OT: Tea and Placebos

By Ctein

Each of my tea columns generates a certain number of queries about my tea-brewing practices. I figure I should devote a column, then, to how I drink tea, not what I drink. Before I dive in I want to state that I think most of the import of personal tea rituals is psychological. That does not make it less real nor less important!

Partly it's the placebo effect. For a remarkable range of physical ailments, if you tell people you're providing them with a treatment that will address their illness, a surprising percentage of them show physical improvement or even a complete cure. This is solely due to the "power of suggestion," but it makes a real physical difference; convincing their minds that the body is being treated causes genuine and objectively-measurable physiological changes.

This is why medical studies are only trustworthy when they're done in a double-blind fashion, where neither the doctor nor the patient knows if the treatment is real. Many drugs fail to pass clinical trials not because they don't produce marked improvements in the patients, but because ordinary sugar pills produce nearly the same degree of improvement.

(Of course, it's really important to make sure you're using a genuine placebo—some decades ago, the researchers who used lithium carbonate as an "inert" stand-in for the compound they were testing got quite a surprise...and opened up whole new areas of psychopharmacology.)

It's also why you can never disprove the efficacy of physically-nonsensical things like homeopathy and magnet-laden bracelets. It's been shown beyond any question that they cannot and do not have any direct physical effect. But, if you tell people they work a certain number of people will show improvement, hence the ongoing testimonials in their support. For some percentage of people, there will be genuine physical change, because they believe there will be change.

Of course, a lucky rabbit's foot would have just as good effect...if the patient had equal confidence in it. That's not the point. The point is that placebos work.

What's that got to do with tea drinking? Just this: if you genuinely believe your method of making tea produces a superior cuppa, there's a fair chance that it will actually taste better to you. It doesn't really matter whether a double-blind study would show that there is no objective difference.

And then there's aesthetics. If you don't think aesthetics affect taste and palatability, engage the following thought experiment: imagine I take your fresh garden salad and douse it with food coloring so it is all mottled dark olive-brown, gray, and black. Will it taste as good? For a few of you, maybe. For most of you, definitely not.

So, category: tea ritual; subcategory: mine.

I use tap water. Can't speak for the quality of other people's water but our local water is pretty good, and I've not noticed any difference between tapwater, bottled water, and filtered water. I heat it in a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave. I take some of the hot water and give the leaves a quick rinse, 10–15 seconds, and pour that off. Supposedly this "wakes" or "freshens" the leaves. Me, I have serious doubts that it makes any genuine difference that a few seconds difference in brewing time wouldn't account for. I figure maybe it cleans a little bit of dust, dirt, and detritus off of the leaves, if there is any.

I do it for a more important reason. I hold the tea up to my nose and take a nice deep breath of the rich fragrance from the freshly-wet hot leaves. Mmmmmm, lovely! Primes my head and taste buds for that first cup of the morning.

Then I brew my cup, sit down with the morning paper, and enjoy.

That's what works for me.

Ctein

Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

James Sinks: "I always start my brew by sticking my nose in the bag/tin/tupperware and getting a good snootful of tea scent. I fill the tea bag with my fingers because I enjoy the feel of the tea leaves. I brew with tap water heated in an electric (and sometimes electrified!) kettle. I linger over the tea as it steeps, enjoying the smell of the strengthening brew. When it's done, I pull the teabag out, give it a gentle squeeze and either put it on a plate for a second/third/fourth brew or toss it onto the compost pile."

Mike adds: Generally I try to avoid sticking my nose too far into other authors' posts, since I get my own turn often enough. But I can't help recommending the Bonavita Electric Pouring Kettle, which I use for coffee. Seldom am I so completely satisfied by a product. A few buyers have complained of rust—Chinese metallurgy is always an adventure—so be sure to check yours while still in the return period. Mine has been constantly wet for a year and on close inspection shows not a speck of rust. This product works really well and is very convenient. I use mine every day and remain uncommonly pleased with it.

Peter Nigos: "Ctein states that (the effectiveness) of homeopathy and magnet labelled bracelets can never be disproved. As he enjoys his morning cup, perhaps he should consider the argument put forward by Bertrand Russell—that a rational man is not required to disprove nonsense. Russell famously suggested (probably in 1952) that there is a china teapot in elliptical orbit around the Sun somewhere between Mars and Venus. It is too small to be found by any telescope. You don't need scientific tests to disprove this hypothesis. As far as is known, Russell never considered whether the teapot was full or empty."

