My familly has recently installed a reverse osmosis system to purify
the water. Immediately after installation, of course I was curious
about how tea would taste with this water -- which tasted totally
different from the tap water I usually use. I live in Toronto, Canada,
which has moderately hard water. It's not as extreme as other parts of
Ontario, but I often see scum on top of my tea. When I'm just drinking
the water by itself, I notice a distinct chlorinated taste, but when
I'm making tea the chlorine is unnoticable.

I made tea with the new water from the system, and to my surprise the
color of the black tea I was brewing became much brighter than before.
The aroma of the tea seemed sweeter and slightly more intense. But the
color was a good indication of how the tea would be like -- much, much
milder than usual. With my Torontonian hard water the tea was usually
quite robust and astringent -- even robust after adding milk. With RO
purified water, it was so mild that I thought I was using a different
tea.

My question is if using RO purified water for tea desirable over hard,
tap water. I'm accustomed to the tap water, so I can't really say if
its better or not. What is the general consensus on purified water? The
main reason my family got the system was to stop paying as much for
bottled water and have better tasting water. Since bottled water is no
longer an option for me what should I do? City water? RO purified
water? Half n' half?

Thanks for your feedback =)

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> My familly has recently installed a reverse osmosis system to purify
> the water. Immediately after installation, of course I was curious
> about how tea would taste with this water -- which tasted totally
> different from the tap water I usually use.

Both your curiosity and the difference in taste are totally understandable.

> I live in Toronto, Canada,
> which has moderately hard water. It's not as extreme as other parts of
> Ontario, but I often see scum on top of my tea.

I read somewhere that scum in tea is indicative of more calcium.

> When I'm just drinking
> the water by itself, I notice a distinct chlorinated taste, but when
> I'm making tea the chlorine is unnoticable.

Since chlorine dissipates when water is left standing (recommended for fish
and plants), I expect boiling releases chlorine from the water so it's not
comparable to drinking tap water straight.

> I made tea with the new water from the system, and to my surprise the
> color of the black tea I was brewing became much brighter than before.
> The aroma of the tea seemed sweeter and slightly more intense. But the
> color was a good indication of how the tea would be like -- much, much
> milder than usual. With my Torontonian hard water the tea was usually
> quite robust and astringent -- even robust after adding milk. With RO
> purified water, it was so mild that I thought I was using a different
> tea.

A change in water will do that especially when the water overpowers the tea.

> My question is if using RO purified water for tea desirable over hard,
> tap water. I'm accustomed to the tap water, so I can't really say if
> its better or not. What is the general consensus on purified water? The
> main reason my family got the system was to stop paying as much for
> bottled water and have better tasting water. Since bottled water is no
> longer an option for me what should I do? City water? RO purified
> water? Half n' half?

I'd go with the filtered water to let more of the tea's nuances through, but
since they're your taste buds, you're better off using whichever water suits
your taste, not someone else's. Personally, I don't like the taste of my
local water and use filtered or bottled distilled water for cooking and
drinking as well as for my tea.

My cat, OTOH, doesn't seem to care whether her drinking water is tap,
filtered, or sitting on the stove leftover from cooking pasta .

--
~~Bluesea~~who is much better at keeping Miss Kitty out of tea
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

"Bluesea" > wrote in message
...
>
> I'd go with the filtered water...

filtered = purified

You know what I meant, right?

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

RO water wins hands-down in my taste tests.

We have a RO system installed and I take the water with me to work (to brew
my morning cup of tea). The local tap water at work is hard and produces
horrible tasting tea (and coffee).

--
Aloke
----
to reply by e-mail remove 123 and change invalid to com

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> My familly has recently installed a reverse osmosis system to purify
> the water. Immediately after installation, of course I was curious
> about how tea would taste with this water -- which tasted totally
> different from the tap water I usually use. I live in Toronto, Canada,
> which has moderately hard water. It's not as extreme as other parts of
> Ontario, but I often see scum on top of my tea. When I'm just drinking
> the water by itself, I notice a distinct chlorinated taste, but when
> I'm making tea the chlorine is unnoticable.
>
> I made tea with the new water from the system, and to my surprise the
> color of the black tea I was brewing became much brighter than before.
> The aroma of the tea seemed sweeter and slightly more intense. But the
> color was a good indication of how the tea would be like -- much, much
> milder than usual. With my Torontonian hard water the tea was usually
> quite robust and astringent -- even robust after adding milk. With RO
> purified water, it was so mild that I thought I was using a different
> tea.
>
> My question is if using RO purified water for tea desirable over hard,
> tap water. I'm accustomed to the tap water, so I can't really say if
> its better or not. What is the general consensus on purified water? The
> main reason my family got the system was to stop paying as much for
> bottled water and have better tasting water. Since bottled water is no
> longer an option for me what should I do? City water? RO purified
> water? Half n' half?
>
> Thanks for your feedback =)
>

I suggest trying tea made with bottled water rather than tap or even
'cleansed' tap water. It's more expensive certainly but even the cheapest
bottled will do, and be superior to any type of tap water (as long as it's
not like Pepsico's 'Dasani' water which is made from local cleansed tap
water -- use mountain spring water).

