what is this inside the boiler?

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Sep 22nd, '08, 23:35
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what is this inside the boiler?

by odarwin » Sep 22nd, '08, 23:35

hello guys,

i stumbled over a picture in the mandarin's tea blog,
and i saw this picture of a gathering they had,

http://bp3.blogger.com/_rNl5VRNLz_s/SFb ... G_2222.JPG

what caught my attention was that in the water boiler, there seems to be rocks?

i know these are meant to add minerals to the water to make tea taste better, and i also read over teamasters blog that bamboo charcoal and broken yixing pots also helps,

i'd like to ask your opinion on which is more advisable to use, and where we might be able to get these rocks?

-darwin

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Sep 23rd, '08, 00:56
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Re: what is this inside the boiler?

by wyardley » Sep 23rd, '08, 00:56

odarwin wrote:hello guys,

i stumbled over a picture in the mandarin's tea blog,
and i saw this picture of a gathering they had,

http://bp3.blogger.com/_rNl5VRNLz_s/SFb ... G_2222.JPG

what caught my attention was that in the water boiler, there seems to be rocks?

i know these are meant to add minerals to the water to make tea taste better, and i also read over teamasters blog that bamboo charcoal and broken yixing pots also helps,

i'd like to ask your opinion on which is more advisable to use, and where we might be able to get these rocks?
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6302
has the answers to most of your questions, including where you can order some.

I think charcoal does less of adding minerals to the water, and more of removing unwanted smells & even flouride (if you leave it in long enough). If you're using spring water to start with, you probably don't really need either, but if you're using filtered water, you might want to try one / both approach. The maifan stones would be best to use if the water is very low in minerals - otherwise, you might end up with water that's overmineralized.

The proprietor of Tea Gallery, where they're drinking in that picture, trained with Best Tea House in Hong Kong, who also suggest using the maifan stones.

See also my comments in the other thread w/r/t different sizes / types... the stones should *not* smell rocky or unpleasant, nor should the water you boil with them. You don't have to use them in your kettle, once you've rinsed / boiled the stones, you can leave them in standing water before you boil it if you prefer.

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Sep 23rd, '08, 01:19
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by odarwin » Sep 23rd, '08, 01:19

thanks for the reply,
the water that i use for tea is mineral bottled water and it says it came from a spring somewhere, the reason i dont use our tap water is because we live very close to the water filtration plant for the whole city and the smell of chlorine is really terrible, in fact it left white stains in some of my yixing pots, but through use, the white stains are no longer visible and since then, ive been using only bottled mineral water for tea

-darwin

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Oct 22nd, '08, 14:01
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by TIM » Oct 22nd, '08, 14:01

http://www.theteagallery.blogspot.com/

a very good investigation....

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Oct 22nd, '08, 16:04
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by taitea » Oct 22nd, '08, 16:04

Fun pic. Do you have the link for the blog entry that contains that picture?

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Oct 22nd, '08, 20:54
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by Jeremy » Oct 22nd, '08, 20:54

Its called Mai Fan Shi or "wheat rice rock" It gives the water an incredible rounded taste. I cant seem to find any more though. I got mine from a local guy here in NYC. But he said its expensive to ship.

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Oct 22nd, '08, 20:56
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by Jeremy » Oct 22nd, '08, 20:56

I didnt realize who was in the picture, thats where I got mine, from Michael at Tea Gallery. LOL

J

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