Making an international standard cup of tea
Tom Scott1 HN recommender · recommended in 1 month, 2018-2023
2.7M views · 8 years ago · explainer · evergreen
Tom Scott follows the ISO 3103 / BS 6008 standard to make an international standard cup of tea, using specialist tasting equipment. The video shows how precisely the standard is specified.
Used to illustrate that the standard targets consistency rather than taste, and to discuss what standardization is for.
18:42I Did Caffeine Analysis: Some Unexpected Results!
James Hoffmann
1.7M views • 3 years ago
2:36Jamie Oliver Shows School Kids How Chicken Nuggets are made
Faffi H
2.7M views • 16 years ago
2:58Why Britain Uses Separate Hot and Cold Taps
Tom Scott
6.8M views • 12 years ago
36:29Drip Coffee Makers — super simple, super cheap
Technology Connections
4.7M views • 4 years ago
4:39End of Days Bolognese
Nat’s What I Reckon
2.2M views • 6 years ago
22:48Synthesizing Chicken Noodle Soup From Pure Chemicals
The Thought Emporium
2.1M views • 3 years ago
18:32The world depends on a collection of strange items. They're not cheap
Veritasium
12.6M views • 3 years ago
4:26British Plugs Are Better Than All Other Plugs, And Here's Why
Tom Scott
7.6M views • 12 years ago
40:0238C3 - From Silicon to Sovereignty: How Advanced Chips are Redefining Global Dominance
media.ccc.de
11K views • 1 year ago
20:47Decaf Explained
James Hoffmann
2.1M views • 2 years ago
1:03Neutron movie of coffee making
Anders Kaestner
133K views • 14 years ago
25:05Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola (It Took Me A Year)
LabCoatz
10.4M views • 10 months ago
3:01Why I Cook With Induction
Jon Kung
383K views • 5 years ago
3:44How to Make a $1500 Sandwich in Only 6 Months
How To Make Everything
6.4M views • 11 years ago
45:08Adam Savage's Epiphany on the Science of Measurement!
Adam Savage’s Tested
1.1M views • 4 years ago
3:54The moiré effect lights that guide ships home
Tom Scott
3.1M views • 8 years ago
11:39The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can
engineerguy
19.5M views • 11 years ago
11:11Old-fashioned rice cookers are extremely clever
Technology Connections
3.2M views • 6 years ago
14:21The Antique Microwave Oven that's Better than Yours
Technology Connections
2.7M views • 5 years ago
16:02I finally made GARUM | Ancient Rome's favorite condiment
Tasting History with Max Miller
3.6M views • 6 years ago
3 comments from Hacker News
I find this to be a close cousin of Tom Scott's "Making an international standard cup of tea" video ( ▶ this video ). And very related to Tom Scott's "The US government will sell you freeze-dried urine" ( link ) and Veritasium's "The world depends on a collection of strange items. They're not cheap" ( link ) They bring forward the idea that standard/pure/repeatable items aren't intrinsically "good" or "enjoyable". But that doesn't make them not useful or valuable in other contexts. It also offers some food for thought when it comes to what metrics we decide to put value in. We may like the idea of a particular metric, or what we think it represents, but that doesn't make it worth optimizing for. A metric without context is useless, and taking a holistic view of what makes something worth doing allows us to make more informed decisions.
That's how the ISO standards body works- you pay access for the spec to fund the ISO's development of standards. ▶ this video
An elaboration by Tom Scott: ▶ this video TL;DR is that the standard is used for the most consistent tea, not most tasty/enjoyable tea