Water Water Everywhere... What’s Your Water?

[d.manuk]

I tried the same water with 2023 Shan Lin Xi and the mouthfeel was thick as it should be, so the thin mouthfeel was due to trying a new Taiwanese black tea.

Anyway, will keep experimenting

[Teafortea]

The water from the tap here in France is pretty clean but has too much calcium so we just filter that for the whole house so our household items work properly. For tea I use a mountain spring water Mont dore. There has been time when I've used other water and tea has been flat. Mont d'or makes my tea taste magic . Attaching a picture of compos. I wonder why it makes tea taste good? When in the alps the water from the tap is the best of best. In US i had well water and it was pretty much OK. I did buy volvic time after time just for some certain teas. Reverse osmosis tea was not my favorite but my taste has changed also.

[Ethan Kurland]

I tried the same water with 2023 Shan Lin Xi and the mouthfeel was thick as it should be, so the thin mouthfeel was due to trying a new Taiwanese black tea.

Anyway, will keep experimenting

Yes, one should ask why what is in the cup is not as good as expected. The answer is not always simple unfortunately.

For example, I have been satisfied w/ how I filter tap water. Use of filters made of sterasyl ceramic that has some carbon inside (now Acquasera seems to be the only available brand) has done the job for years (2 for 5 - 6 liter of water in a Big Berkey). However, once the outside of the filters gets coated; they need to be scrubbed clean. Once the inside is holding too many captured contaminants & minerals; the filters need to be replaced. Although I know this, I have often gone a few weeks getting down that I don't enjoy things as I used to do (soup, tea, water, etc.) before I remember to check my filters....

Revrese osmosis which is really just a filtering process w/ a better sounding name (IMHO) probably is a similar situation, even on a huge scale (government systems w/ giant membranes cleaning water). I wonder what percentage of the time that they are used, that equpment, filters, (so to speak, my word "filters") are new or freshly cleaned & what percentage of time cleaning or replacement is overdue (regarding taste, not health)?

The taste of water from wells & springs can vary by the time of year.

[afishhunter]

Tap water from a well on the property.
I do not know how deep they had to drill to hit water.

[teacreacha7]

Hot take: I have terrible local tap water, so I remineralize RO water. There is a company called Tea Curious that sells packets of minerals meant for tea drinking, and so far I have had plesant experiences. I like that I can manually adjust the hardness/alkalinity of the water, so if the tea starts becoming too bitter I know to dial it back a bit. Plus, I'm not going through a bunch of plastic water bottles!

[Victoria]

Hot take: I have terrible local tap water, so I remineralize RO water. There is a company called Tea Curious that sells packets of minerals meant for tea drinking, and so far I have had plesant experiences. I like that I can manually adjust the hardness/alkalinity of the water, so if the tea starts becoming too bitter I know to dial it back a bit. Plus, I'm not going through a bunch of plastic water bottles!

Curious if @teasecret starts with Reverse Osmosis water to then re-mineralize? Don’t see that mentioned on web site. Also, earlier in this thread they mention sometimes using “ Waterdrop filter is my go-to because it does NOT lower TDS” interesting idea.

[Baisao]

IMG_7297.jpeg (320.3 KiB) Viewed 16216 times

Capitalism creates innovation! The innovation: https://apnews.com/article/pfas-forever ... eea39c778a

[Huza]

Living remote in the highlands of Scotland the water is generally pretty good.
However I still find that still(not mineral, i think there's a difference?!) water makes for a better tea.
Will be trying a filter soon.

[Baisao]

Living remote in the highlands of Scotland the water is generally pretty good.
However I still find that still(not mineral, i think there's a difference?!) water makes for a better tea.
Will be trying a filter soon.

Mineral water is pretty gawd awful. Still is water without bubbles, so not sparkling. Ideally, you want a spring water without* a lot TDS since the lower TDS impacts the texture and gives the water more élan compared to a high TDS water. For the sake of comparison a water like Fiji has a TDS of 250 which gives a really heavy mouthfeel. I find waters around 50 TDS to have better mouthfeel. Of course, foremost, the water needs to taste good and work well with tea before you consider TDS.

EDIT: This was supposed to have read "without" a lot of TDS not "with a lot of TDS". Completely changes the meaning. Oof!

[Huza]

Living remote in the highlands of Scotland the water is generally pretty good.
However I still find that still(not mineral, i think there's a difference?!) water makes for a better tea.
Will be trying a filter soon.

