Keep your kyusu clean.

[Stentor]

Recently, I did a ph test on my tap water. It measured about 7. I always run it through a Brita as it is a hard water with chlorine added and not really drinkable. I then tested the ph and the Brita lowered it to 5.8. This is too low for good tasting tea, so I switched to a mineral water bought locally with a ph of about 7.2. The difference in taste was very noticeable, the higher ph sweetening the tea especially Japanese greens.

I don't think this is the case here. There's no chlorine in the water here either. You could drink our water straight from the tap if you wanted. The only problem is that it's very hard water and needs to be softened for green tea (and to prevent your kettle from being covered in massive scale buildup within two weeks).

I used Volvic (pH 7) once, which seems to have a suitable mineral content and softness, and while it made good tea, I did not find the difference to filtered tap water significant enough to justify buying bottled water for making tea.
I'll give Volvic another shot later today and see if I was mistaken back when I tried it.

Would pH testing paper be precise enough for this test? I'll try to obtain some when I get the chance.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the filtered water tastes good (even after boiling). Regardless, thanks for the hint! I'll try to look into this a bit. I don't think it matters much with regard to the topic, though.

[David R.]

Coming to think of it, maybe the problem is indeed from your water. You say you have hard water, maybe its mineral content don't "get along" with your kyusu.

One way to find out for sure would be to use mineral water exclusively with one of your kyusu for a while and see if the same thing happens.

Have you contacted the person you sold you your kyusu if it is possible to see what he has to say about all this ? Maybe another seller as well if you know one ?

[Stentor]

I really think it's unlikely the water is the problem, since they're is no scale buildup from the filtered water inside the kyusu.
Also, what I meant was that the water is hard before filtering. After filtering, it's soft water with lower mineral content.
Regardless, I can give Volvic a try for a while. It's what I drink when I'm not drinking tea anyway

[Tead Off]

I use ph strips to test the water. Very quick and easy.

I've never noticed scale buildup in any of my teapots. I do get it in my ss kettle. In fact, with higher ph mineral waters, the scale is actually greater. You can see the buildup and floating particles after boiling water.

Volvic is good water but I use a water with slightly higher ph and more TDS. Each mineral water will taste different due to its varying mineral content. But, as you say, it may have nothing to do with the water.

[rdl]

I really think it's unlikely the water is the problem

i believe you're saying then that the tea leaves are the cause. i have found that to be the case.

[Chip]

I really think it's unlikely the water is the problem

i believe you're saying then that the tea leaves are the cause. i have found that to be the case.

So the solution is to not put any tea leaves into the "solution."

Since I have been using the graviTea (similar to Brita I guess) from Adagio, I have had virtually ZERO scale. I used to have to descale every week or two and would have tea stained scale virtually everywhere ... teakettle, teapots, cups, etc.

Now I notice not only virtually zero scale, but also notice virtually zero tea staining as well ... so I feel the stains would adhere to scale pretty often.

[Stentor]

i believe you're saying then that the tea leaves are the cause. i have found that to be the case.

Yeah, at least the residue that is left on the surface of the inside of the kyusu. We seem to agree on that already, though

So the solution is to not put any tea leaves into the "solution."

Haha

Since I have been using the graviTea (similar to Brita I guess) from Adagio, I have had virtually ZERO scale. I used to have to descale every week or two and would have tea stained scale virtually everywhere ... teakettle, teapots, cups, etc.

Now I notice not only virtually zero scale, but also notice virtually zero tea staining as well ... so I feel the stains would adhere to scale pretty often.

Yeah, it is the same basic principle, I think.
I also have no scale. The kettle I bought a year ago has never been filled with anything but filtered water and it still looks like it did after the first time I've used it.

Are you saying that you don't have tea stains inside the kyusu the way it can be seen in my "before" shots?
I think we need some more photos of the insides of kyusu in this thread.

[Chip]

Are you saying that you don't have tea stains inside the kyusu the way it can be seen in my "before" shots?
I think we need some more photos of the insides of kyusu in this thread.

The degree of staining is reduced 95% or better with the filtering. My first point was that since I have virtually no scale since filtering, I also have virtually no tea staining as well ... my theory is that tea stains in teaware are often greatly increased due to scale. Remove the scale from the water ... thus no scale buildup ... and thus virtually no staining. For me, these things are tied together.

Before filter, I had huge buildups in a kyusu.

This is my experience based on my individual circumstances, processes.

One last thing, the graviTea has a different filter than Brita, and might cause different results.

If I was to go back to our straight "well water" which is pretty high in minerals, I would likely have a lot of problems as I did in the past. Now, I filter our well water. I am also certain that the filtering increases our water ph. But it has been ages since I checked any ph or mineral content of our well.

[teaisme]

Here are a few guesses as to the smell.

Perhaps your filter is not changed frequently enough? Or that you have changed your water that you used and the minerals did not go well with the previous minerals left by the previous water.

Or it could be you found a bad combination of teas to brew in the same vessel. Though many people fit japanese greens into one category and brew most in the same clay ware interchangeably, I don't think it is recommended. Different teas and their regions have different mineral composition. If you have a few unglazed maybe try to further dedicate to region and see if that fixes the smell problem.

[mbishop]

My kyusu does have a smell, when I put in fresh boiled water. But the smell is nice, like cucumbers.

However, I figured it couldn't hurt to clean it out, and there was indeed noticeable "stains" in the kyusu as well as this nice (non-porcelain) cup that I sometimes use. Your post inspired me to grab some baking soda, make a paste and try scrubbing it. It certainly cleaned the stains, not sure about a taste difference yet.

