Re-boiling water during Gong-Fu.

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


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Sep 9th, '08, 19:06
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by orguz » Sep 9th, '08, 19:06

Can anyone remember the thread here at teachat that mentioned mineralizing distilled water, the person mentioned the addition of gypsum and and bicarbonate either sodium or potassium. Salsero has a good memory.

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Sep 9th, '08, 19:10
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by brandon » Sep 9th, '08, 19:10

The person who was working with gypsum was Warden. Most of the chats I remember about him re-mineralizing water were in the IM. A search for gypsum yields nothing.

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Sep 9th, '08, 19:31
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by Salsero » Sep 9th, '08, 19:31

orguz wrote: Salsero has a good memory.
Boy, you sure know how to put the pressure on! This is likely the topic you are thinking of, but I think it may not include the specific info you seek.

I think that Wyardley's LA TeaAffair buddy, Danica, was routinely remineralizing either distilled or RO water with a product made specifically for that purpose. You could PM Will to see if he knows the name of it if you are interested. If he doesn't, I have Danica's email address from some oolong help she gave me a couple years ago. I could send her a note.

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Sep 9th, '08, 19:41
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by orguz » Sep 9th, '08, 19:41

Thanks Sal and Brandon, by Will you mean Wyardley? I need the right quantities. I have been experimenting with gypsum pieces sold in chinese herbal stores used in TCM. I place a piece pebble sized in my tetsubin for the time it takes to boil, and remove it. I use it till it's dissolved.

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Sep 9th, '08, 19:45
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by Salsero » Sep 9th, '08, 19:45

orguz wrote: by Will you mean Wyardley?
Yes, Will. Do you use tap water with the gypsum piece?

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Sep 9th, '08, 19:52
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by orguz » Sep 9th, '08, 19:52

Salsero wrote:
orguz wrote: by Will you mean Wyardley?
Yes, Will. Do you use tap water with the gypsum piece?

No, I use it with distilled water. Sal have you used mai fan stones? I bought some from a teastore the lady had them (a good handful) in a 1.5 liter jug. I did the same, the water tasted fishy, have not used it since. My pu came out tasting like fishtea.


Anyone here that can recommend their personal use of mei fan stones?

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Sep 9th, '08, 21:21
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by Salsero » Sep 9th, '08, 21:21

orguz wrote: Sal have you used mai fan stones?
No, I have never really done anything to alter my water which is pretty good except for a sort of earthy flavor that I never noticed until my visiting brother pointed it out to me. A Brita filter removes the earthy taste, but I am so used to it, that I don't even notice it.

I have heard that distilled water is dead and needs minerals. Do the gypsum pieces give you a good result?

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Sep 9th, '08, 22:12
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by orguz » Sep 9th, '08, 22:12

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Last edited by orguz on Sep 9th, '08, 22:14, edited 1 time in total.

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Sep 9th, '08, 22:13
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by orguz » Sep 9th, '08, 22:13

Salsero wrote:
I have heard that distilled water is dead and needs minerals. Do the gypsum pieces give you a good result?
I believe they do I am using bamboo charcoal too that's in the kettle. Adding the gypsum made my tea better, not as flat. Hard to describe it's like when making a sweet and by adding a smidgeon of salt it comes out sweeter. i use tiny bit of salt when eating watermelon. Ever tried adding salt to enliven the sweetness in foods?

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Sep 10th, '08, 11:02
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by Bubba_tea » Sep 10th, '08, 11:02

I learned from my Vietnamese buddy's family to mix salt and red pepper flakes to eat with sour green apples... or was that sugar and red pepper... hmm... salt and watermelon is great though.

I think for our purposes, if you are going to remineralize water to a specific gravity etc, you might just take the easy way and buy 5 gallon jugs of spring water - the vendor should have tech data and it's cheap and easy.

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