Water for Tea

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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Aug 1st, '12, 17:06
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Re: Water for Tea

by AdamMY » Aug 1st, '12, 17:06

theredbaron wrote:

All that is necessary so that water is fit for consumption. But that does not make water suitable for fine teas.
Close to the Alps in Europe, where i come from, we have great water - to drink. But it is one of the most unsuitable waters for tea possible - it's hardness suppresses all subtleties of the more complex finer teas.


I can only advise to make your own tests with different kinds of water, and tea brewed with each parallel in similar pots and cups. If one isn't lucky to live close to a spring with natural water suitable for tea, you may end up with having to use bottled water such as Volvic if you want to get the best out of your tea.
If i do not have access to good water, i will drink more robust teas such as Liu Bao which are less sensitive to water, far cheaper and not very rare unlike my best teas, which i only get occasionally and in very small quantities.

Good tea needs good water, good pots and good cups - there is no way around that.
I am not saying the water is great for tea, I was just addressing the tone that all public water is completely unfit for consumption across the world. In fact when I was in Pennsylvania I did test a few different bottled waters, and after researching one of them I found that it has the exact same water source as the source of the public water for Bethlehem.

Another small note that I left out of my original post, at least in the United states, what comes out of your tap is highly more regulated, and controlled than what you can find in bottles.

Aug 1st, '12, 18:25
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Re: Water for Tea

by theredbaron » Aug 1st, '12, 18:25

David R. wrote:Welcome theredbaron. I completely agree with you regarding water.

As a mater of fact, I am not very keen on Volvic. I prefer water with fewer minerals in it. Hopefully, being french, I have a lot a choices at hand.

Did you mix up Volvic with Evian?
Generally Volvic is seen as a low mineral content water, with a total of 109 mg per liter, as compared to Evian, which is not good for tea, with 357 mg per liter, which seems to be classified as medium mineral content.

Anyhow, which bottled water would you recommend? Maybe i can get it here, and give it a try.

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Aug 1st, '12, 18:47
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Re: Water for Tea

by David R. » Aug 1st, '12, 18:47

The one I use is called Mont Roucous. It has only 25mg/l. Once you are used to it, all the other mineral water brands feel very heavy ! :wink:

Aug 1st, '12, 18:56
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Re: Water for Tea

by theredbaron » Aug 1st, '12, 18:56

David R. wrote:The one I use is called Mont Roucous. It has only 25mg/l. Once you are used to it, all the other mineral water brands feel very heavy ! :wink:
I'll have a look at the stores. I doubt though that i can get it here.
Anyhow, thanks

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Aug 1st, '12, 19:29
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Re: Water for Tea

by needaTEAcher » Aug 1st, '12, 19:29

I spoke with my teacher about all of this. He uses a Korean filter called Han Oh Mul, which is veyr, very expensive, but is supposed to best way here for tea water. But when we talked about me going back home, he highly recommended a Brita filter. Said it cleans the water more than well enough, and is much cheaper! :lol:

I have to admit I am guilty of using bottled water from coolers when at work, though I usually cringe. I am with sriracha on the whole bottled water thing. Usually I use tap water, and I have always enjoyed my tea (though I do prefer when I can get some good, filtered water!).

Love this thread, y'all!

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Aug 1st, '12, 22:32
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Re: Water for Tea

by TwoDog2 » Aug 1st, '12, 22:32

needaTEAcher wrote: I have to admit I am guilty of using bottled water from coolers when at work, though I usually cringe...
I am also lucky this is not a felony...

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Aug 2nd, '12, 02:09
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Re: Water for Tea

by debunix » Aug 2nd, '12, 02:09

I prefer not to use bottled water, with the high environmental cost of packaging and transporting it, and I live in a place with quite drinkable tap water. I have tried the spring water from the water cooler in my office, with no noticeable improvement, nor have I noted any obvious change in the same teas brewed at home (where I usually filter the water to reduce scale buildup in my kettle) or at work. I am sure there is some difference in flavor, but I am quite certain that I can appreciate the fine qualities of my occasionally quite expensive and rare teas whether brewed with straight LA tap water, filtered LA tap water, or locally sourced spring water.

