2013.02.28
Suitable Water for Japanese Green Tea Making
99.7% of the tea is the water that we use to make tea, and the rest 0.3% is the nutrients which come out of the tea leaves. Therefore, the selection of water is a very important factor which determines the flavor of tea. No matter how good the green tea leaves are, if the water does not taste good or is of poor quality and not suitable for the making of green tea, expensive tea will be wasted as good flavor will disappear.
What is tasty water? According to the research on tasty water from 100 sources in Japan conducted by the Ministry of Environment in 1985, it was discovered that “Tasty water is rainwater which has seeped through the ground for decades. It is quite rich in minerals as well as oxygen and carbon-dioxide. The water temperature is low and, most importantly, it should not be contaminated with organic compounds”.
Some say that “Tasty water is tap water which has been disinfected and has no smell of chlorine”, or “Tasty water is the water which has the hardness of or has the amount of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) of 10〜100 mg per liter” or soft to medium-soft water.
In some places in Thailand, the water is hard or has a lot of calcium carbonate. Water in some places might be mildly acidic and has acidic taste. Besides, tap water in some areas may have the smell of chlorine. If it is used for tea making, the tea may have acidic taste or unpleasant smell.
Thus, before making tea, you should try the water first to see what flavor it has. Is the water acidic or bitter, or does it have the smell of chlorine? You should always boil the water before using it for tea making. The water should be boiled for about 5 minutes to soften the water. The lid should be open a little to let the smell of chlorine evaporate. However, if that water is permanently hard water which still has leftover smell and taste after being boiled, it means that the method of boiling cannot soften the water.
Therefore, it is recommended that you use clean water for consumption from stores or distilled water.
The boiling of water not only solves the problem of chlorine smell and softens the water, but it also reduces the size of water molecules. Smaller molecules of water can penetrate into green tea leaves. As a result, the nutrients in the tea leaves will dissolve into the tea more easily.
If you want to drink good tea, please also pay attention to the water.
