I love my Yixing pots and every other week I come up with some new excuse to tell the missus why I need another one. But between spending $100 for a proper water filter and a Yixing pot, I would pick the filter anytime, or over Tetsubin kettle for that matter.
One of the most underrated components of great tasting tea is water. You can use a Tetsubin kettle to boil water and pour into a master-crafted Zhuni pot filled with Dahongpao from Liuxiangjian but if you are using tap water, the tea isn’t going to blow you away.
Chlorine and other impurities is in my estimation the biggest taste killer for tea. Unless you like stocking up on Volvic at home, a simple carbon filter would be for my money, the best way to enhance the taste of tea.
How important is water to tea?
In this case, the famous Chinese scholar and official Zheng Ban Qiao once wrote:
“从来名士能评水，自古高僧爱斗茶”
Loosely translated it goes: Learned men have always been able to appraise water; since antiquity revered monks love tea battles
*Tea battles were popular during Song dynasty where tea lovers will pit their skill against each other to compose poems or draw using the foam of the tea
Zheng’s quote illustrates that skill with tea is inseparable from the ability to judge water, both equally vital to great tasting tea.
Criteria for water used in tea
The government standard GB579-2006 lists a set of clear quantifiable criteria for the water, color not more than 15 degrees, pH between 6.5-8.5 etc.
To cut a long story short, the water must be free of other smells, almost pH neutral, soft water and fresh.
As I mentioned earlier- in Singapore at least- using a carbon filter is good enough for all intents and purposes, removing chlorine and some other chemicals.
I have read that reverse osmosis filters actually render the tea flat, something I can’t verify personally since I find the cost prohibitive, especially as an experiment.
Another point to note is that I find teas made with water left under direct sunlight for long tastes funny, some alien taste emerged, a mixture of the plastic the water was stored in and an over-boiled taste.
Boiling water for tea
Boil water once. Re-boiled water leads to evaporation and a higher concentration of minerals, teas lose their briskness when brew with such water.
Don’t over-boil water as well, the water tastes ‘old’ and is ill-suited for brewing tea.
Hence unless you are going to pay attention to the boiling sounds or bubble shapes of the water, the most convenient way is to get an electric kettle with auto cut-off.
It heats up quickly and you won’t run the risk of over-boiling.
Water and Tea
It is said that spring water tastes the best, the ancient texts go as far as to rank the springs in China but in our context, most of us don’t have ready access to spring water. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to water.
It certainly helps you to improve the quality of the brew in a cost-effective manner.
