Tea and H2O

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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:47 am

I was just considering this while having a rest in my restroom (or a wash in my washroom). and yes, I could look this up, but I'm supposed to be working, er....

Baiters from the coffee drinking colonies should look away now.

They say that tea should be made with freshly drawn water to take advantage of the oxygen dissolved in it. BUT surely water is H2O or it isn't. What's this extra oxygen doing there, and why would it make my tea any better?

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:01 am

I think the fresh means "Boiled" and the boiling has the so called oxygen in the boiled water (In a fish tank you pump in extra oxygen for the fish) but some how it works. Now where are my dunking biscuits.

Now get back to work!!!!

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:53 am

Wait, depending on the tea, isn't H2O just short of boiling supposed to be best? If so, who needs the extra oxygen?

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:01 am

^the tea itself, the infusion of the boiling and extra oxygen brings out the true favour (Chinese like it same as coffee, lukewarm), us british have to be different. Laughing

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:40 am

Unless we need a quick cuppa (in which case, it is a tea bag and a kettle), we normally have ours Turkish style, using a çaydanlık. Boiling water from the bottom part poured over leaves in the top part and left to brew, then served using the water from the bottom to dilute to individual taste.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:27 pm

Roycropper wrote:

BUT surely water is H2O or it isn't.

If you have ask what all is in the fluid flowing from the taps in your house you probably don't want to know...

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:44 pm

@RC
I'd just stick to Tesco value teabags. The O2 content of your water isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference to the taste of the crap they sell ( says the guy who hasn't drank tea in 45 years) Very Happy

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Wouldn't having O2 make it H2O2 and thus Hydrogen Peroxide?

I understand that our British cousins have some odd tastes (Marmalade, for instance, or Cricket) but I think tea brewed in Peroxide would be a bit icky.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 11 Sep 2014 Posts: 25

Ozonated water maybe?

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:59 pm

Fryer wrote:

If you have ask what all is in the fluid flowing from the taps in your house you probably don't want to know...

Our local water has dissolved solids of 368ppm after running through a RO system with a DI pod it comes down to 0ppm. But you can’t drink de-ionized water it just wants to re-ionise itself.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:08 pm

Boiling the water will get rid of most of the dissolved gas anyway. So there's no truth to it. Filthy stuff anyway.
Fish tanks: you don't need supplementary oxygen. Just keep the tank ventilated and the water moving well across the top. It works in rivers. Bubble stones look nice and don't do any harm but the oxygenation is done at the surface.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:16 pm

TSnerd wrote:

I understand that our British cousins have some odd tastes (Marmalade)

Hey,even Rednecks like that there stuff-why it's like high class jelly Laughing

kaptin

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Hi, Kap. Two things:

Marmalade is icky.

You must have BBC coding disabled in your profile - the quote coding is correct, so that is the only thing I can think of that would prevent it from showing properly.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 7:06 pm

It was disabled in that post at least. I unchecked that box and it came right. I'm not sure if KKs profile defaults to this or not but its not something I've seen before.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1116

When I do go for tea I tend to boil with the bags in the pot. That gives it a full chance to steep.

Regarding oxidizing, if you want that you are going to be running air through the water to increase oxygen saturation <strike>or using rusty bilge water because of the oxidizers in the water.</strike> However when you boil the water the saturation will decrease with heat so it boils down to (drum roll please) what was the point?

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 7:32 pm

Tsnerd wrote:

Marmalade is icky.

Are you confusing marmalade and Marmite?

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Nope.

I think that Brussels Sprouts are icky, too, but surprisingly there are many out there that disagree with me.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:08 pm

agnomen wrote:

Our local water has dissolved solids of 368ppm after running through a RO system with a DI pod it comes down to 0ppm. But you can’t drink de-ionized water it just wants to re-ionise itself.

Sounds like you could be living in my neighborhood! I have a tap in before the DI resin for drinking water and send the rest all the way through for the finned members of the family....

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:19 pm

Tsnerd wrote:

I think that Brussels Sprouts are icky

How about black pudding. Or bread pudding made with marmalade?

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

I like genuine British made fish and chips. Does that count?

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:24 pm

^^^ haddock or cod? Either is acceptable, no right or wrong answer. Mushy peas?

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Either - both are wonderful.

I like peas but not mushy.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:43 pm

Tsnerd

Please excuse my ignorance on such matters but as you are a native of that tax free, utopian ex British colony called the USA can you please explain to me what 'Jello' is. I presume it is another name for Jam / Marmalade / Jelly ?

Whilst on the subject of tea & fish - at least once a week my favourite breakfast is Mackerel fillets on toast (far less burpy than Kipppers) & my choice tea is Assam - it really kicks the life support systems in more than those 'hairdresser' blends.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:23 pm

Poor Gar. Think of aspic and you've pretty much got Jello figured out.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:08 am

(thinks) aspic = gelatine, which you can add any flavour to & use as a spread. Sorted, thank you my little Kittiwake Smile