Andrew Molitor: "My favorite remark, usually applied to audiophiles but it works as well for pixel peepers and tea drinkers: Just because it's not there doesn't mean you can't hear it!"

Mike replies: Not sure which of today's posts this belongs under!

Bill: "A very interesting post. The placebo effect you describe applies as much to cameras as it does to tea. Take your sentence, 'If you genuinely believe your method of making tea produces a superior cuppa, there's a fair chance that it will actually taste better to you.' This can be slightly modified to read 'If you genuinely believe your Fuji/Panny/Leica produces a superior picture, there's a fair chance that it will actually look better to you.' Which is partly why we see so much partisan language on different internet forums."

Comments

[Robert Roaldi]

One thing I've heard, and I have no idea if it is true, is that a primary 30 second brewing will extract most of the caffeine in tea leaves (or some of them). So, if you're sensitive to caffeine, you can pour that out, then make a new brew to actually drink.

[KeithB]

Placebos work both ways! I was just given some Neumega injections to boost my platelet count. I was reading the package insert and dismayed to find that about 70 out of about 100 test subjects had nausea. Uh, Oh. Then I looked and saw that the column I was reading was the placebo group! The count was about 77 for those who were given the actual treatment.

[David]

Microwave! No kettle? (My tea ritual requires the water to be vigorously boiling when it touches the tea.)

My tea ritual would be: Warm the teapot with a swirl of boiling water, pour that away, and place 1 teaspoon (per person) of loose-leaf tea in the pot before pouring boiling water (flick the kettle back on after warming the pot) onto the leaves and brew for 2 minutes. (Now would be the time to smell the tea). If serving with milk, pour the milk first, but use a strainer to make sure that tealeaves never touch the milk (and if making in the mug with a teabag, the milk has to be last for the same reason). And yes, tea made any other way just doesn't taste the same...

[gingerbaker]

Hi Ctein

Glad you enjoy and understand how to brew tea. Because you don't quite understand the placebo effect.

Contrary to your assertion, placebos don't actually work. That is why they are called placebos not medicine, that is why the effect they produce in clinical trials is called the placebo effect not placebo therapy. The placebo effect is a confounder of clinical trials, not some term used to describe a therapy that provides meaningful efficacy to patients.

The placebo effect is due to many factors, not just due to "the power of suggestion". Remember, the 'placebo effect' is a term to describe a complication that is seen in clinical trials. In clinical trials, there is a lot going on which can effect the mental state of the patient - they are participating in something important, they have a new schedule, interact with a lot of people who are interested in what they have to say, have to get up, out of bed and into the real world, etc.

The placebo effect is not a true medical effect - it is a short-term complication that is important to the results of clinical trials - but only because clinical trials tend to be short-term themselves. As the clinical trials get longer and longer, one sees the placebo effect disappearing over time.

The more the treated disease has a psychological component, the more confounding is the effect of the placebo. Tests of antidepressants are notoriously confounded by this effect, as one might imagine; treating an axe gash to the leg remarkably less so.

So, your statement that "...It's also why you can never disprove the efficacy of physically-nonsensical things like homeopathy and magnet-laden bracelets..." is false. We can and have disproved the efficacy of quackery like homeopathy and magnetic bracelets. And placebos never "cured" anyone of anything. Unfortunately, we have and will continue to spend many hundreds of millions of dollars to disprove many forms of popular quackery in carefully-controlled clinical trials. And the placebo 'effect' will continue to confound those trials. But the 'effect' is as a confounder, and is absolutely not as a therapy.

[Trevor Johnson]

Studies in medicine (and other fields) also need to be randomised, so that participants are randomly allocated to either the intervention or control group. Ideally, a clinical trial is a randomised controlled trial and the best available evidence is from a systematic review, (meta-analysis if the data allows it), of studies meeting a pre-determined set of inclusion criteria.

[Jimmy Reina]

If a rabbit's foot is lucky, why are there so many dead rabbits?

[Daniel Fealko]

This site was so much more fun when it was about photography. Oh, for the good ol' days.

[Michael Seltzer]

"Partly it's the placebo effect.... This is solely due to the "power of suggestion..."

Awhile back I remember reading about state-dependent learning. I've wondered if other things might be state-dependent as well. (I remember being skeptical, on more than issues of integrity, of the "taste tests" that were prevalent on TV some years ago--okay, a lot of years ago). I think some of these rituals bring us into another state, one in which we are attentive to certain subtleties. Perhaps the rituals are meant to do this (certainly, long standing rituals, such as Tea Ceremonies, must be designed to induce another state of being). I don't think it is simply a placebo effect. Our ceremonies, even or personal ones--even if it is just the ritual of plunking down with a satisfied grin into our ratty recliner, turning on the TV to watch Monday Night Football, and popping open the can of our favorite beer or soda--which we can tell the difference from any other brand--our ceremonies take us somewhere.

