Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

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Water, gotta have it for tea, right? But we approach water quite differently. What water do you prefer to use for tea? Please share.

Whatever comes out of the tap is fine
11
35%
I prefer particular brands of spring water
7
23%
I prefer particular brands of purified water
0
No votes
I prefer to filter my water, and I use ______
12
39%
I prefer to use "charcoal" in my water
0
No votes
Other
1
3%
 
Total votes: 31

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Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by Chip » Oct 6th, '11, 02:07

Greetings TeaFriends of TeaChat. Welcome to a new TeaDay. Please stop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day. While here, be sure to discuss the topic of the day!

Yesterday we discussed "chachachanges due to the weather. Please continue to discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Water, gotta have it for tea, right? But we approach water quite differently. What water do you prefer to use for tea? Please share.

We are looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

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Oct 6th, '11, 03:04
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by FlyedPiper » Oct 6th, '11, 03:04

Brita filter.

I run about 10 pitchers through on a new cartridge to get rid of that "ultra clean" taste. I find the filters put out the best tasting water between pitcher 30 and 100 or so, but I'm sure it depends on water quality. Basically I'm looking for water that doesn't taste like rust or smell like chlorine.

Chiran sencha and dancong remnants today. Tomorrow... my first attempt at gyokuro!

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Oct 6th, '11, 07:05
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by boywoodhe » Oct 6th, '11, 07:05

I use adagios GraviTea water purifier and it works great. I also have a water filter built in my frig and I use that for making tea. Iam drinking a nice hot cuppa of Darjeeling Puttabong Summer tea...perfect for this florida morning. ;)
woodie
Last edited by boywoodhe on Oct 6th, '11, 08:25, edited 2 times in total.

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Oct 6th, '11, 07:36
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by David R. » Oct 6th, '11, 07:36

Only mineral spring water with very low mineral content. The difference with my filtered tap water is so big...

My plan is to use the same type of water for all my teas for a couple of years, and then to try different ones. I have too much to do working on different parameters right now to add water to the equation.

Finishing a wonderful 3 days long session with EoT's 1993 Menghai 7542... So great...

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Oct 6th, '11, 09:27
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by Amaikokonut » Oct 6th, '11, 09:27

I live in an area with excessively hard tap water (you can pour a glass and literally see the minerals floating around in it). I run it through a pur filter pitcher-- both for flavor and to avoid having to de-scale my kettle/teaware after every use.

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Oct 6th, '11, 10:04
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by Fabien » Oct 6th, '11, 10:04

It depends on the tea to be brewed.

Brita filtered tap water for casual teas, mostly in gaiwan.

When it comes to nice teas, gong fu cha or when I use any yixing pot or Lin's ceramic's kettle it's always spring water.

One with very low mineral content for chinese greens, pu'ers, reds and wulongs.

For some japanese greens and for matcha, mineral water with higher mineral content, that seems to sweeten those teas in a way I like pretty much.

Good leaves, good water, calm... great tea.

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Oct 6th, '11, 10:22
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by artmom » Oct 6th, '11, 10:22

Filter -- Pur or Brita -- DH Ed does the shopping! :lol:

Lyn

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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by JRS22 » Oct 6th, '11, 10:51

I use tap water which I filter with a Clear2O pitcher. This filter is carbon block whereas Brita's filter is carbon granules. It's about the same price as the Brita.

I was in Whole Foods yesterday to get one item and ended up browsing the Rishi teas and buying a tin of their Jasmine Silver Needles. Rishi came out on top (or close to it) in the silver needles OTTI and they've got 2011 jasmine silver needles on their website so this seemed like a good way to test it without paying shipping. If I fall in love I can order online, where I can verify the harvest year. The tin has a best buy date of 5/12/13 so I'm guessing it's 2010 tea.

Anyway, my first steeping session is going well. I ignored their advice of 185f/4-5m and instead steeped at 165f/2m. I've lost track but I think I'm on the fifth steep and there's still a delicate jasmine taste.

Oct 6th, '11, 11:19

Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by brlarson » Oct 6th, '11, 11:19

My tap water is excellent (Quabbin Reservoir) so I use it for my daily teas and I have started to experiment with different bottled waters to brew my best teas. At some point I will follow several other TCers and process my own water, which will involve filtering, processing with charcoal, and then storing in some vessel that will enhance the water's qualities. I have the charcoal! but that's as far as I've gotten. The last two years have been painfully busy, too busy for any new projects.

Maiko's 2010 shuppin sencha is in my cup and Seven Cup's shui jin gui is in my immediate future.

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Oct 6th, '11, 11:29
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by DarkenedSun » Oct 6th, '11, 11:29

The tap water here is not an option. Even filtered, it has a bad flavor. The best option is bottled water. I won't promote a certain brand over another but there is a store here with very tasty spring water. I use that if possible. :)

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Oct 6th, '11, 12:12
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by JBaymore » Oct 6th, '11, 12:12

I voted "whatever comes out of the tap"... but I am blessed with really good water here. It is the same aquifer that the commercial Monadnock Spring Water comes from. The wells are only a short distance apart.

If I lived elsewhere I likely might have a different vote.

best,

...............john
PS: Back from Japan.

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Oct 6th, '11, 13:02
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by karmaplace » Oct 6th, '11, 13:02

When I was cold-brewing tea I was using bottled water, because I used to hear that drinking the tap water here was unsafe, but now I see advertisements everywhere telling people to drink the tap water. :?:

I've been consistently using the tap water for regular brewing for over a year because I boil it, and I haven't noticed any scaling in the hot water dispenser or an unpleasant taste so I've been content with that.

I'm currently enjoying some rougui in Treasure #6. :mrgreen:

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Oct 6th, '11, 13:26
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by Nenugal » Oct 6th, '11, 13:26

My tap water is fine for tea.

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Oct 6th, '11, 17:34
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by tropicanahana » Oct 6th, '11, 17:34

I mostly use my tap water, which has this odd, but good, natural sweetness to it. The tap's taste is good for flavored and black teas, but if I make a delicate green or white tea I want flavorless water so use poland spring or smart water. I don't know much about filtering systems - would it take the sweetness out of my tap water?

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Oct 6th, '11, 18:44
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Re: Thursday TeaDay 10/6/11 Wo wo wo ... water ...

by SlientSipper » Oct 6th, '11, 18:44

The tap water here actually hurts my kidney's it also actually makes me me more thirsty too.

Spring water seems to be the best. Purified water would be second best.

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