Water Question

[TaiPing Hou Kui]

Many people here use the kettles to heat their water. These kettles have varying teperatures for the different types of tea. I was always under the impression that it was beneficial for the tea to have the water heated past boiling (oxygenating the water by heating to a rolling boil) vs only heating it to the general temperature specifications of different teas. If this werent true why would the Japanese potters have such pride in making Yuzamashis (water coolers) for after the water has been boiled? I guess what I am saying is, if this is true, why would a tea company that produces a speciffic kettle have verying temperature settings for water if you need to make the water boil regardless of the tea type and just let it cool to its proper temperature? This also would not make sense becuase I have been informed by several of my Japanese contacts never to use already heated water or leave water in a heater, always use new and fresh water with each new pot/steeping. Any insight, as always, is greatly appreciated!

-Nick (TaiPing)

[tenuki]

Actually boiling removes oxygen from the water, it also removes trace minerals.

http://www.chow.com/stories/10891

[Pentox]

Most water heaters don't simply raise the temperature of the water to the specified temperature, every one that I have seen takes it to boiling and then lets it cool down from there. Water coolers have a certain allure to them because simply raising water to the specified temperature was not always easy to do, it is much easier to boil it and then let it cool down to what you want exactly. I've heard some say that the taste of water is better if you have let it come to a boil, but not roll the boil and then cool it to make tea with. I do agree though that water that has only recently been brought to a boil does have a different taste then water which has been held at a heated temperature for a while. I don't know what it is, but there is a difference. The dissolved oxygen explanation does make sense though.

[scruffmcgruff]

Actually, several electric kettles do what TPHK has mentioned-- they just go up to the desired temperature.

Reasons:

1. Saves time.
2. Most people, myself included, really can't tell the difference.

One of the reasons this is tradition is because bringing water to boiling temp. disinfects it. However, unsanitary water really isn't a serious worry for most of us in the West. That said, it may also make a difference in taste (though the jury is still out on that one, IMO).

[Pentox]

Hm, i've never seen one of those.

[scruffmcgruff]

Off the top of my head:

-utiliTEA
-Upton's adjustable temp. kettle

Okay, maybe not "several" like I previously stated, but these two are certainly popular enough to be noticed.

[skywarrior]

Off the top of my head:

-utiliTEA
-Upton's adjustable temp. kettle

Okay, maybe not "several" like I previously stated, but these two are certainly popular enough to be noticed.

I'm going to politely disagree, but only because I live at altitude.

The Utilitea turns off after the water hits the boiling point up here, which is NOT 212F, but somewhere around 207F. (Water boils at lower temps here, thus making cooking times longer.)

As an FYI, I'm at about 4000ft.

[betta]

For me, a good water for brewing tea = enough O2 + compatible minerals

There're couple of aspects which are important in the boiling process:
1. rapid boiling up to 100°C will remove large portion, but not all of the dissolved gas, including CO2 and O2 in an instance, on the other hand, slow boiling, including leaving them in a kettle for prolong time, will strip the gas up to the max degree of stripping achiavable , thus the water taste old.
Thus, time factor is very important, must keep as short as possible.
This will be more apparent if you conduct the experiment with carbonated water, because the normal water we use to brew tea has only very low O2 solubility, we can't sense it easily. Must train =)
2. To get the max O2 come into water, the water must first be softened (I use Brita filter) and later on during the boiling, you can use any means, such as bamboo charcoal or broken piece of zisha clay, to add the compatible mineral, making the water tasty.
3. I will suggest to use either the rapid kettle with thermostat regulator to achieve desired temperature without additional cooling, or to boil the water rapidly up to 100°C and store it in a isolated jar, keeping the O2 with water in equilibrium all the time.

I am new in tea brewing, however I did quite of research with water, since the tap water here in my city is very hard and taste awful.
and since I'm lucky to have access to many kinds of industrially treated water, I have the chance to taste the difference.
Please correct me if I'm wrong and sorry for grammar errors.

[scruffmcgruff]

I'm going to politely disagree, but only because I live at altitude.

The Utilitea turns off after the water hits the boiling point up here, which is NOT 212F, but somewhere around 207F. (Water boils at lower temps here, thus making cooking times longer.)

As an FYI, I'm at about 4000ft.

The utilitea has an adjustable temp feature, no? If you set it on a low setting, does it boil, or just heat up to the low setting?

The only thing I know that boils, then drops and holds temperature is the Zojirushi. I could be wrong though-- please let me know if I am.

[Pentox]

I have seen a few of the Zoji style air pot / boiler things whatever you call them. Even my cheapo 30 dollar one I bought for my office boils it. That's why I thought they all did.

[hop_goblin]

I am sorry but boiling does not oxygenate the water. In fact it takes O2 out! I have also been homebrewing for many years and one of our main concerns is that after a boil, the water is depleted of O2. We then have to find a way to oxygenate the water again for proper yeast propagations..