![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
I used to live 5 mins drive away from my current place and the water was 10x better than my place now
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
NS-10's?Evan Draper wrote:I am glad someone else uses the equalizer metaphor. I always think of gaiwan brewing as "reference speakers" and no one knows what I'm talking about.
Former Audio Engineer here! (Before I got lazy and went into IT) - I know exactly what you mean!Evan Draper wrote:I am glad someone else uses the equalizer metaphor. I always think of gaiwan brewing as "reference speakers" and no one knows what I'm talking about.
If your authorities using chloramine instead of chlorine you can't evaporate it , the only way to get rid of chloramine is RO or serious activated carbon block filter .BioHorn wrote:A 'fridge filter is my means of filtering tap water. Does that count as the reference? I can try just leaving tap water out. I imagine this supposedly lets the chlorine evaporate?
If anyone can interpret this a bit (i.e. this or that amount is desirable of a certain category.) I understand it may actually be much more complicated. Regardless, it would be nice to have a general idea.Bad Jedi wrote:If your authorities using chloramine instead of chlorine you can't evaporate it , the only way to get rid of chloramine is RO or serious activated carbon block filter .BioHorn wrote:A 'fridge filter is my means of filtering tap water. Does that count as the reference? I can try just leaving tap water out. I imagine this supposedly lets the chlorine evaporate?
Also would be nice to find out pH of that water .
So that's why you put tissue over your gaiwan?Evan Draper wrote:I am glad someone else uses the equalizer metaphor. I always think of gaiwan brewing as "reference speakers" and no one knows what I'm talking about.
Total Dissolved Solids, or "minerality," is going to have the greatest effect on taste. Measured in ppm, 175 is fine for yancha but way too high for lighter teas imho. People use "hardness" as a synonym for total dissolved solids BUT IT IS NOT! Hardness is really a specific subset of minerality that only describes how much scale is going to be produced on metal. pH will also affect taste. 7 is neutral; I know people who like a higher pH (i.e. more alkaline) water, but I have not isolated that taste from TDS yet. Alkalinity is like the inertia of your pH--how much does it take to change the pH. Phosphates is just chemical nastiness; you want as little of that as possible. I have not found any satisfying scientific underpinning for the thing about "not boiling your water too much."BioHorn wrote:If anyone can interpret this a bit (i.e. this or that amount is desirable of a certain category.) I understand it may actually be much more complicated. Regardless, it would be nice to have a general idea.
From the Cleveland Division of Water report:
pH 7.0-7.6
Alkalinity: 72-85
Phosphate as P: 0.8-1.3
Hardness: 114-118
Chloride: 18 (rises in winter from road salt) Total dissolved solids: 175
Calcium: 30.5
Magnesium: 8.8
Thank you very much for the input. It makes sense. I really enjoy the yancha and pu brewing. Japanese greens and other "Formosa" type greens have been more challenging. I posted sometime ago about some stellar results brewing some Taiwanese Oolong in Mexico City which I was unable to recreate in Cleveland.Evan Draper wrote:Total Dissolved Solids, or "minerality," is going to have the greatest effect on taste. Measured in ppm, 175 is fine for yancha but way too high for lighter teas imho. People use "hardness" as a synonym for total dissolved solids BUT IT IS NOT! Hardness is really a specific subset of minerality that only describes how much scale is going to be produced on metal. pH will also affect taste. 7 is neutral; I know people who like a higher pH (i.e. more alkaline) water, but I have not isolated that taste from TDS yet. Alkalinity is like the inertia of your pH--how much does it take to change the pH. Phosphates is just chemical nastiness; you want as little of that as possible. I have not found any satisfying scientific underpinning for the thing about "not boiling your water too much."BioHorn wrote:If anyone can interpret this a bit (i.e. this or that amount is desirable of a certain category.) I understand it may actually be much more complicated. Regardless, it would be nice to have a general idea.
From the Cleveland Division of Water report:
pH 7.0-7.6
Alkalinity: 72-85
Phosphate as P: 0.8-1.3
Hardness: 114-118
Chloride: 18 (rises in winter from road salt) Total dissolved solids: 175
Calcium: 30.5
Magnesium: 8.8
I have gotten much of my understanding on this topic from Michael Mascha's book "Fine Waters."