Optimal tea enjoyment with good drinking water
When it’s cold and dark outside, a good cup of tea tastes twice as good. It warms you from the inside, is good for your health and can make you feel happy. The quality of the water is crucial for the tea to develop its full aroma. In particular, the water hardness in your region can have a significant influence on the taste of tea.
Different hardness of the water
The perfect water for an irresistible tea should be fresh and oxygenated. It should also contain minerals, but not be too hard. The degree of hardness of the drinking water depends on the number of magnesium and calcium Chemisches Element Ca mit der Ordnungszahl 20, Mineralstoff, der zu den Mengenelementen zählt. Unter den Mineralstoffen ha... ions it contains. The higher the proportion of ions in the water, the more the hardness of the tap water increases. The degree of hardness of the water is measured in the unit “°d”. If this value is in the higher range, this is also reflected in the sensory quality of the tea taste. Depending on where you live, a tea can therefore taste different simply because of the region’s drinking water.
Water hardness varies regionally in Germany
If you open your tap in Stuttgart, you will get water with a relatively mild hardness of 11.00 °d. In Frankfurt am Main, on the other hand, it gushes relatively hard from the tap at 27.65 °d. Munich with 16.00 °d and Hamburg with 15.90 °d have roughly the same level of water hardness. In the German capital Berlin, the water hardness is 17.49 °d, in Cologne 20.00 °d and in Düsseldorf 14.00 °d (source: www.wasserhaerte.net). Bremen has particularly soft drinking water at 7.35 °d. The average water hardness in Saarland is also pleasantly soft at 8.25 °d. So if you make your tea with drinking water from Bremen, Saarland or Stuttgart, you will experience a different taste than if you were to make the same tea in Frankfurt am Main or Cologne with tap water.
Water hardness affects the taste
The ideal water hardness for a perfect tea would be around 8 °d. If you live in Saarland, you have the best conditions for drinking water. Nevertheless, the water in Germany is so well controlled that tap water can generally be used everywhere for making tea. Only the taste can vary. This is caused by a very simple chemical reaction. Magnesium and calcium ions are dissolved in drinking water. Tea contains flavor-forming acids. The ions and the acids form a bond after the infusion. This prevents the tea flavor from fully developing. For some tea connoisseurs, this is not a problem because they don’t want such an intense taste anyway. However, if you want to get the full flavor out of your tea and live in a hard water region, you can filter the ions in the tap water. Simple water fans made from special filter paper are particularly suitable for filtering ions. Still mineral water can also be used to make tea.