Aug 2nd, '12, 03:53
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Re: Water for Tea

by yanom » Aug 2nd, '12, 03:53

When I moved back to London last year I was shocked at how boring and dull my tea tasted. As soon as I switched to bottled water all those problems went away, I couldn't believe the difference! Of course, it really depends on the type of water that's coming out the tap. If your tap water makes great tea then you've got no problem

I can't believe the environmental impact is at all big -- in fact it must be completely tiny. If I was that worried about the environment I wouldn't buy tea that needs to be packaged up and sent from the other side of the world. Yes, it seems extravagant to buy bottled water when free stuff comes out the tap, but compared to, say, using air conditioning or flying or driving a car or drinking Coke instead of tap water ... I don't think it's even on the same scale.

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Aug 2nd, '12, 05:52
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Re: Water for Tea

by David R. » Aug 2nd, '12, 05:52

I am well aware of the environmental costs of plastic bottle. At least their recycling is efficient. :roll:

My tap water is very bad, even when using Brita filters which I have to change quite often (every other week) and which recycling is more questionnable than plastic bottle so I've heard. No natural spring nearby, the closest (which is a half an hour drive at least) is this very high on minerals (more than 300mg/l). Lastly, I try to drink less but higher grade teas which are more sensitive to water's quality.

Here to explain my choice. Plus, I have to say that I really enjoy my teas more when using my mineral water, difference even with other mineral water brand is noticeable, and not in a good way.

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Aug 2nd, '12, 10:14
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Re: Water for Tea

by teaisme » Aug 2nd, '12, 10:14

Yeah brita can not save the water where I live. The water in the NW is lovely though, for sure. I could drink that brita filtered all day.

yanom you bring up some good points, in the scale of things using bottles really is just almost trivial (though somehow in my mind I still don't see it as such (note: I use plastic bottles :oops: ) . I guess if I ever get a car I will stop using bottles then :)

What was it I heard...something like if American families all recycled 100% of what they could, that would only account for about 2-3% of all recyclable waste in the 'system'. Not saying 2% is a little, because it's obviously not, but if we could put our energies into more thought out ways of helping the earth perhaps.....we could do so much more

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Aug 2nd, '12, 14:02
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Re: Water for Tea

by tenuki » Aug 2nd, '12, 14:02

I view water as just one more way you can manipulate the taste and aroma of tea during brewing similar to using different pots for different teas. I tend to not care much about aroma, so my general tea brewing water comes from here - which I find makes fantastic tea:

lynnwoodwater.jpg
lynnwoodwater.jpg (63.74 KiB) Viewed 1908 times


Water district site with data on this artesian well they manage.

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Aug 2nd, '12, 16:39
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Re: Water for Tea

by teaisme » Aug 2nd, '12, 16:39

wow that's awesome, wish there was something like that where I live

impressive they have never failed a water quality test once, the municipal water/water treatment in my location is a joke, every single step down the line

You northwesterners and your cleaner water :twisted:

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Aug 2nd, '12, 19:34
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Re: Water for Tea

by needaTEAcher » Aug 2nd, '12, 19:34

Anybody from Savannah, or down the coast a ways into Florida? I don't know about other places, but the tap water down there, though perfectly safe (I drank it for 4 years, and I have many friends who have been drinking it all their lives), has a distinct and strong sulfur smell/flavor. Through this discussion, I keep thinking about delicate white teas infused with sulphur. :lol:

Aug 2nd, '12, 20:52
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Re: Water for Tea

by shah82 » Aug 2nd, '12, 20:52

AP Bio Camping trip to Sanibel Island as a high schooler.

Oooooooh yes, I remember. That stuff was barely drinkable after loads of koolaid...

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Aug 2nd, '12, 22:18
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Re: Water for Tea

by needaTEAcher » Aug 2nd, '12, 22:18

I'm actually nostalgic for the smell in the shower!

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