[Stentor]

Yes, Chip, I agree with everything you've said. When I started drinking tea I used filtered water straight away. I know how much scale there would be if I didn't filter. My teaware would be ruined.
Obviously tap water is different depending on where you are located so naturally there will be differences, even when the water is filtered. I assume these things filter to a certain degree so depending on the kind of water you start out with, you'll get different results. I'd assume the brand of the filter will not play as big a role, as long as we're talking about ion exchange filters.

I still don't get how the insides of your kyusus look, though. So you only have negligible tea stains? Is it more like the "after" photos or more like the "before" photos I posted?
If you didn't have any tea stains inside the kyusu but never scrubbed the insides, that would be very surprising to me and would lead me to believe that the water could be a factor after all.
I figured the staining is the norm, though?! (Also I was under the impression my daily cleaning method was pretty thorough to begin with.)
What do the other guys think?

Here are a few guesses as to the smell.
Perhaps your filter is not changed frequently enough? Or that you have changed your water that you used and the minerals did not go well with the previous minerals left by the previous water.

Filter is changed when the digital indicator says so, which is approximately every 30 days (slightly less with more frequent use).
I've always used the same water, so that can't be it either.

Or it could be you found a bad combination of teas to brew in the same vessel. Though many people fit japanese greens into one category and brew most in the same clay ware interchangeably, I don't think it is recommended. Different teas and their regions have different mineral composition. If you have a few unglazed maybe try to further dedicate to region and see if that fixes the smell problem.

Yes, this could be tested.
However, there would still be organic buildup. I don't think minute differences in chemical composition would change much.

My kyusu does have a smell, when I put in fresh boiled water. But the smell is nice, like cucumbers.

Yes, I think this is normal and not unpleasant. I'm not sure about cucumbers, but I'll try to detect the cucumber smell next time

However, I figured it couldn't hurt to clean it out, and there was indeed noticeable "stains" in the kyusu as well as this nice (non-porcelain) cup that I sometimes use. Your post inspired me to grab some baking soda, make a paste and try scrubbing it. It certainly cleaned the stains, not sure about a taste difference yet.

Yeah, that's important. It doesn't hurt to clean it.
How long and how much had you been using the kyusu and cup before cleaning? The difference in smell and taste were very noticeable with mine.
Have you tasted water from it or just tea? With water the difference was pretty obvious, smell as well as taste.

[Tead Off]

Are you saying that you don't have tea stains inside the kyusu the way it can be seen in my "before" shots?
I think we need some more photos of the insides of kyusu in this thread.

The degree of staining is reduced 95% or better with the filtering. My first point was that since I have virtually no scale since filtering, I also have virtually no tea staining as well ... my theory is that tea stains in teaware are often greatly increased due to scale. Remove the scale from the water ... thus no scale buildup ... and thus virtually no staining. For me, these things are tied together.

Before filter, I had huge buildups in a kyusu.

This is my experience based on my individual circumstances, processes.

One last thing, the graviTea has a different filter than Brita, and might cause different results.

If I was to go back to our straight "well water" which is pretty high in minerals, I would likely have a lot of problems as I did in the past. Now, I filter our well water. I am also certain that the filtering increases our water ph. But it has been ages since I checked any ph or mineral content of our well.

There are so many variables, I don't know where to begin. All my kyusu have tea stains and that is only using filtered water (brita). It's only recently that I've switched to unfiltered mineral water. My ss kettle had minimal scale when using Brita water. You claim you have virtually no tea staining in your kyusu. Are you using Holy Water? The nature of tea is to stain. Some teas stain more than others but all will stain to some degree. It has something to do with the oils, I believe. Why you are not getting any staining in your kyusus is more of a mystery to me than the bitter taste the OP is getting from his Banko cup. Maybe you are more fastidious than most in cleaning your pots directly after brewing. It would also be interesting to hear from another user of Gravitea to see whether they have no staining in their kyusus simply by using Gravitea.

Also, my experience with Brita lowered the ph of tap water, not raised it. I've read other user accounts of the same thing happening to their water. If you could do a ph test before/after on your water that would be great.

Scale is the mineral deposits in the water that become sediment that coats kettles and plumbing. Mostly calcium and magnesium deposits. The water usually comes into prolonged contact with the vessel or pipe unlike the water you pour in and out of a teapot. Plus most users clean their teapot after use. I have never seen nor heard of teaware being ruined by scale, or, staining. Can anyone provide any photos of a ruined teapot with scaling?

This is a fascinating thread, btw.

[entropyembrace]

I get a lot of scale buildup in my kettles which I have to clean out every few months with vinegar or it starts to negatively affect the taste of my water but I´ve never seen scale in any of my pots or cups. I use unfiltered tap because I like the taste of the tapwater here.

[Tead Off]

I get a lot of scale buildup in my kettles which I have to clean out every few months with vinegar or it starts to negatively affect the taste of my water but I´ve never seen scale in any of my pots or cups. I use unfiltered tap because I like the taste of the tapwater here.

You're lucky you can drink the tap water where you are. Where are you located? I wouldn't dream of drinking my tap water!

[tortoise]

I get a lot of scale buildup in my kettles which I have to clean out every few months with vinegar or it starts to negatively affect the taste of my water but I´ve never seen scale in any of my pots or cups. I use unfiltered tap because I like the taste of the tapwater here.

Our tapwater here in Northwest, Louisiana is pretty good too. I like the idea of filtering it anyway, but from a taste perspective it does suffice.
Not sure what effect the tap has on staining, bc I use it unfiltered as often as filtered.

I've always thought staining was more of a temporal issue, but quality of water does make for an interesting argument in the intensity of the stain.