14 DAY TRIAL // Hunting for new planets and probing the depths of our planet's oceans might be a great deal of fun, but every once in a while, scientists have to get their act together and turn their attention to creating things that are actually useful to humanity. Things like chocolate teapots.
Not to beat about the bush, media reports tell us that, not too long ago, a group of experts working closely with Nestlé Master Chocolatier John Costello used up nearly all their mental resources to develop a fully-functional teapot made entirely from chocolate.
What's more, the pot, a photo of which is available next to this article, was actually used to make a cup of tea. In a nutshell, the chocolate enthusiasts had their pot hold boiling water for about two minutes, and used this water to brew tea.
How do you make a chocolate teapot?
As detailed in the video below, the brainiacs behind this peculiar experiment opted for dark chocolate with a 65% cocoa solids content as their raw material. They chose to work with this type of chocolate because of its low fat content, which makes it more resistant to heat.
To ensure that the teapot would be fully-functional when pulled out of the mold used to create it, Nestlé Master Chocolatier John Costello and colleagues had to first carry out a series of experiments and determine the right thickness for the chocolate layer forming the pot.
The folks involved in this project spent about six weeks planning the birth of this teapot and experimenting with various shapes and various types of chocolate. Eventually, they got it right and were able to create the innovative and probably exquisitely delicious pot.
Did the tea taste right?
Not at all surprisingly, the tea made in this pot came out tasting a bit like chocolate. Still, the folks who had the chance to taste it say that, although a tad chocolaty, the brew was nonetheless tea. Simply put, the teapot had more than done its job.
“If you pour the water in a certain way and you don't stir inside, and you just let it settle, and let it brew like you would normally brew a cup of tea, and just let it stand for a little while – when you pour it, what happens is that the chocolate on the inside of the shell melts but doesn't move anywhere,” John Costello said in a statement.
Why make a chocolate teapot?
Nestlé Master Chocolatier John Costello and colleagues created this teapot after being challenged by the BBC's “The One Show” to prove that saying that “there is nothing more useless than a chocolate teapot” was not exactly right.
Since the teapot designed and created by them did indeed prove fully-functional, there is no denying that the sweets enthusiasts more than proved that, contrary to popular opinion, chocolate teapots are by no means useless.
