to help this.
 
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