Glossary
Hard water
Water with a high mineral content that can dull tea flavor and speed up scale buildup inside a kettle.
Hard water carries a higher level of dissolved minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, than soft water does. When it is used to brew tea, those minerals can bind with compounds in the leaf, which often mutes aroma and flavor and can sometimes leave a faint film or cloudiness on the surface of the cup.
The same minerals that affect flavor also build up as limescale on the heating element and interior of a kettle over repeated boiling, which is a separate but related problem from the taste issue. Over time, heavy limescale can affect how evenly a kettle heats water.
A simple fix is switching to filtered water for tea, either from a filter pitcher or a kettle with a built-in filter, which is usually enough to notice a difference in a delicate green or white tea. A common mistake is assuming a flat-tasting cup means the tea itself is low quality, when hard water is often the real cause.
Where this comes up
- Hard Water and TeaArticle
- Descaling a KettleArticle