Tea is King but Water Quality is God
We have a saying at PMD Tea, "Tea is King but water quality is God" and my recent visit to Scotland really emphasised this.
Scotland is beautiful at this time of year, and over the last month I have been
on the road, visiting some of our commercial customers. Water quality makes a significant difference to the taste of your tea and Scotland has some of the best water in the world. It tends to be on the soft side, i.e. more acidic, and when used to brew our hand-picked teas, you get an excellent cup of tea that is bright and flavourful. Even mediocre teas will taste better in soft water.
Portree on the Isle of Skye with the Cullin Hills in the distance
When I am visiting Sri Lanka I always use Colombo water when visiting tea estates “up country” as water quality changes region to region. It helps me understand how the tea will taste when we get it down to the tasting room.
All is not lost though if you live in a hard water area, as I do around London, where the water is very alkaline.
- Firstly descale your kettle (the best way to do this is to fill your kettle halfway, equal parts cold water and white vinegar, boil and then leave to stand for 15 mins)
- Then use filtered water when brewing your tea as it will help remove the impurities found in the tap water
Bagging Scottish Munro's one cup of hand-picked Tea at a time
Finally how about trying this “Pro Tip” for Silver Tip White Teas which is a lighter bodied teas and best experienced using a quality bottled water to unlock its full flavour. Click this link to understand how Tap, filtered and bottled water change the taste and flavour of the same tea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbIIbX1Pa3o&t=28s
