Some boiling taps proudly claim that they dispense water at 100 degrees. But is this necessary, or even desirable? We looked into the best temperature for boiling water taps.
It’s quite easy to find lots of opinions and articles that conflict with each other regarding the ‘correct’ or ‘official’ best temperature for tea and coffee.
After just 4 or 5 minutes online we found plenty of differing temperatures.
It seems unanimous that coffee requires a lower optimum temperature than black tea, and there is also plenty of evidence demonstrating that 100 degree water applied to many teas could have the effect of damaging the leaves and causing the tea to become bitter.
The average temperature for the majority of instant coffees comes out at around 90 degrees, and as low as 60 degrees for filter coffee.
Of course, in a lot of cases making hot drinks at home or in the office using a boiling or steaming tap the ideal drinking temperature is a matter of personal taste, and the traditional kettle wouldn’t have a choice of temperature settings anyway.
In fact, talking of kettles (you remember, the old fashioned way of heating and dispensing hot water!) the chances are, once a kettle has boiled, switched itself off, someone has walked over to it and poured the water into a cold mug, the temperature would have dropped dramatically from 100 degrees. Not so much the case with a boiling tap due to it being pumped out of the tank through the tap.
So it’s no coincidence that most steaming/boiling taps tend to have an upper temperature limit of around 98 degrees. Most are adjustable to lower temperatures too. If you think about it, 100 degree water is actually steam rather than flowing water. Somewhat hazardous: a silly thing to try to dispense into a cup or mug safely.
It should also be considered that in the home, a boiling tap is sometimes used for other purposes, not just making beverages. Hotter temperatures are useful for blanching food, dispensing into a saucepan to give your hob a great head start, cleaning kitchen items such as chopping boards and even melting and shifting candle wax.
So, in conclusion, the answer boils down (sorry!) to being a pretty strong ‘no’. Boiling or steaming taps do not need to dispense at 100 degrees. It’s probably best that they don’t.
If you’d like to discuss this further, please either give us a call on 01934 253600 and have a chat to one of our knowledgeable geeks, or visit the site: electricaldealsdirect.co.uk and use the online chat service.
