Types of water that are not suitable for making tea

Spring water: it needs to be tested

It is not for nothing that the Chinese preferred to draw water for tea from high mountain springs - there it is much less in contact with the soil and therefore does not have time to saturate with minerals, and therefore has a softer structure. With water from an ordinary well or spring you should not count on this. Most often the same problem is observed here as with mineral water - the water is too hard. For this reason, well and spring water should be tested regularly to be sure of its mineralization level. 

Mineral water: worsens the flavor and affects the benefits of tea

Minerals themselves are neither good nor bad. They can be a useful additive, and can overload the body. Not without reason, all mineral waters are usually divided into table and therapeutic. The first have a low concentration of active substances and are acceptable in the daily menu, the second is not recommended to drink without a doctor's appointment.Tea made with such water, on the one hand, gets more astringent taste and unpleasant bitterness, and on the other hand - turns out "flat", inexpressive, because the mineral salts prevent the release of aromatic substances. In addition, brewing with mineral water reduces the amount of antioxidants in the finished tea: catechins oxidize very quickly, losing their useful properties.

Water from the cooler: contrary to the brewing temperature regime

It would seem that the water from the cooler can not be faulted: it usually has an ideal degree of mineralization. However, there is also a problem. On average, the cooler maintains a temperature of 90-95 degrees, and this is great for oolong, karkade and some other tisanes, but bad for black tea and puerh, which require 100% boiling water. And it is completely unacceptable for green and white tea, which are brewed with water no higher than 75-85 °C.

Water boiled more than once: changes the flavor of tea

There is a lot of controversy about water that has been boiled twice. For example, they say that it can be poisoned because of the increased concentration of various chemicals. In fact, this is unlikely: after all, the municipal water supply company monitors the quality of water. And if you also passed it through a filter, the amount of unnecessary elements is exactly close to safe values. Bottled water, as a rule, is initially clean. Nevertheless, studies show that changes in the flavor of tea are possible, because every time water boils, it loses oxygen molecules.