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Spoonvonstup

155 Followers / 192 Following

Spoonvonstup drank Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea

Just a quick note about water.

We moved into our new place this weekend, but we haven’t been able to install our water filter. The threading on the faucet just doesn’t want to grab any of the little plastic adapters that came with the filter, so it looks like we’ll have to get something else.

So- we made this tea on Saturday morning with water from the tap. Generally, the water is fine (no funky tastes or anything weird like huge calcium deposits, etc). However, we noticed that the tea seemed a lot juicier than normal? After many sips and a few other teas, it’s clear that the water has more metal of some sort in it. It’s a subtle difference, but immeadiatly noticeable. With this water, it’s as if this is a different picking or a different grade or a different season. Definitely LaoShan, but not quite the same as my last note described.

So! Water really is important. With a little bit of a filter, the house water is going to be sweet and full and an awesome base for teas. Right now, the light metal/juicy flavor will keep me from breaking out the awesome celebratory new-place teas until we get a filter or one of those pitchers.

2012-04-16 12:01:08 -0400

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Amy oh 2012-04-16 12:58:49 -0400

I understand our water in San Francisco is good for municipal water but I am still tempted to get a filter. hmmm… Have you ever made tea with Brita filtered water?

Spoonvonstup 2012-04-16 13:36:52 -0400

Yep! It’s what I’ve been using for the last 6 months or so. The drinking water at the old apartment was already quite good, so the Brita was more than adequate. As I assume it would/will be here. We’re looking to replace with either 1) more determined attempts to attach the old one 2) a brita pitcher to keep in the fridge (so we always have cold water, too) or 3) a nice heavy duty filter from Mandala, which would filter more and probably be more cost effective over-time.

Bonnie 2012-04-16 15:15:48 -0400

I think that the water here is super excellent…23 breweries and some distilleries are here because of the water. Good sign. The water where I lived before was terrible. Mercury from old mines in the mountains and all that. I had to have a filter installed. Bad stuff! Right outside Silicon Valley.

Charles Thomas Draper 2012-04-17 12:50:44 -0400

I have a Pur filter. I do not know how I lived withiut one before….

Tea Pantheon 2012-04-30 05:37:19 -0400

I know the problem. The tea taste can change from day to day depending on water quality. But I am also finding how temperature affects the taste. A bit too hot or not hot enough water and your tea tastes like cheap Lipton. I am trying now to discover perfect temperature for Biluochun tea. This one is really hard to brew properly.

Indigobloom 2012-10-03 06:57:27 -0400

I noticed this when I was brewing teas last year over Christmas, we were in Florida. The water in Toronto is generally better quality, on average… but the flavour in tea is significantly less tasty. It just doesn’t “burst” the same way!! :s

SimpliciTEA 2012-10-03 18:40:40 -0400

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that with us all. I always wondered how big a difference the water you use could make in the tea liquor.

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I generally drink Chinese teas.

I love things that are interesting, that force me to stop and think about and enjoy what I’m experiencing. Even better are those teas you just have to drink with a friend so that the outpouring of tastes and memories find a sounding board in a trusted companion.

I’m into tea as an experience rather than just a thirst quenching beverage. I love to learn- there’s so much to learn about tea.

I also prefer my teas to be exceedingly delicious, if at all possible. Luckily, I have great tea friends and teachers that can hook me up with the good stuff.

Something I’ve noticed about my ratings:
I tend to use Steepster more like Yelp and less like Twitter. I’ll generally only review a tea once in its life (though that review and rating might be edited over time to reflect changes in my own understanding of it).
I do not generally log each tea I’m drinking as I drink, since that feels like a distraction- I’d rather just drink the tea!
I tend to only review teas I really love or that I really did not enjoy. If it falls somewhere in the middle of “meh” and “that was pretty good, I suppose,” then I won’t be compelled to sit down and spend time giving a nice, fleshed out review and rating.
As such, it might seem like I give out high scores willy-nilly. Instead, I’m doing my first round of rating mentally off-site, and presenting only the teas I really want to share with everyone.