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

[swordofmytriumph]

I need to try Poland spring. But the nearest store that sells them is a 45 min drive away.

[mrmopu]

I tried some of the Nice! Spring water from Walgreens. Is it just me or did anyone else notice it got cloudy after boiling.

Was it the nice spring water, or the nice iceland spring water. I’ve tried the former, and it did not get cloudy. I haven’t tried the iceland one yet (was gonna but grabbed the wrong one).

On another note, I’ve determined that, as expected, Voss is better with black tea than Fiji. I tested this with a nice, toasty Laoshan black tea.

It was the Nice Spring water. I have cleaned my boiler and using a new stainless vs glass boiler at the moment. There doesn't seem to be cloudiness at this time and I will know more when I retry the glass one.

I will have to try the Iceland one if I can find it as well.

[theredbaron]

So far, the best “all around” water is my tap water, it doesn’t do anything bad to any of my teas, though I don’t get as many nuances as some of the waters I’ve tried, but it doesn’t make my tea flat either. I’ve still got 6 or 7 other bottles of water to try though.

Nuances are what good tea is about

[Rickpatbrown]

I need to try Poland spring. But the nearest store that sells them is a 45 min drive away.

Really? Were do you live? They are all over where I live.

Poland was ok, in my opinion. Out of the cheap suppliers ($1.50/gallon), it gave pretty adequate results. Nothing to get super excited about, though.

I picked up a liter of the Nice! Iceland spring water from Walgeen's, but havent used it since I've been sick. It was way to expensive for me to use it as daily solvent.

Anyone with awesome tap water want to start sending teaforum members water, lol.

[Rickpatbrown]

The Iceland Springs water doesn’t get cloudy. I haven’t tried the plain Nice! water but would find it odd if any water got cloudy. Something external would have to cause that, I would think.

Mountain Valley Springs got cloudy on me as a boiled it. Something was definitely precipitating out. They have a little higher pH and it could be simple to oxidize or reduce some of the minerals when a little heat is added. The cloudiness doesnt go away by adding more water, so there seems to be a nonreversible chemical transformation occurring.

It would leave a powdery white substance in my kettle. Not scale. I could wipe it out with my finger. Never seemed to affect the flavor though.

[Baisao]

The Iceland Springs water doesn’t get cloudy. I haven’t tried the plain Nice! water but would find it odd if any water got cloudy. Something external would have to cause that, I would think.

Mountain Valley Springs got cloudy on me as a boiled it. Something was definitely precipitating out. They have a little higher pH and it could be simple to oxidize or reduce some of the minerals when a little heat is added. The cloudiness doesnt go away by adding more water, so there seems to be a nonreversible chemical transformation occurring.

It would leave a powdery white substance in my kettle. Not scale. I could wipe it out with my finger. Never seemed to affect the flavor though.

I’ll be on the lookout for that with other waters. It’s not something I’ve encountered.

I think the Nice! Iceland Spring water is $1.50 per liter and I use about a liter a day. It’s more expensive than Crystal Geyser but less expensive than VOSS. I can rationalize $1.50 per liter for good tea. I’d pay more for beer or wine.

[swordofmytriumph]

Nuances are what good tea is about

Good point.

@Rickpatbrown, I live 30 min east of Seattle. The nearest store that sells it (at least according to Poland spring's handy zip code locator is 30 min north of Seattle. Without traffic. On a day without any traffic, 45 min to get there.

[mrmopu]

The Iceland Springs water doesn’t get cloudy. I haven’t tried the plain Nice! water but would find it odd if any water got cloudy. Something external would have to cause that, I would think.

Mountain Valley Springs got cloudy on me as a boiled it. Something was definitely precipitating out. They have a little higher pH and it could be simple to oxidize or reduce some of the minerals when a little heat is added. The cloudiness doesnt go away by adding more water, so there seems to be a nonreversible chemical transformation occurring.

It would leave a powdery white substance in my kettle. Not scale. I could wipe it out with my finger. Never seemed to affect the flavor though.

I’ll be on the lookout for that with other waters. It’s not something I’ve encountered.