Mineral water is pretty gawd awful. Still is water without bubbles, so not sparkling. Ideally, you want a spring water with a lot TDS since the lower TDS impacts the texture and gives the water more élan compared to a high TDS water. For the sake of comparison a water like Fiji has a TDS of 250 which gives a really heavy mouthfeel. I find waters around 50 TDS to have better mouthfeel. Of course, foremost, the water needs to taste good and work well with tea before you consider TDS.

I've generally been using Highland Spring still spring water, I think it has a TDS of 170.

[teatray]

Living remote in the highlands of Scotland the water is generally pretty good.
However I still find that still(not mineral, i think there's a difference?!) water makes for a better tea.
Will be trying a filter soon.

Mineral water is pretty gawd awful. Still is water without bubbles, so not sparkling. Ideally, you want a spring water with a lot TDS since the lower TDS impacts the texture and gives the water more élan compared to a high TDS water. For the sake of comparison a water like Fiji has a TDS of 250 which gives a really heavy mouthfeel. I find waters around 50 TDS to have better mouthfeel. Of course, foremost, the water needs to taste good and work well with tea before you consider TDS.

I've generally been using Highland Spring still spring water, I think it has a TDS of 170.

Highland Spring is not really from the Highlands nor considered ideal for tea as far as TDS goes, but I enjoyed it for tea while living in Scotland for a short period. I think you could do a lot worse (assuming things haven't changed since before COVID times). I found other local brands worse, incl. posh stuff like Speyside Glenlivet (at TDS 58mg/l) which is/was much better on paper. I would not consider a switch urgent, if you have H.S., but you might want to try some lighter favorites with a lower-TDS water in the range Baisao suggested (I use Surgiva at 33ml/l which is noticeably too low but the best I have regular access to; I sure would get some H.S. if I could, my guess is that it would be better for some teas at least).

[Baisao]

Living remote in the highlands of Scotland the water is generally pretty good.
However I still find that still(not mineral, i think there's a difference?!) water makes for a better tea.
Will be trying a filter soon.

Mineral water is pretty gawd awful. Still is water without bubbles, so not sparkling. Ideally, you want a spring water with a lot TDS since the lower TDS impacts the texture and gives the water more élan compared to a high TDS water. For the sake of comparison a water like Fiji has a TDS of 250 which gives a really heavy mouthfeel. I find waters around 50 TDS to have better mouthfeel. Of course, foremost, the water needs to taste good and work well with tea before you consider TDS.

I've generally been using Highland Spring still spring water, I think it has a TDS of 170.

I had a significant typo in my response. It should have been "you want a spring water withOUT a lot TDS"

Apologies for the confusion

[Sunyata]

I find Hokuren Hokkaido Taisetsuzan (Japan) and Jeju Samdasoo (Korea) to give me the best water for making the teas I enjoy. That said, I'm fortunate to be in a country where tap water is good enough to use, and similar to the clean & crisp Samdasoo. If I want a rounder, fuller body then the Hokkaido water is the best. In addition, I've heard mixed reviews of China's Nongfu spring as its sourced from multiple regions rather than single source. Some say particular ones give good results.

Tried the famous international brands like Fiji, Voss, Aqua Panna not suitable for tea. These are good water to be served at a fancy fine dining or steakhouse restaurant but don't work well with tea.

[Baisao]

I find Hokuren Hokkaido Taisetsuzan (Japan) and Jeju Samdasoo (Korea) to give me the best water for making the teas I enjoy. That said, I'm fortunate to be in a country where tap water is good enough to use, and similar to the clean & crisp Samdasoo. If I want a rounder, fuller body then the Hokkaido water is the best. In addition, I've heard mixed reviews of China's Nongfu spring as its sourced from multiple regions rather than single source. Some say particular ones give good results.

Tried the famous international brands like Fiji, Voss, Aqua Panna not suitable for tea. These are good water to be served at a fancy fine dining or steakhouse restaurant but don't work well with tea.

Voss is perfectly fine, if expensive, but you are correct about the others. Fiji has an extreme high TDS so the mouthfeel is heavy and Acqua Panna dramatically mutes flavors.

[Vinski]

"Exclusive bottled water is municipal water
World stars drink exclusively Voss water, but the water is no more exclusive than the fact that it is supplied by a municipal waterworks in Southern Norway."

https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/eksklusivt-f ... /12823560/