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Tea (rec.drink.tea) Discussion relating to tea, the world's second most consumed beverage (after water), made by infusing or boiling the leaves of the tea plant (C. sinensis or close relatives) in water. |
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Posted to rec.food.drink.tea
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This post concerns water and tea. Allow me to begin with an analogical
digression. Several decades ago, as a pre-professional nerd, I read that sugar is critical in many foods not as a source of sweetness per se, but as a flavor potentiator like unto salt or MSG. This seemed possibly relevant to the consuming problem of rapid flavor decay in so-called Juicy Fruit gum. So I took a wad of post-sapid chicle, wrapped it around a pinch of table sugar, and was astonished to find it entirely revivified. Fortunately for Wrigley's fortunes (and my remaining teeth), I was too lazy to make this a regular practice, and none of my cohort expressed interest in such a life-extension methodology. Back to tea: I keep being disappointed on home-brewing rare and fine wonders that delighted in-store or at others' homes. Water is clearly a factor, most likely due to absence of needed solutes rather than presence of contaminants. But I'm too lazy and cheap to schlep gallons of bottled solvent, and also (after several years in the UK) averse to de-scaling the kettle. So of late, I've been trying some post-brew experiments. These have taken the form of adding a dash of bottled water to the gaiwan before dousing with hot tap water. I use mineral rather than spring water, to get a good slug of ions in the small addendum. This has worked pretty well. So far, I've used Gerolsteiner, which may not be an optimal mineral balance. (It is, however, the only one available here in the woods.) It's still less than convenient, and makes it that bit harder to control brewing temperature. So recently I've tried adding mineral water to the finished brew. This goes against common wisdom about the effect of various solutes (including oxygen) on extraction chemistry. -Common wisdom, I might add, absent widely published evidence. Thus far, the effect has been just as beneficial. Today, for example, I brewed a sample of Old Dong Ting from NYC's wonderful Tea Gallery. (Disclosu commercial connection; I spend money there at every opportunity.) This exquisite tea went "flat" after just three steeps in tap water. Adding a few ml of mineral water to the poured cup added/restored multiple layers of sweetness, fruit, complexity. And seemed to smooth over hints of roughness, somehow bringing the smoke/roast into better balance with more intrinsic leaf notes. (Kind of like the difference between 10- and 15-year-old Laphroaig, for those of that persuasion.) I took out five more very tasty steeps before going out to grease the Kioti. Now, here's the punch line: the bio-effect of a little added mineral water seemed to persist. I alternated "spiked" and tap-water brews, rinsing the cup between, and found them almost indistinguishable. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising: calcium is a dominant mediator of cellular and neural activity, and charging the taste buds and proximal tissue with divalent ions might have a persistent effect. Any biologists here able to comment? Anyway, the provisional conclusion: a very small addition of minerals can apparently have a profound, persistent and positive effect on perceived quality in brewed tea, without much effort. Your mouthfeel may vary. -DM |