If you are a coffee lover or a tea devotee, then you know the feeling whenever you get a cup of your favorite that tastes absolutely delicious. You're the kind of person who will go and purchase a brand new tea or coffee maker just to make sure that you can make an incredible brew any time the mood hits you.
You get the machine home and make your first cup, anxious to make sure that this new "toy" will make a brew that matches the taste you are looking for. Much to your delight, it does! Your cup of tea is excellent, and you settle back with satisfaction, looking forward to many days and weeks of unbeatable tea and coffee.
The first few times you use your new machine, you get the same wonderful taste, and you are so pleased. You pat yourself on the back and think that you have never made a better purchase! But then, things change. Your tea doesn't taste as good as it did when the machine was new, and you can't understand why. After all, the machine isn't that old. True enough, you have made quite a bit of tea in it, perhaps as much as six to eight cups a day, but that shouldn't have done anything to the taste! You considered that use as more or less breaking the machine in.
Your tea continues to taste rather "off", and you are getting desperate. You're out shopping one afternoon, and a sudden craving for hot tea nearly overwhelms you, so you stop in at the hugely popular coffee shop on the next block, which you know also serves a pretty good cup of tea. You order, prepare your tea with milk and sugar as usual, and take a tentative sip. There it is! That flavor that you've been looking for, the one you were able to create at home when your tea maker was new. You go up to the counter to ask a question.
"Why does your tea taste so much better than the tea I make at home?" The lady behind the counter smiles knowingly at you. "Are you using purified water, or at the very least, filtered water to make your tea with?" she asks. "Why, no," you admit, surprised. "I've been using tap water like I always have, and making my tea in a new electric coffee and tea maker that I got a couple of weeks ago. The first few days, the tea tasted superb - just like it does when I get it here. But now, it tastes totally different, and I don't understand it at all!"
"It's your machine," says the barista. "How can that be?" you want to know, perplexed. "It's practically brand new!" "That's the thing," explains the barista. "When your machine was brand new, of course it made good tea. The impurities in your tap water had not had the chance to build up on the inside of the machine. That's why the tea tasted good at first. But now, after you have used the machine for a while, the impurities are there. And, they definitely will affect the quality of the finished product - your tea, and coffee, too."
"So, what do I do?" you ask. "Do I have to keep buying a new machine every few weeks in order to have a decent tasting cup of tea?" The barista laughed. "Hardly! That would end up being very expensive! No, all you need to do is clean your machine thoroughly when you get home. You probably got instructions along with it that tell you the best way to do it, and I'm pretty sure it involves white vinegar. Once you have it nice and clean, never use tap water in it again! Always use purified water, because it's the best and purest water that you can buy. Once you've done this, your tea or coffee will taste exactly the same at home as it does here - provided you are using the same type of tea, of course!"
Figuring you have nothing to lose, you go home and dig out your instruction manual to learn how to clean your tea maker. Once it's as clean as new, you set about brewing a cup of tea using purified water. Amazingly, the barista was right! Your tea tastes just like it did at the coffee shop!
And, it makes perfect sense, too. Any tea or coffee guru will tell you that the secret to brewing a perfect cup of either, besides the type of coffee or tea you are using, is the quality of the water you are brewing with! If you think about it, tea or coffee is mostly water anyway. When that water has an unpleasant taste or odor, like some tap waters do, how can you expect your tea to taste good?
So, the consensus is that purified water most definitely improves the taste of your tea and coffee! It makes such a big difference when you use purified water that it's astounding! If you like your coffee... if you love your tea... use purified water! You'll be glad you did!
