I'm a brit living in America. At my office there's no kettle, but we have a hot water dispenser. Today it's broken. When I lamented I can't make a cup of tea, a colleague suggested I microwave the water. Trump is not the only thing that makes this place a hellscape.
@fesshole Honest question: why not? The tea won't care how the water got hot.

@virbonus

I wondered the same. It can’t affect the taste. Is it a principle thing? I boil a kettle on a stovetop every morning for coffee I make in a French press because that’s how I like to do it, but I’d microwave a cup of water for tea in a pinch.

Also don’t really trust the hot water from the tap. Idk why.

@fesshole

@dtm @virbonus @fesshole would you microwave the water for your coffee?

@Cassman

I don’t ever make a single cup of coffee so it’s never occurred to me to try, but at my old office I had a small 2 cup press and I used the instahot water dispenser because we didn’t have a kettle.

I suppose I would go by a cheap electric kettle and be done with it.

@virbonus @fesshole

@dtm @virbonus @fesshole so.. same with the tea. Kettle is best. 😀
@Cassman @dtm @virbonus @fesshole I just use my induction cooktop. Have too little counter space as it is.
@Cassman @dtm @fesshole Again, why not? Hot water ist hot water. I've been known to microwave water for instant coffee in hotel rooms in emergencies, such as needing caffeine to make it to the breakfast room.
Spoiler: instant coffee dissolves just fine in cold water.
@virbonus @Cassman @dtm @fesshole

I have been told, not that I have tested the claim, that hot water isn’t just hot water - boiling it drives out oxygen and so reboiling apparently changes the taste of the tea.

@Cassman @fesshole @dtm @virbonus

@BenAveling If boiling water drives out oxygen...that means all you have left is a cup of hydrogen?

Science class was a long time ago for me. But I think a cup of hydrogen would have some interesting side effects. Nevermind what it would do to the taste of coffee or tea!

Heating a compound so it goes from solid to liquid to gas doesn't chemically change the compound. Whether it is heated up on the stove, in a kettle, or in a microwave, hot water is hot water.

@charette @BenAveling it is actually true. What you are removing is the dissolved free oxygen. You aren’t cracking water like hydrolysis.
@RichardNairn @charette @BenAveling you’re also removing the dissolved CO2, so if you need still water but have only sparkling heating it up turns it flat. (YMMV some sparkling waters also have high % of minerals like Perrier that alter the taste)
@Cassman @dtm @virbonus @fesshole Yes of course, for a pour-over it makes perfect sense. What difference could it *possibly* make??
@spacehobo @Cassman @dtm @virbonus @fesshole I coloured in the rim of my espresso maker with a green marker pen, I found it improves clarity and midrange and also is beneficial for stereo imaging. I'm also shopping for a coffee jar made of oxygen-free copper, which I've read should tone down the brashness slightly and reduce jitter
@dan
I put shakti stones on my kettle while it boils and only use a gold-plated lead to desample the digital heat down to analogue.
@Cassman @dtm @virbonus @fesshole

@Cassman @virbonus @fesshole

I routinely microwave yesterday’s leftover coffee that was left sitting in the carafe. It’s never quite as good as fresh, but it’s perfectly drinkable. I’m not bothered by the microwave.

@Cassman @virbonus @fesshole

I routinely microwave yesterday’s leftover coffee that was left sitting in the carafe. It’s never quite as good as fresh, but it’s perfectly drinkable. I’m not bothered by the microwave.