On Aug 26, 4:41 pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> And with my very limited experience comparing waters, I'm not at all sure
> that this is an issue only for delicate teas.
>
> /Lew

Actually that´s the main historic reason for Eastfriesian blends to
contain such high amounts of Assam, usually > 90%. No other tea that
made it over here back in the old days benefitted so much from the
extremely soft, slightly acidic water they have here. From my
experience an average Assam can handle quite a broad span of water
hardness resulting in some interesting changes of flavour and colour
of the brew. However, most Frieseans seem to like their tea water
soft, so some folks took to collecting rain water while other folks I
know over here don´t travel without some canisters of local water in
their cars.
On the other hand I have to use bottled water [Volvic] or add some
minerals for my Darjeelings, using water straight from the tap results
in a flat and downright boring brew.

BTW: having been born and raised in a city with miserably hard water
that is totally unsuitable for any sort of tea [but somehow great for
coffee] this leaves me speculating on what effects a worldwide
improvement in the quality of tap water would have on the popularity
of tea.

Karsten [some Highgrown Sri Lanka leaves in tazza]