Was at a Markt der Sinne this last weekend, which translates (poorly) as 'market of the senses' or in a more racy way 'sensuous market'. I know some of you are going to have fun with that one.
But unlike its name might suggest, the Markt der Sinne was mostly artists and artisans selling their wares. I stumbled round trying not to look some of them directly in the eye. Although some stands were selling only homemade objects, there were a few shops that had set up their wares.
And instead of buying a necklace made of monkey teeth or a candle that'd help me align my chakras, I found one shop that had different products from The British Isles. I didn't expect to find anything I really wanted, but then I noticed some packages of loose-leaf tea.
What caught my eye was a package from Yorkshire Gold. I've mentioned before that I think this tea from Taylor's of Harrogate is a reliable blend of black tea that might be a good beginning for someone just getting into tea. But this package had something written on it that I hadn't seen before.
It was tea for hard water. Wow, really?
Now, maybe you come from a place with hard water and you've seen products specially made for this sort of thing. I haven't.
I know the water's hard here, but does it really affect the taste of the tea? There was only one way to find out. Something I didn't know even existed a few minutes earlier? Now, I had to have it.
Then on my way home, I thought, 'Wait. Is the tap water in Munich even very hard? I know it has a lot of chalk in it, but does that make it hard?' Luckily, I found this website that explains Tap Water Quality in Munich.
No idea how accurate that information is, but at least I felt more confident that I had the right hard water for my new tea.
How does it taste? Hm...I brewed it. I've actually brewed it a few times. Even served it to a few people. It's ok. The reaction from others has been that it's a bit weak, but...
This isn't a tea review. I'll do that more seriously when I've had a chance to try it with varying amounts of tea and lengths of steeping times.
I mainly wanted to ask if you'd tried tea specifically blended for certain water where you live? Have you even heard of this?
But unlike its name might suggest, the Markt der Sinne was mostly artists and artisans selling their wares. I stumbled round trying not to look some of them directly in the eye. Although some stands were selling only homemade objects, there were a few shops that had set up their wares.
And instead of buying a necklace made of monkey teeth or a candle that'd help me align my chakras, I found one shop that had different products from The British Isles. I didn't expect to find anything I really wanted, but then I noticed some packages of loose-leaf tea.
What caught my eye was a package from Yorkshire Gold. I've mentioned before that I think this tea from Taylor's of Harrogate is a reliable blend of black tea that might be a good beginning for someone just getting into tea. But this package had something written on it that I hadn't seen before.
It was tea for hard water. Wow, really?
Now, maybe you come from a place with hard water and you've seen products specially made for this sort of thing. I haven't.
I know the water's hard here, but does it really affect the taste of the tea? There was only one way to find out. Something I didn't know even existed a few minutes earlier? Now, I had to have it.
Then on my way home, I thought, 'Wait. Is the tap water in Munich even very hard? I know it has a lot of chalk in it, but does that make it hard?' Luckily, I found this website that explains Tap Water Quality in Munich.
No idea how accurate that information is, but at least I felt more confident that I had the right hard water for my new tea.
How does it taste? Hm...I brewed it. I've actually brewed it a few times. Even served it to a few people. It's ok. The reaction from others has been that it's a bit weak, but...
This isn't a tea review. I'll do that more seriously when I've had a chance to try it with varying amounts of tea and lengths of steeping times.
I mainly wanted to ask if you'd tried tea specifically blended for certain water where you live? Have you even heard of this?
I'm convinced that water definitely affects brewing, and I can imagine that hard water would definitely influence which teas tasted better. I've lived in different places and brewed tea with different water, and the results can be pretty different.
ReplyDeleteI also have been aware for a long time about companies, like Yorkshire tea, making tea specifically for hard water.
However, I haven't tried any of these "hard water" blends, nor have I conducted any systematic tests of any sort of tea brewed with average water and hard water.
This would be an interesting test to do, if you or anyone else wants to undertake it. I would be very interested in reading and sharing the results!
I think I'm spoiled here in Oregon because our tap tastes like spring water. I have brewed tea in Californian tap water and...ugh...never again. Even green rooibos couldn't save it.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a really awesome experience? Brew tea with *glacier* water. Seriously...it's life-changing.
No, I haven't seen tea for hard water. But where I live in Sweden we don't have hard water. Im positive that different water affects the taste of tea, and I will try glacier water next time I'm in the mountains!
ReplyDelete@Manx
Thanks everyone for the responses.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I might just try that experiment, and I'll definitely let you know the results if I do.
We purchase filtered water here because our water is so hard. I can definitely tell the difference when I make my newbie tea. If I use tap water, it always makes the tea have a funny tang to it.
ReplyDeleteI need to get my hands on some of that Yorkshire Gold, seeing as how I am just beginning tea (and loving it, even with my bagged tea that I am trying to use up). :-)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am currently a final year student in the north east england and am undertaking a small project to investigate effects of hard water on a tea brew. I am using yorkshire tea and yorkshire tea for hard water as standard blends to compare. I am also investigating any other ways of removing the hard water from tea blends.
If any further investigation or information is found I would be most gratefull to hear of this.
Hello Ashleigh,
DeleteGlad you found my blog. Not sure how I can help you, but I'm happy to tell you the limited knowledge I have about tea for hard water.
You can reach me directly here: lahikmajoe (at) googlemail.com
Another Swede here, no specific teas for hard water here, did see some blends when visiting London last year. Didn't purchase any though.
ReplyDeleteSide note: there's one particular brand of coffee that blends their product to match the hard tap water of our southernmost province, Skåne. Interestingly enough it's very popular with many people in the rest of the country too. =)