Best water for tea

[Zanaspus]

I bow to your expertise Intuit. It is true that in your situation you have no choice. It is true that the "good" ones are filtered tap.

I was just trying to debunk this mindless myth that if it comes in a bottle, it must be good.

[Mich]

i have tried alot of bottled water and poland spring is the best, evian being the worst (it is hard water)

[iheartea]

Thanks everyone for your contributions! I must do some experimenting now.

[Marco]

Hey all

water is something I have questions about.

What I read here, if you are not lucky and have got a spring, people use filtered or bottled water if their tap water has a bad taste.
Our tap water tastes good (okay at my parents place it is really even better ) - I drink a lot of pure water and don't bother buying bottled water.
But the water is really hard. I have to descale my pot a lot.
And you can read that green tea needs soft water for a really good taste.

So what about that? Is it really this important? Does it make a huge difference? Should I buy a water filter for better taste? Does it pay off?

thanks
Marco

[chingwa]

water makes a big difference, after all it comprises most of "the tea", ne? My office has an instant hot water spout in the kitchen but the water always tastes a bit funky, thus my tea always tastes a bit funky. though I don't know if using bottled water is really necessary.... at home I use tap water put through a super filter (the undermount sink kind) which removes all sorts of contaminates. then I boil this in a tetsubin before putting it over the leaves.

I've noticed a big difference in taste between the tetsubin compared to a normal stainless steel water kettle.

all in all whatever you do all comes down to the taste of the tea... there isn't any one way of treating/preparing your water. what works well for you is all that you need.

[chittychat]

Hey all

water is something I have questions about.

What I read here, if you are not lucky and have got a spring, people use filtered or bottled water if their tap water has a bad taste.
Our tap water tastes good (okay at my parents place it is really even better ) - I drink a lot of pure water and don't bother buying bottled water.
But the water is really hard. I have to descale my pot a lot.
And you can read that green tea needs soft water for a really good taste.

So what about that? Is it really this important? Does it make a huge difference? Should I buy a water filter for better taste? Does it pay off?

thanks
Marco

It makes a huge difference not only for green tea, as well as for black tea and may be all others. The same black tea at my mothers house with very soft water tasted wonderful and just so so at another location with hard water.
I am not sure one can filter the lime out since lime is in solution and not in suspension.

[lifenode]

I've only had bad experiences so far with water filters/purifiers concerning the aspect of taste (Japanese Greens only!).

So for cheap teas I refrain to using tap water (tap water quality here is quite high). For my higher end teas (most are) I use Evian, mainly because in my testing of over 20 brands it was in clearly yielding the most consistently satisfying results but also because, and this is pivotal to me, it has the best eco-balance where I am living.

(I would hesitate to purchase Fiji branded water, knowing that 1/3 of the population of Fiji have no access to clean water and despite the brands attempts to whitewash its image but this is OT)

[Marco]

I am not sure one can filter the lime out since lime is in solution and not in suspension.

It is not possible with a carcoal filter, but most of the filters are combined systems and have got an ion exchanger.
What I have learned now is that it not only depends on soft or hard water but also on the ph-value.

I've only had bad experiences so far with water filters/purifiers concerning the aspect of taste (Japanese Greens only!).

What are your bad experiences about that? With what filter system?




I checked my local warter supply company for our tap water analysis
ph-value 7,3-7,7 --- to high
calzium 75 - 90 mg/l --- could be worse
magnesium 12 - 20 mg/l --- no problem
hydrocarbonate 295 mg/l --- ouch

I think I will give Volvic-bottled water a try because it has been recommended on Maiko and two other sources I have seen.
If I taste a real difference I think about trying a filter system. (Brita? or what would you reccomend?)

[Marco]

hey and good morning everyone,

so finally I did my experiment today. Unfortunately I couldn't do my tea tasting in parallel, what would have been more scientifically. But I need more tea ware first - as everyone here does
I "christened" (is this correct English?) my tokoname teapot from O-cha. And it got shincha (organic sencha Oku Yutaka) the first time

First I brewed with my normal tap water and had four infusions.
Then I brewed with Volvic bottled water. Tasted the water first as it is - tastes absolutely boring. Would never buy this just for drinking.

tap water:
ph-value 7,3-7,7
calcium 75 - 90 mg/l
magnesium 12 - 20 mg/l
hydrocarbonate 295 mg/l

Volvic:
ph-value ??
calcium 11,5 mg/l
magnesium 8 mg/l
hydrocarbonate 71 mg/l

And my result:
I am really indifferent about it.
Perhaps this needs getting used to.
I really can't tell if the first infusion has been better with the softer water.
Think that the second one was slightly sweeter with softer water.
And for the third and fourth one I really prefer my tap water.

So what does this tell me?
Should I try a filter system or not?
For sure I will not buy bottled water for tea. And it is to expensive too.

any suggestions?
cheers
Marco

[Uji]

I tried different water. I thought Volvic tasted the best. I use it mostly for Gyokuro in a Tokoname Shiboridashi. Everything else I drink with filtered tap water with either a Brita, Pur or GE under the sink RO filter/system.

[rabbit]

I mostly just use 'poland spring' brand water, but I've found the difference between that and my local tap water to be unnoticable. Although some of the other towns around here have some strange tasting water.

[gargoylekitty]

I'd thought about bottled water before, though normally when I'm in the United States, at least where I am now, I just go with tap since the tap water here is tasty. Maybe I'll pick up a bottle of Fiji or something when I go to the store later and try it out to see if there's a major improvement or not.

[bagua7]

...I don't envy those of you who are in cities and such. I've been in some where the water is absolutely awful...

Not just water. Anyway, I filter mine with a carbon filter and happy with my teas but still you can't compare that water from the one you can collect from an underground deposit at a high altitude area, full of minerals and all that jazz.

Anyone living in a city or any other location where water has been treated must install a filter at home and not just for "cha dao" reasons.

[AdamMY]

Anyone living in a city or any other location where water has been treated must install a filter at home and not just for "cha dao" reasons.

(My comments on City water are based on the standards and guidelines in the USA)

I think a lot of people have misconceptions about city water, and honestly do now know how often it gets tested and at how many different locations throughout the system it gets tested. It usually is not the best water, and granted it is treated with Chlorine among possibly other chemicals most of which should be minimal if you let the water sit for awhile or filter it, but all the chemicals are kept well within safe levels, and the water would be far worse without them and rampant with bacterial growth.

Though the thing I find most amusing is how many people think they are being healthier by drinking bottled water which actually has to hold to a lesser set of standards than the water people get from their tap.

I believe a classic case of this has to do with the Fiji water company who advertised that it "is called Fiji because its not from Cleveland." Well as the story goes turns out Fiji contains trace amounts of arsenic whereas the water in Cleveland does not. For a story about the tests: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06201/707156-294.stm

But I personally think filtered water is better for tea, though certain teas perform better with different types of water, such as I never had as good a session with Dan Cong as one in which I used a water with a rather high TDS level, which seemed to reduce the bitterness Dan Cong can have. I have not messed around much with many types of bottled water as I am happy with the filtered stuff out of my tap, which currently seems more cost conscious.

[teaisme]

yeah agreed, don't assume you need bottled water
a decent tap water supply along with a good filtration system will be more then adequate, if fluoride in water is a problem for you there is also a filter for that

I wish I could go back to the tap water days where I wouldn't have any plastic bottle shame , but my municipal supply is just too suspect and unpredictable so unfortunately I had to move on