The extreme lengths people go to for the perfect cup of tea
In short: In 1975, a woman began traveling three miles each way just to collect water from her former home. This archival clip explores whether our perception of taste is dictated by chemistry or pure sentiment.
Valerie Murch moved from Mill Hill to the countryside and discovered that the soft water provided by the Colne Valley Water Company produced "substandard" tea compared to the Thames Water Authority supply of her previous home. To remedy this, she spent years transporting a barrel of London water back and forth.
The report investigates whether Murch's preference is a biological reality or a psychological one. After she sold her old house, losing access to her preferred source, Nationwide conducted a blind taste test to determine if the difference in water quality was actually detectable by the human palate.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: 1975: When Your Water is Wrong for a Cuppa | Nationwide | BBC Archive
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