I think the Nice! Iceland Spring water is $1.50 per liter and I use about a liter a day. It’s more expensive than Crystal Geyser but less expensive than VOSS. I can rationalize $1.50 per liter for good tea. I’d pay more for beer or wine.

I agree about using good water. And yep, beer is usually way more per liter than good water.

[theredbaron]

I’ll be on the lookout for that with other waters. It’s not something I’ve encountered.

I think the Nice! Iceland Spring water is $1.50 per liter and I use about a liter a day. It’s more expensive than Crystal Geyser but less expensive than VOSS. I can rationalize $1.50 per liter for good tea. I’d pay more for beer or wine.

I have the same thing with my tap water here, and some of the harder mineral waters also get cloudy. What initially is a soft white layer will over time develop in hard scale.

Enjoying good Chinese and Japanese teas is not the cheapest hobby, considering the price of tea and good tea ware. But saving on water reduces all the other elements to nothing. One better saves on teaware than on water, as water has a much larger effect on the taste of tea than any teaware.

[Tor]

If you try any mineral water and find that it's too hard (water gets cloudy or limescale on teaware), try diluting it with RO water. Try to make the TDS below 100mg/L. For example, if your mineral water's TDS is 350mg/L, mix 1 part mineral water with at least 3 parts RO.

For me, right now I'm settled with 4 parts RO + 1 part hard mineral water (TDS around 300+) + 1 part soft Japanese mineral water (TDS = 16). I use this water mainly for yancha and puer. I prefer soft mineral water for white, green, lightly oxidised oolong, and red and found that my Japanese soft mineral water works just fine.

I wouldn't be surprised if my formula will be changed again in the future as my drinking style could change over time. It depends on what I look for in tea.

[.m.]

Fiji is a very interesting water: neutral pH (7.7), high in bicarbonates (152) and silica (93), but relatively low on other minerals (Ca 18, Mg 15, Na 18, K5, Cl 9). Another water relatively rich in silica is Volvic: neutral pH, bicarbonates 71, silica 32, Ca 12, Mg 8, Na 12, K 6, Cl 13. Essentially, Volvic is a watered down Fiji (with a grain of salt).

[swordofmytriumph]

I keep going back to my tap water, testing it against the waters I’ve tried. Honestly, I like it the best. I did some research, apparently it comes from an aquifer, and doesn’t have any chemicals added to it. The more I put it up against bottled waters the more I like it.
I’m gonna be moving out sometime in the next 18 months though. Ill have to figure out how to get it after I leave.

[debunix]

Maybe the water where you'll be moving will be even better.....

[Victoria]

Back home in Santa Monica and both of my favorites, Satsuma Sae Midori sencha and Tian Xiang Hong oolong, tasted a little flat today steeped in my local Brita filtered tap water. It’s possible that the local water sources were blended a little differently this week changing the profile enough to effect tea. Anyway, I found Baisao’s recommended Nice! Iceland Pure Spring Water at a local Walgreen’s just 6 blocks from my house. Tested it with my frequently used medium roasted DongDing and this water works really well with this oolong. Will continue testing it out on other teas I use a lot to compare and report back. Good to have a backup source on hand when my city water isn’t working with tea.

Does anyone have a detailed report on Nice! Iceland Pure Spring Water?
p.s. When I was in Annapolis my mother’s assistant by mistake got me Nice! Purified Water, it did not work out well with tea.

[Baisao]

Anyway, I found Baisao’s recommended Nice! Iceland Pure Spring Water at a local Walgreen’s just 6 blocks from my house. Tested it with my frequently used medium roasted DongDing and this water works really well with this oolong. Will continue testing it out on other teas I use a lot to compare and report back. Good to have a backup source on hand when my city water isn’t working with tea.

That’s great news! I’m glad someone other than myself got to try it. Please let us know how you like it with other teas.

Does anyone have a detailed report on Nice! Iceland Pure Spring Water?

I haven’t been able to find one but I am equally interested. I wonder if “Nice! Iceland Spring Water” is rebranded from “Iceland Spring Water”. If so, this is the report for the latter: http://www.finewaters.com/bottled-water ... and-spring

p.s. When I was in Annapolis my mother’s assistant by mistake got me Nice! Purified Water, it did not work out well with tea.

Doh!