Water Source You Use
The problem with tap water is that it is fluoridated. That strong chemical taste will usually overwhelm the flavor of the tea, especially more subtle ones. I have 3 stage filtration system starting with reverse osmosis at my house. For brewing tea at events or traveling, I use bottled water. I’ve had good luck with Voss and had a recommendation to try Mountain Valley Spring Water as well. Haven’t tried that one yet.
The water at the camp I volunteer at in Oregon is supplied with spring water. As a public camp, they have to flourinate at the tap as well but they have a spigot before the flourination system for their own us. I’m interested to try that water when I go this year.
That being said, if I need tea and all I have is tap water, I use it. I definitely bring it to a full boil though, and then let it come down to temperature.
Kishu charcoal in pitchers! Brita was slow and I didn’t like the plastic pitcher. Zero and Pur are supposed to be better than Brita but I haven’t tried them. I bought my Kishu charcoal on Amazon, and just drop in two glass pitchers and leave it six hours or overnight, then pour that into another container and start a new batch. The four of us drink a lot of water and make a lot of tea, so I think I am going to order the Kishu sized for three to five gallons and make it in my biggest glass dispenser and just leave the charcoal in all the time.
My fridge has a built in filter but it takes FOREVER to fill a glass with water even though it is supposed to be the quick fill type.
Our tap water in Southern Indiana is so full of lime that the water heater would last less than 5 years. On top of the literal lime flakes, the often brownish color of our county water made it less than desirable. We tried a whole house charcoal filter but it lowered our pressure so much the upstairs shower would barely run. Replaced it with a particle filter. It is supposed to last 6 months. We might get 6 weeks but the water is clear now. We also installed a softener unit that seems to handle the lime deposits. That really changed the taste and feel of the water. As a last stage precaution, I use a Brita pitcher and filter. The tea tastes good now – no chlorine taste, no flakes, and no color that isn’t supposed to be there.
Our (So CA) water is very hard. Killed several dishwashers already. Added a softener and run any drinking/ cooking water through an Aquasana countertop filter before using it. No complaints.
The tap water is decent in Vancouver so that’s what I use. I run it through a brita filter to remove any chlorine taste/smell
I use a water distiller it sits on my counter and I know it’s pure I bought a stainless steal one with a glass pitcher I trust it’s as clean as I can get and I find my tea is great
I have to say it’s worth the investment
I got mine from Mega home
Most people say distilled water makes tea that has very low flavor as the minerals in the water help with flavor extraction. I’m glad you thought the investment was worth it, although you may find better results with other waters.
Mega home water distiller is what i use to get great distilled water i find alot of left over white crappy stuff after running tap water through it ! And the tea tastes very clean!
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