Water Water Everywhere... What’s Your Water?
I have mostly stuck to and dialed in a recipe that is a tds of 106 that I have found gives me the best balance of aroma, mouth feel, and extraction power for fermented teas. I find going too light leaves darker teas lacking.
Unfortunately I still haven't found a solution yet with either getting an RO system or local RO water delivered but am working on it. The tap water here is far too chalky to be useable and even filtering it by conventional means does little to nothing than kill water filters. But for those in areas with light or just generally usable tap water that maybe is a bit out of balance, I really recommend sitting down and doing a bit of math and seeing what is available to you. Maybe pitching just a bit of a certain mineral water or two in to each liter of your tea water can really even things out and make a big improvement, and using 40ml per liter of water means you aren't burning through bottled water cutting down your costs and impact massively. Well worth the effort.
Unfortunately I still haven't found a solution yet with either getting an RO system or local RO water delivered but am working on it. The tap water here is far too chalky to be useable and even filtering it by conventional means does little to nothing than kill water filters. But for those in areas with light or just generally usable tap water that maybe is a bit out of balance, I really recommend sitting down and doing a bit of math and seeing what is available to you. Maybe pitching just a bit of a certain mineral water or two in to each liter of your tea water can really even things out and make a big improvement, and using 40ml per liter of water means you aren't burning through bottled water cutting down your costs and impact massively. Well worth the effort.
What is your prevailing water hardness in degrees German hardness (°dH). It is a more familiar unit, for example used by the water works operating here. The water here might even be too soft for tea (2.7°dH).
According to my water provider's tap water lab reports the specs of mine are, on average:
pH: 7,5
CaCO3: 234 mg/l
Iron <20 μg/l
Manganese <10 μg/l
Chlorides <5 mg/l
Ammonium <0,04 mg/l
Nitrates: 0,33 mg/l
Nitrites <0,01 mg/l.
That makes it ~13.1 in German degrees, which is considered hard. Recently, I can really taste it. I'll probably start looking for some way to lower the TDS, but I'm not sure if there is any spring water softer than what I have. For better results I'd have to cut the TDS in half, right?
On another note, is anyone familiar with "The Hidden Messages in Water" by Masaru Emoto? It says that distilled water is not very good and microwaved water is literally Satan.
pH: 7,5
CaCO3: 234 mg/l
Iron <20 μg/l
Manganese <10 μg/l
Chlorides <5 mg/l
Ammonium <0,04 mg/l
Nitrates: 0,33 mg/l
Nitrites <0,01 mg/l.
That makes it ~13.1 in German degrees, which is considered hard. Recently, I can really taste it. I'll probably start looking for some way to lower the TDS, but I'm not sure if there is any spring water softer than what I have. For better results I'd have to cut the TDS in half, right?
On another note, is anyone familiar with "The Hidden Messages in Water" by Masaru Emoto? It says that distilled water is not very good and microwaved water is literally Satan.
They have wonderful municipal water in Norway and most of Europe, unlike the US.Vinski wrote: ↑Sat Aug 17, 2024 6:45 am"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/
Trying out Tibetan water. It's very soft and makes tea sweet and clean, however it does pull out more astringency and my teas tastes flatter with it, barely any "body" or texture from my brews. So far not impressed, will try more. Note that I used this on sheng pu and yancha, both types that I drink the most.
As an aside, does anyone get good results with Volvic for yancha?
Continuing with my water experiments, now using Volvic water to brew sheng pu and yancha. I got to say that its disappointing. Muffles and mutes the sheng pu, while it performs better with yancha - it doesnt bring out the flavors of yancha. The only positive thing I see is that for those adverse to even the slightest hint of sour-ness in yancha, it will not extract any of that lol. I couldnt be bothered with other european brands as Ive experimented with Fiji and Acqua Panna in the past and gotten poor results (chalky, soupy, murky).
Ok.. so Samdasoo (Korean jeju water) is great for young sheng pu and dancong. Perhaps even better for whites, greens, reds. Brings out the sweetness and clarity of these teas. But sorely lacking the texture and body.
