Are You Aware of How Water Quality Can Affect Your Tea?

🔍 A Quick Glance at the basics of water

• Hydrogen and oxygen are two elements make up water and the water boils at 100 C temperature.
• Tea loves oxygen as it helps the flavour develop!
• The average pH level of pure water is 7.
• Tea loves slightly more acidic, with a ph of 4.5-6

Let’s say when you have your favourite tea set and decent tea ready, have you ever give a second to think about what types of water should be of use to get the palatable cup of tea? You must heard of this before: if you want to get the proper flavours and aromas out of your tea, understanding your water is as important as understand your tea.

Four Standards for Good Water

The ancients believed that naturally occurring sources of water is the best water for brewing tea. Spring, stream, river, lake, well water, snow and rain , etc. spring is among all the most ideal water source for tea brew. The standard for good water for tea brew is no more than four conditions, live source(源活), sweetness（味甘）, softness(品轻) and clarity(质清).

Five Main Types of Water

Mountain Spring Water

Groundwater is the best water for tea. It is clean, free of impurities, soft and sweet. The most famous spring water in China includes: Spring Zhong Ling(中泠泉), Spring Huishan(惠山泉) and Spring Kwanyin(观音泉) in Suzhou.

Well Water

In general, protected by water-resistant layers, deep groundwater is free from pollution. Deep well water is better than shallow well water. The quality of deep well water is also suitable for drinking and brewing.

Purified Water

Purified water is a typical type of soft water that has been processed to remove contaminants like dirt and chemicals, and it can bring out the very best nature of tea itself. In the fast-paced world, purified water is a good-value one.

Mineral Water

Mineral water contains minerals, which are more likely to affect the tea quality, but weak alkaline mineral water is suitable for tea, which helps compounds contained in tealeaves to release properly.

Running Water(Tap Water)

Usually through artificial purification, disinfection treated river water or lake water can also be used to make tea. If the water has a strong chlorine taste, it can be held in a clean container overnight until it’s the smell naturally evaporated, and then it can be used to make tea.

What is the best water for tea brew

Just bear in mind that hard water can flatten taste and diminishes flavours. Unfortunately, even the best tea can taste like dirt if the water contains contaminants from the reservoir or your local plant.

Use purified or freshly drawn cold water (filtered if possible) in the kettle. Do not keep re-boiling the water in the kettle it losses all of its oxygen and you will be left with a very sad flat cup.

Recommended Brewing Times