[Another Phil]

In the UK different regions have different blends of tea on sale to take account of hard or soft water areas - as we discovered after taking teabags from softwater Southwest UK to hardwater London - tasted horrible and we've since discovered we should buy tea in the area we are drinking it.
http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/blog/2012/02/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-hard-water/
cheers

[Moose]

"And then there's aesthetics. If you don't think aesthetics affect taste and palatability, ..."

Not enough to make the green sludge I was offered from a formal Japanese tea ceremony palatable. I would probably enjoy the ceremony more now than as a callow youth in 1960, but I'm pretty sure the tea would still be undrinkable.

When are we going to get into Water, source, time of year, recent and historical weather patterns, methods of capture, packaging, storage, delivery, opening, pouring, glass, and so on?

Water is my hands down favorite thing to drink. I prefer a particular domestic spring water. And it's a shame they switched to plastic bottles some time ago. Although I'm not sure it changed the taste, I'm told the plastic must be doing something bad to me. OTOH, the screw tops mean fewer spills ...

I still have a case in glass stashed away. Ctein could cross the Bay, sample in beautiful, hand made glasses (perhaps vs. French cafeware, vs. domestc crystal?), and render an opinion. [;-)>

And also, on Topic: Overall, I think water provides more photographic opportunities, as well. Tea, water, beer, wine, etc. don't come in rain, falls, surf, sleet, snow ...

Simple Pleasures Moose

[Richard]

Maybe a Black and White shooter may prefer that salad.

[ctein]

Dear Peter,

That doesn't describe a “rational man”, that merely describes an opinionated one. One should not bother REPEATEDLY disproving nonsense, once is quite enough. But if someone says they believe in a homeopathy and I say I don't, if I don't know that a theoretical analysis says that it shouldn't work and that proper experimental study has confirmed that analysis then I am not being rational, I am merely asserting an arbitrary position. (Of course I do know those things.)

~~~~

Dear Robert and David,

I addressed these brewing matters in previous columns. My bad for not including links to them in this one; here they are:.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2011/12/ot-the-art-of-tea.html
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2012/02/ot-the-art-of-tea-for-twopu-erhs.html

~~~~~~

Dear Moose,

Not ever going to happen, because I personally happen to dislike straight water as a beverage! Never liked it as a kid, still don't as an adult. I drink it if I am dehydrated and I have no other beverage available, but honestly, unless it's "adulterated" with some kind of flavoring (tea, for example) I don't like it. Most days I never drink any straight water at all. Doesn't matter the kind, the source, or the provenance, it all tastes bleehh to me.

Now, if YOU want to write such a column…

pax \ Ctein
[ Please excuse any word-salad. MacSpeech in training! ]
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[Earl Dunbar]

I'm not much of a tea epicurean yet, but for both the tea I do drink (95% of the time it's lapsang suchong -- I just love the smokiness) and for brewing coffee, I use a Cuisinart CPK-17. It has different temperature settings and a circuit that keeps the water at the desired temperature over a period of time. The increments between the various temperatures are logical and, at least for me, cover different types of tea and coffee brewing requirements.

It's about 2x as expensive as Mike's choice, but it seems well made and is quite versatile.

[Ross Chambers]

For another method and the one I use several times a day, along with most of the Middle East, particularly Turkey and Iran:

Buy a Turkish teapot set up, which adapts the samovar principle i.e. the tea and its water sit on top of a quite well sealed bottom pot which sits on top of a steady high but not boiling heat. I allow about 15 minutes. The tea is never hit by boiling water and doesn't stew.

When pouring--and Turkish glasses are traditional--adjust strength to your taste by adding more or less water from the bottom pot to your glass.

Various combinations of Turkish and Middle Eastern via Sri Lankan teas, perhaps with added cardamon or cloves work for me.

Not as subtle as Pu Erh, but I like it.

[Steve Smith]

My tea ritual would be: Warm the teapot with a swirl of boiling water, pour that away, and place 1 teaspoon (per person) of loose-leaf tea in the pot before pouring boiling water (flick the kettle back on after warming the pot) onto the leaves and brew for 2 minutes. (Now would be the time to smell the tea). If serving with milk, pour the milk first

I agreed with you up to 'pour the milk first!'