While the best all-rounder water that I've had is the Hokuren Taisetsuzan (Japan Hokkaido water). Great for all teas, but especially good for yancha. Sweet and round. Don't bother with the other Hokkaido water brands as Ive tried them all and are quite flat and empty.
Did you know that Nongfu Spring has a water specifically for brewing tea? I will be experimenting with that.. apparently its sourced from Wuyishan itself, so ideally its a step up from the regular nongfu spring for daily drinking.
Will post my findings soon.
Ok.. so Samdasoo (Korean jeju water) is great for young sheng pu and dancong. Perhaps even better for whites, greens, reds. Brings out the sweetness and clarity of these teas. But sorely lacking the texture and body.
While the best all-rounder water that I've had is the Hokuren Taisetsuzan (Japan Hokkaido water). Great for all teas, but especially good for yancha. Sweet and round. Don't bother with the other Hokkaido water brands as Ive tried them all and are quite flat and empty.
Did you know that Nongfu Spring has a water specifically for brewing tea? I will be experimenting with that.. apparently its sourced from Wuyishan itself, so ideally its a step up from the regular nongfu spring for daily drinking.
Will post my findings soon.
I didn't like Volvic and I especially did not like Acqua Panna.
Give VOSS a try but understand that it brews true. If there is not enough pectin in the tea, the water will not mask it (unlike Fiji). If the tea is bitter, the water will not mask it (unlike Acqua Panna).
Give VOSS a try but understand that it brews true. If there is not enough pectin in the tea, the water will not mask it (unlike Fiji). If the tea is bitter, the water will not mask it (unlike Acqua Panna).
recommended by Czech tea drinkers
https://www.nartes.cz/
I've tried and the tea comes out very close to what we have in Kunming, unlike other bottled water in Czech , not mentioning the tap one , of course.
https://www.nartes.cz/
I've tried and the tea comes out very close to what we have in Kunming, unlike other bottled water in Czech , not mentioning the tap one , of course.
Reporting back...
I've had Voss and while its better than most other European water brands, it has a kind of weird plastic taste especially if its stored in warm warehouses. Water with especially high silica, that is sourced from underground volcanic rock or passed through layers of rock formation, tends to mute teas too much. I find this true for Volvic, Fiji, Aqua Panna and Spritzer. Spritzer is from malaysia and i know some tea drinkers use it for yancha but I feel that its brews up bitter. The best water from my testings are from melted glacial or mountain water. Soft, round and naturally "sweet", has a lush texture that is lower in tds (~100) brews the best cups of shengpu and yancha tea.
Nongfu Spring's Wuyi water (yes they have a 4L bottle specially designed for tea brewing) has been talked up alot and after trying it for a few weeks, I feel it performs better than the majority of the big brands BUT still falls short of the 2 different hokkaido water that I use - Hokuren and Kuromatsuna Hokkaido Suisainomori.
Korea Jeju's Samdasoo is great for all other tea types but not heavier roasted oolongs, and aged sheng.
Skip Tibetan Dolma Spring altogether, though.
I've had Voss and while its better than most other European water brands, it has a kind of weird plastic taste especially if its stored in warm warehouses. Water with especially high silica, that is sourced from underground volcanic rock or passed through layers of rock formation, tends to mute teas too much. I find this true for Volvic, Fiji, Aqua Panna and Spritzer. Spritzer is from malaysia and i know some tea drinkers use it for yancha but I feel that its brews up bitter. The best water from my testings are from melted glacial or mountain water. Soft, round and naturally "sweet", has a lush texture that is lower in tds (~100) brews the best cups of shengpu and yancha tea.
Nongfu Spring's Wuyi water (yes they have a 4L bottle specially designed for tea brewing) has been talked up alot and after trying it for a few weeks, I feel it performs better than the majority of the big brands BUT still falls short of the 2 different hokkaido water that I use - Hokuren and Kuromatsuna Hokkaido Suisainomori.
Korea Jeju's Samdasoo is great for all other tea types but not heavier roasted oolongs, and aged sheng.
Skip Tibetan Dolma Spring altogether, though.