Can a Yixing teapot be used in a microwave?

Iron salts in the water. Add tannic acid and get a precipitate.

--scott

Would that percipitate be describable as "goopy"? London water -- this is from long ago, don't get more upset than you absolutely need to -- had an oily film, as in oil slick. Lovely. And the mesh ball thing in the water would turn hard with chalk in about eight minutes. Well, perhaps ten. I would have said that London water was the worst, but I've been a number of times to South Florida. For those who appreciate a whiff of medium boiled egg in their tea (a whiff that does *not* derive from medium boiled egg), it's just the thing. Michael

The chalky substance in my Espresso machine is soft.. I would not be surprised if the reason for the deposits in my tea has something to do with the water here in DC. I think you may have misinterpreted my sarcasm about the water here. What I should do is get some good drinking water (Dasani?) and try brewing with that. Even so, the "goop" isn't so much of a goop as it is filmy. It is a very delicate film/goop that has a strand-like quality and reminds me of what the beginnings of algae formation might look like.

Anyway, my guess is that the water is too hard and as such, stuff is precipitating out.

I think something is very, very wrong. With something. Somewhere.

I've been drinking teas of all kinds for many, many years, and have NEVER seen anything that could remotely be described as goopy or slimy in my cup. Not once.

What on earth are you drinking?

DC water tends to be really high in calcium. In the days before the Barry monarchy, you could get a nifty report on your local water from the Corps of Engineers folks at the Occoquan reservoir (as well as a really great tour of the pumping facility down there).

There have been a bunch of changes to the water in DC, including a major change in water pH four or five years ago, which has lead to a lot of the corrosion being knocked off of older lines. This is where some of the outcry about lead is coming from; local lines that had lead sections and joints that were nicely corroded over and perfectly safe became cleaned out and unsafe with the change in the water.

Anyway, I would be very surprised if you can't get a bunch of propaganda and maybe some actual analyses of your local water from the city.

But is it bad? You should try some bottled water and see if the taste is any different. But I figure it it doesn't change the taste, having a little goop down at the bottom isn't anything to worry about.

My uncle would say that this is just more proof that water is hazardous and you should drink only distilled liquor instead. He lived well into his nineties so maybe he knew something.

--scott

I've not had the guts to try it. I would rate it at most an annoyance. As for the lead, I've heard this was a problem in DC proper, but have not heard it was a problem in the greater DC metro area. I could be wrong there. I'll do some research.

Purity of Essence?

Steve

Steve HayPuVrf.6335$y04.4096@trnddc0212/26/05

Sounds logical. I recommend Poland Spring because 1) it came out favorably in a recent tasting we performed (albeit sloppily); 2) it is cheap and readily available, and 3) serious tea people here (the owners of a shop, although that latter fact is not too significant) use it exclusively. I "think" Dasani comes from the Coca Cola company or another equally suspect. Just my thoughts on this weighty matter. I've had perfectly good results with Fiji and others, but they tend to be pricey, and not better.

BYW, I did miss your sarcasm. Thanks for explaining. (I have no DC water memory.)

Best, Michael

pilo snipped-for-privacy@news1.west.earthlink.net12/26/05

He's using local water from our nation's capital! Need we say more? Slimey, goopy, oil slick: You get the point. (If his water could talk, it would lie.) Michael