Water

[yee]

Pardon me for my English)))
Since water is one of the biggest issues in tea brewind, i want to ask what water you use to brew your tea. Or what you pay atention to when chosing water?

[shogun89]

For my nice teas I will use either a Poland spring or deer park water. I make sure the water actually comes from a spring and is not just tap water. The water should have a fresh clean taste without any bitterness. Some tea do better with different types of water too so its all about experimenting.

[thanks]

Spring water.

[yee]

Have anybody tried "Atoll" filter with reverse osmosis? I just want to hear some opinion.

[Oni]

Reverse osmosis filtered water is not good for tea, better try high mountain springs, Crystal geyser for example, for green tea soft water is good, but with puerh I don`t know, I would try soft water eriched with mineral stones.

[yee]

Though the water from the filter is the best one i could find in my area. I also liked water for children, but caus of high amount of Ca or Na tea goes gray and if you dont finish it within 10 or so min. it loses its taste complitely. Water from filter didnt seem so good to me at the start, but wit the time... now i think its perfect for any tea but i have to empty the water tank every 2-3 days to keep it fresh. Pu-erh is nice with this water too but i still think it needs i bit higher mineralisation.

[Ebtoulson]

For all of my teas I just use a brita water filter that goes in the fridge, but only use it if you like the taste of your tap water. Since the water sits in the fridge I pour it from kind of high up to add some oxygen (both into the kettle and from the teapot), otherwise it tastes a little flat to me.

Guess I'm not that fancy to use bottled water.

[yee]

to Ebtoulson
I really hate saying that but you have think of buying a better filter

[TIM]

to Ebtoulson
I really hate saying that but you have think of buying a better filter

I found a good mountain water source recently in NJ. The ice Artesian water quality is light, sweet and around 7.5 ph. After boiled, then aged in a Qing dynasty water container for a week, before brewing tea using a Tetsubin over charcoal. So far, I think is good enough water for puerh and aged oolong. Also conducting a test of aging it for few months in a Ming dynasty water container (around 10 gallon) to see if the quality will improve.

[Ebtoulson]

what would you suggest? i live in a rural type area so there aren't many places to purchase filters except online. Take in consideration I'm a poor college student so nothing too pricey

[shogun89]

what would you suggest? i live in a rural type area so there aren't many places to purchase filters except online. Take in consideration I'm a poor college student so nothing too pricey

If you or friend has a BJ's or Sams club membership go with them and pick up a case of water. It costs about $4 for 32 bottles. Thats what I do and produces good results and will not break your bank.

[TIM]

what would you suggest? i live in a rural type area so there aren't many places to purchase filters except online. Take in consideration I'm a poor college student so nothing too pricey

Ebtoulson - Brita water filter should be fine for beginners. Until you can taste the different between Charcoal boiled water, electric, gas and microwave.

[TeaCompulsion]

Even with reverse-osmosis, results may vary.

The tapwater at my workplace is horrifying, so I'd been using Aquafina, since that's why my local grocery always has on special. It does flatten the tea compared to better water though.

One day I was out of Aquafina and bought a bottle of Dasani (both Aquafina and Dasani use reverse-osmosis filtration) out of the vending machine, and made tea as usual. It was FANTASTIC. I don't for a second think this would make Dasani the perfect water for all teas and brewing parameters, but with that particular tea and brewing setup it was great.

[puerhking]

I use Nestle water. Its purified but then remineralized. It costs less than $4 for 24 at wal mart.