Boiling water

[jbenenson]

I've been thinking recently about boiling water: how do you go about doing it? Just kidding I live at 6960 ft, which means that water boils at a lower temperature here than it does at lower altitudes. I don't know the exact formula for figuring out the temperature at which the water is at a full boil, but I do know that I can't get water hotter than 205 degrees without using a pressure cooker (as I am now to cook black beans). As a result, the usual guides for judging ideal water temperature -- size of bubbles, "age" of boil, type of steam, etc. -- are not the same as they are at other altitudes. If these guidelines were developed in the tea producing areas of the Chinese mountains, then the guidelines may be right for high altitude and wrong for low altitude. My present method for oolongs and pu-erhs is to heat the water until there is mild turbulence in the glass kettle, before it has reached a rolling boil. For green tea, I stop the process when small bubbles begin to rise. Your thoughts

[olivierco]

Here is a calculator

http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oboilcalc.html

My guess is that if you preheat your teapot, it shouldn't make any noticeable difference for teas which are brewed with boiling water.

[ABx]

You really might try using fully boiled water. I've found that most oolong benefits from it.

Other than that, though, your best bet is probably to use a thermometer. Even if you get the water at just the right temp, you're going to want to know how your teaware affects the water temp as well.

[Proinsias]

Try different states of water with different tea, experiment.

[joelbct]

My guess is that if you preheat your teapot, it shouldn't make any noticeable difference for teas which are brewed with boiling water.

I concur, preheat the teapot (pour just boiled water into it, then pour off), and the 5 degree difference shouldn't matter overly much...

[Sydney]

According to the calculator posted above, under current conditions:

The boiling point temperature of water is 211.069

But I've never recorded a water temp above about 205° F here under any circumstances.

But I've sure made some good tea out of what I've got!

[tenuki]

what do you like the taste of better? there is no 'correct' way to brew tea.