TeaChat

Is there a good tea book you all recommend which tell you which pot works best for each tea? Am I being too detailed here? TimsMom... who has taught me everything I now know about tea.

Actually, this forum may be your best bet for such purposes.

Chip wrote:Actually, this forum may be your best bet for such purposes.

+1 --- This forum dives in way more than any book or website ive read.

I think you guys are right about tea info. But every post I read brings on another question!!
I live at the foot of the Cascades. We have hard water high in iron [we amaze the Red Cross people]. How much does this affect tea, even with filtered water?

It depends on how much. An easy cheap test is go buy some decent spring water and for comparison of tea with each water source. If you notice a big difference use the one you like, maybe getting a water softener would help the tap water become more palatable.

Also worth noting: tea reduces iron absorption.

M.

I've just read the last post about iron and tea. That is surprising. A friend couldn't donate blood because he had too much iron. So tea could kind of balance the iron, I'd think.

My thoughts on issue (a bit off topic, sorry):
Tea could help to balance iron in blood, but relying only on tea to regulate iron levels would be unwise in my opinion. My gf can't drink large quantities of tea because of the same issue (very low red cell count). A cup a day generally won't make any difference, but drinking a liter every day might have a negative long term impact for her.

It's in the mail . Question: does coffee have the same effect on iron that tea does. Hubby drinks at least a pot of coffee a day. Business can get stressful.

The iron blocking qualities, for men, may not be wholly disadvantageous. If, like me, you eat a good amount of meat, you get great iron intake. However, I simply don't bleed very often nor do I donate blood. As a result, I risk high blood-iron levels and, potentially, various forms of hemo-chromotosis. This ranges in symptoms from skin lesions (which an uncle of mine suffered from) to joint pain (due to iron buildup in joints).

M.

My understanding is that the polyphenols bind with the iron, reducing bioavailability.

I'd bet that the water would make it a bit more smooth and sweet, like using an iron kettle. Just make sure to get rid of the chlorine. Of course you should also experiment with different water to find what works best.

No book can really tell you what pot is going to work best. There will be some loose guidelines, but there will be a good amount of individual variation. Your best bet is to get good teapots and experiment.

There's no book which specializes in such topic, but many books (yixing) suggests such in paragraphs or pages. But not all has the same opinions, but similarities.


For Black, many Yixing books suggest taller shape but none-Yixing sources suggest round shape, in a round shape it can produce a circular wave that fastens and balances the brewing.

For Oolong, traditionally they used stout and small, aka Shui Ping teapot, the traditional Shui Ping teapots were usually under 160ml so small that leave the aroma intact. Spout is usually straight-line or a bit curve with its end horizontal.

For Green, Yixing books suggest also stout shape...but the Japanese might have different preference though.

For Puerh, there are many variations, as it has a relatively younger tradition. But many suggests relatively bigger volume.

i love reading yixing books both in english and in chinese (with a nice platter of salt as a snack)

any great books to recommend given the vast variety that you have had read? prefer none of those pure "pictorial" books that provide almost no useful intellectual information

chrl42 wrote:There's no book which specializes in such topic, but many books (yixing) suggests such in paragraphs or pages. But not all has the same opinions, but similarities.


For Black, many Yixing books suggest taller shape but none-Yixing sources suggest round shape, in a round shape it can produce a circular wave that fastens and balances the brewing.

For Oolong, traditionally they used stout and small, aka Shui Ping teapot, the traditional Shui Ping teapots were usually under 160ml so small that leave the aroma intact. Spout is usually straight-line or a bit curve with its end horizontal.

For Green, Yixing books suggest also stout shape...but the Japanese might have different preference though.

For Puerh, there are many variations, as it has a relatively younger tradition. But many suggests relatively bigger volume.

TimsMom wrote:I live at the foot of the Cascades. We have hard water high in iron [we amaze the Red Cross people]. How much does this affect tea, even with filtered water?

Some people use testusbin (cast-iron kettles) to get iron IN their teawater. So you've saved yourself the trouble
Don't get a water "softener"; that's just to protect your pipes and makes your water salty. I make tea only with spring water, but you should experiment and see how low-mineral spring waters--not distilled--make a difference for your tea preparation.

Evan Draper wrote:

TimsMom wrote: Don't get a water "softener"; that's just to protect your pipes and makes your water salty.

You can, however, get filter pitchers that will remove more of the minerals, if needed. Like you, though, I just use bottled spring (not filtered) water.