On 2007-05-23, Jo > wrote:
> Michael Plant wrote:

>> That was the gist of the end of the discussion. Rationale behind the
>> boil and let the water cool down solution is thought to derive from
>> areas and times where and when water was bad and needed to be boiled.
>> Some people said that in China "fish eye" water is considered bad
>> water and full roiling water is considered good -- whatever that
>> means. Personally, I often boil the water and let it cool, although
>> our water here in New York City is just fine and quite healthy --
>> whatever that means. This is all from memory, so it might be less
>> than perfect, as am I. Michael

> "Fish-eye water" is good and full boiling water is NOT considered to
> be good! As always in real life, there's not only black and white,
> different shades of gray fill out most of the middle ground. In the
> case of heating water for tea, there are 3 main stages based on the
> appearance of the water. The first stage is called "crab-eye water",
> referring to the size of bubbles that form at this particular stage.
> According to my random measurements, that's usually somewhere between
> 85° and 90°C. It is considered to be unhealthy water by the Chinese.
> The next stage is called "fish-eye water", this time forming a bit
> larger bubbles that break through to the surface in a semi-steady
> stream. This stage is considered to be the ideal for making tea. If
> you don't stop the heating process, you'll end up with "old man water"
> (a full rolling boil) which is considered to be worthless for making
> tea.

"...worthless for making tea" is a strong statement to make. IMO, the
type of water to use depends who you ask, what type of tea you're
talking about, and what you're using the water for.

I have seen people who definitely know what they're doing (for example,
Michael from the Tea Gallery in NY) use water that's at a full rolling
boil to open the leaves (for example, the leaves of a relatively light
TGY), and I've also heard of some people who use much less than boiling
water for teas that most folks would probably use boiling or
near-boiling water for. I tend to use boiling water for the rinse for
all but the most delicate oolongs (especially tightly rolled ones), to
help open the leaves, and I haven't seen any big problems from it. Most
of the experienced people I've watched brew seem to use a lot hotter
water than you might guess was ideal from what you read.

I also let the water come to a full boil before rinsing / heating my
teaware. The water has usually cooled down enough (for most of the stuff
I brew, anyway) by the time I get to the first post-rinse infusion. When
brewing a delicate green, I'd definitely be more conservative with my
water temperature.

I don't usually use a thermometer, but once in a while, I'll put one in
to check, and assuming my thermometer (a typical commercial kitchen type
one) is accurate, temperatures in my kettle are usually 5-10 degrees
below what I'd guess they are.

Another thing (that a friend here in LA pointed out to me) is that you
can do a lot with HOW you pour the water - so even if the water has just
come from a full boil, you can pour along the rim of the teapot or on
the side of the gaiwan, which will cool it down a bit.

As far as I understand, full-boiling water is ideal for red (black) tea,
and a lot of people seem to recommend boiling water for pu'er of all
types... that's what I usually do. Danica told me once that Roy Fong
likes to brew a lot of pu'ers (young ones, especially, IIRC) with
substantially cooler water, though - closer to green tea temperature,
and that he has good results with this.

With the electric kettle I have (standard metal Chinese electric kettle
type deal), there's not much room between crab eyes and a rolling boil,
especially if it's not entirely full.

One thing that folks definitely seem to agree is bad is RE-boiling
water.

w