For a real treat try 'Fiji' water which is about the softest water you can
find.. feels like velvet in your mouth.

When I was in Ireland this summer the tap water was so horrible that I
always had to use bottled water to drink and for teamaking. Just get a big
2.5 gallon spouted jug.

F

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> My familly has recently installed a reverse osmosis system to purify
> the water. Immediately after installation, of course I was curious
> about how tea would taste with this water -- which tasted totally
> different from the tap water I usually use. I live in Toronto, Canada,
> which has moderately hard water. It's not as extreme as other parts of
> Ontario, but I often see scum on top of my tea. When I'm just drinking
> the water by itself, I notice a distinct chlorinated taste, but when
> I'm making tea the chlorine is unnoticable.
>
> I made tea with the new water from the system, and to my surprise the
> color of the black tea I was brewing became much brighter than before.
> The aroma of the tea seemed sweeter and slightly more intense. But the
> color was a good indication of how the tea would be like -- much, much
> milder than usual. With my Torontonian hard water the tea was usually
> quite robust and astringent -- even robust after adding milk. With RO
> purified water, it was so mild that I thought I was using a different
> tea.
>
> My question is if using RO purified water for tea desirable over hard,
> tap water. I'm accustomed to the tap water, so I can't really say if
> its better or not. What is the general consensus on purified water? The
> main reason my family got the system was to stop paying as much for
> bottled water and have better tasting water. Since bottled water is no
> longer an option for me what should I do? City water? RO purified
> water? Half n' half?
>
> Thanks for your feedback =)
>

Thanks for all the responses =). I tried a couple of more times, and I
think I like tea better with purified water than just plain tap water
-- even if it lacks almost any minerals. As I said, I don't want to
continue to buy bottled water after my familly has installed this
system -- it's a waste of money. I'll try different things out, like
seeing if the tea tastes better with virtually mineral-less water or if
a splash of regular tap water will improve the taste. Thanks!

I second you suggestion. When I was on hiatus in the US for 6 months,
I brewed my tea using "spring" water in the jugs you can get at the
grocery store. Keep in mind that some brands are better than others,
but I got much better tasting tea than when I tried to use tap water.

On 21 Aug 2005 10:46:41 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

>Aloke Prasad > wrote:
>>RO water wins hands-down in my taste tests.
>>
>>We have a RO system installed and I take the water with me to work (to brew
>>my morning cup of tea). The local tap water at work is hard and produces
>>horrible tasting tea (and coffee).
>
>As I recall (and please correct me if I am wrong), these systems do not
>actually purify water, they just replace one kind of ion with another kind.
>So your water is still just as impure, only in a less problematic way.
>
>This means the water that comes out of the machine is as soft as the water
>going in was hard. The harder the input, the softer the output.
>
>If your original water contains iron, which makes tea really nasty, anything
>you can do to it will be a huge help.
>--scott

What you are describing is water softening, an ion exchange process.

RO, however, is a process in which water is forced through a
semi-permeable membrane, thereby removing contaminants that won't fit
through the membrane. It is water purification.

- --
Anthony
remove x's to reply

Anthony Leverock wrote:
>>As I recall (and please correct me if I am wrong), these systems do not
>>actually purify water, they just replace one kind of ion with another kind.
>>So your water is still just as impure, only in a less problematic way.
>>
>>This means the water that comes out of the machine is as soft as the water
>>going in was hard. The harder the input, the softer the output.
>>
>>If your original water contains iron, which makes tea really nasty, anything
>>you can do to it will be a huge help.
>>--scott
>
>
> What you are describing is water softening, an ion exchange process.
>
> RO, however, is a process in which water is forced through a
> semi-permeable membrane, thereby removing contaminants that won't fit
> through the membrane. It is water purification.

I have to add, the nerd that I am, that the ion exchange processes I've
seen are much better than what was described in the post above. Some
can replace negative ions with OH- and positive ions with H+, leaving,
if you do the math on that, H2O--aka water.