Tea is the worlds second most consumed beverage, behind water. To make a cup of tea, however, one needs water. Recently I met up with a good friend who is also a customer of PMD. We sat down at his house and he brewed up a cup of our Silver Tips.

While observing him prepare the tea, I noted that he followed all the correct principles in brewing tea. The tea was also stored in an air tight container. I was taken aback by the final taste in the cup. It was missing something.  After a long contemplative think, I realized what was missing from the cup.

When ever we taste tea at the company and at home, we use bottled water. This is because the water in London is very hard and calcified.   The best water to use for tea is soft water.  Some individuals who are reading this will be lucky enough to get very good quality water straight from their tap. Unfortunately, for me I have to rely on bottled water.

We brewed the same tea again, but this time with bottled water. He was amazed by the greater depth and flavour that he was now able to experience with the same tea leaves.

Many T Ching readers are purchasing quality tea but if they truly want to experience all the depth and flavour of the tea – they need to consider the quality of the water being used for their daily brewing.

tea kettleIf you’re OCD (obsessive-compulsive) like me you might even want to invest in a kettle that is only for brewing bottled water. By making this restriction, you avoid any lime scale build up in your kettle.

To further highlight the importance of water quality we dedicated an episode to this on the PMD Tea Buyers club.  Brew your favorite teas in different waters and tell me if you taste and see a difference. I would be interested to know.

Happy Sipping!

Editor’s note:  For further ideas on gathering and preparing water for tea, please read T Ching posts from October 29, November 5, and November 12.

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