Water for tea brewing, need some advice on bottled water

[blade08]

I am looking for some advice on water for tea brewing. For me tap water is out of the question. I've used Evian but the mineral content seems to be too high because my mugs get really dirty whenever I use it and the tea just doesn't look clear. The taste is also not very good. What water should I use??

[letterk]

Reverse osmosis system?

[expatCanuck]

Is filtered tap water out of the question (reverse osmosis or whatever)?

I find the Brita adequate for my palate & my town's water.

[blade08]

Is filtered tap water out of the question (reverse osmosis or whatever)?

I find the Brita adequate for my palate & my town's water.

Yes, for now it is. Becasue I will move to a new appartment in a couple of months, I don't want to invest in a water filter installation of any kind. So for now, bottled water is my only option.

[sehrgut]

Yes, for now it is. Becasue I will move to a new appartment in a couple of months, I don't want to invest in a water filter installation of any kind. So for now, bottled water is my only option.

The end-of-the-tap Pur filter (http://www.amazon.com/FM-3700-Vertical-Faucet-Filter-Chrome/dp/B0009CEKY6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1224532053&sr=1-5) I recently started to use for all my tea and coffee has made a noticeable improvement. Whatever you do, don't you DI/RO/distilled water for brewing: its low mineral content results in very suboptimal extraction.

[Scotto]

I've tried them all. I won't even drink Evian straight. I used to use Crystal Geyser bottled water for tea almost exclusively, but it became hard to find around here. Now I use Fiji, or Volvic in a pinch.

[Hobbesoxon]

Wise question. Always the most important.


I am looking for some advice on water for tea brewing. For me tap water is out of the question. I've used Evian but the mineral content seems to be too high because my mugs get really dirty whenever I use it and the tea just doesn't look clear. The taste is also not very good. What water should I use??

I'm impressed! Evian is rough as rough, I agree. It's packed full of goodies to make it taste interesting on its own, but which really nobble any hopes of making good tea. You're so right about the mineral content - it obliterates the complex profile of good tea.



Reverse osmosis system?

*Makes the sign of the cross with his fingers to ward off the evil* :)

Reverse osmosis is total deconstruction of the water, then re-introducing components that the system designer thinks/hopes should be back in the water. It's Frankenstein's water.

Aieeeee...


Is filtered tap water out of the question (reverse osmosis or whatever)?

I find the Brita adequate for my palate & my town's water.

This is heavily dependent on the water supply in your area. Speaking from personal experience with water from four areas of England, Brita-filtered water tastes artificial and suffers from the same faults as Evian. If you're lucky enough to live in an area where the water is compatible with this sort of thing, that's definitely A Good Thing.

I find the little charcoal/voodoo spheres in the Brita cartridges introduce all manner of evils into the water supply. We use Brita-filtered water for everything except tea, I should add.


I've tried them all. I won't even drink Evian straight. I used to use Crystal Geyser bottled water for tea almost exclusively, but it became hard to find around here. Now I use Fiji, or Volvic in a pinch.

This is the only approach to go for, I think. My usual advice is not to buy the expensive designer waters, as these are meant to be interesting as stand-alone beverages. The best water for tea is often the non-premium sources with less zesty mineral content. In England, for example, my favourite bottled waters are two inexpensive brands made for the major chain supermarkets: "Scottish Water" (in Tesco) and "Caledonian Spring" (in Sainsburys). They cost about 30% of the price of Evian/Volvic, but do a much better job with tea. What this translates to in US parlance I'm afraid I have no idea, but Scotto's try-'em-'all approach is the thing to do.

One interesting thing to do is find one of your favourite teas, and two gaiwan/pots. Brew a side-by-side comparison using two candidate waters, and select the best. The differences between waters really are surprisingly large. Keep the best of the two, then compare it against another candidate water, and so on, keeping the best each time (a bit like the "bubble sort" algorithm).

You only need do this once every few years or so, and the result is a water that you can really get behind and use regularly with confidence.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[OmegaEdge]

+1 on the Crystal Geyser water, that is what I use in my utilitea.

[letterk]

Hobbes, what about RO don't you like in relation to tea? If the system is designed properly, all the solvents are removed. Many bottled water manufacturers use RO in their processing.

[sehrgut]

Hobbes, what about RO don't you like in relation to tea? If the system is designed properly, all the solvents are removed.

Solutes, rather.

The problem with RO water is that it's literally too pure. Water with nothing dissolved in it is a much more aggressive solvent, and drastically changes the resulting brew.

Also, you oughtn't drink RO water, as it can have a mineral-leaching effect in your digestive tract, though this is likely only to be a problem long-term: a single glass won't hurt you.


Many bottled water manufacturers use RO in their processing.

Yes, and they add in metered amounts of salts such as calcium and magnesium chloride. It's simply a way to ensure consistency, as they know exactly what and how much is going into it, whereas natural water sources are variable in composition.

[letterk]

sehrgut, "too pure" is what I was guessing in relation to tea. It was Hobbes term "Frankenstein's" that shocked me as it is more pure than other sources.

I've always heard distilled was bad for you but RO was fine.

[expatCanuck]

Wise question. Always the most important.



...I find the Brita adequate for my palate & my town's water.

This is heavily dependent on the water supply in your area. Speaking from personal experience with water from four areas of England, Brita-filtered water tastes artificial and suffers from the same faults as Evian. If you're lucky enough to live in an area where the water is compatible with this sort of thing, that's definitely A Good Thing.

I find the little charcoal/voodoo spheres in the Brita cartridges introduce all manner of evils into the water supply. We use Brita-filtered water for everything except tea, I should add....
Toodlepip,

Hobbes

I emphasize for my palate -- my unrefined, plonk-swilling palate.

That said, overall I concur with the learned gent from across the pond -- especially as regards the voodoo spheres.

And I think that a side by side taste test is a splendid idea. Ideally blind.

But, unless I find that filtered water is on the whole unpalatable (in which case I think the planet's gonna be in such shape that we'll not be much concerned with brewing the perfect cup), that'll be my solution. As it were.

For myself, I just find bottled water to be too environmentally objectionable.

- Richard

[sehrgut]

Distilled, DI, and RO are all bad for you. It's possible to get 18.2 megohm water ("pure" water has an immensely high resistance) using just DI/RO systems. The "Milli-Q" water purification systems popular in most biotech and chemical labs use no distillation these days.

The "Frankenstein" comment was, I suspect, mostly in relation to bottlers using RO water and adding back selected compounds.

[sooper8]

Not sure what the technical name is but our water here at home out of the tap is 'hard' (ie it takes ages to get lather in soap), whereas bottled water is 'soft' in most cases (?)- In my humble opinion hard water always makes for a better cuppa, and Yorkshire Tea make a tea bag for 'hard' water areas.
Regards
Jem

[sehrgut]

Not sure what the technical name is but our water here at home out of the tap is 'hard' (ie it takes ages to get lather in soap), whereas bottled water is 'soft' in most cases (?)- In my humble opinion hard water always makes for a better cuppa, and Yorkshire Tea make a tea bag for 'hard' water areas.

Actually, "hard" is the technical term as well. *grin*