The Tea Series, Part Nine: Something in the Water

It all begins here.

You have done the grunt work of becoming a Tea Devotee. You have tried type after varietal, chosen some of your favorites, and laboriously experimented with brewing time. Now you're ready to make the perfect pot of tea. Right? Um.. maybe. What's your water like?

Water can be a huge factor in taking your tea game to the next level. Ideally, water used for tea should range in dissolved minerals from 15-20ppm. If the water in your city is crappy (I'll use the City of San Diego water as an example) it can seriously degrade the quality of your tea where it counts the most, in the cup.

The importance of water can be illustrated in the customary pairing of Lung Jing (Dragon Well) with Hangzhou's legendary "Tiger Running Spring" water. Ah! You think I use hyperbole with the word "Legendary"? There is actually a legend....... (start dream sequence music)

The story goes that during the Tang Dynasty (*Tang* also needs great water, but that's another series) there used to be a temple that was collapsing, due to lack of water. A Buddhist Monk, Xingkong, owing to lack of water, had to plan to leave the temple. One night, he had a dream, in which an immortal told him two tigers would move a fountain here. As expected, in the next day, two mighty tigers from Mt. Hengshan ran around the spot and dug a hole which caused the spring to gush forth. Hence the name Hupao Spring (Tiger Running Spring).

Fun twaddle aside, the water is incredible. Formed underground, seeping from cracks in quartz limestone, the water is sweet clear, with low mineralized content. I have had Lung Jing made with Running Tiger Spring water. Perhaps it serves as a great example of the psychology of enjoyment, but DAMN (!), it was superb!

Use the best for here.

So ya say "I don't want to get my water from China". Well, don't fret, there are plenty of alternatives. Aside from an abundance of great quality, low mineral waters available on the market, there is also home filtration systems. The big ones are "Brita" and "Pur". Between those two, go with the Brita. The Pur takes out almost all the minerals, along with the funk and chlorine. Pur beats most city water, but ain't ideal. The Brita, which takes the bad stuff out, but leaves the desirable elements in, is considered a great method of obtaining the "right" water from those in the know.

Yours in "Tea Life, Tea Mind",
Bear
International Tea Masters Association