Bamboo Charcoal – Part One
I recently received a package from “Bamboo Charcoal” [http://twitter.com/BambooCharcoal] of bamboo charcoal. Lets open it up and see what I got!
Now its time to see if this stuff really works. Apparently just sitting a stick of it in water will “purify” and “filter” the water. We’ll see. I’m going to do a blind taste-test with two friends using the same tea, same amount of tea, same water temperature and use 3 different water samples: 1. Brita filtered water 2. Bamboo charcoal water 3. Chicago tap water.
I’ll post the results here when I do this test. I’m going to play around this myself first. If anyone has had any experience or any proof that using bamboo charcoal really does make water taste great, please let me know! Cheers!
I'm writing a full-length book on tea. No history, just practical tea information and SCIENCE!
I can tell you from experience that bamboo charcoal not only works but becomes necessary for many locales’ tap water. With some teas it didn’t matter as much but interestingly I found that with Pu-erh it seems to make the most difference. I don’t know why but I don’t want a bad Pu-erh experience so I do my duty and fix the water. –Spirituality of Tea
I just met a man who produce Bamboo Charcoal in the Expo this morning, and get back a lot interesting information.
one word, it’s a natural way to clean and sweet water.I’ll get some for trying.
I feel like such a novice! I’ve never heard of the use of charcoal to purify water in preparation for tea. Please be sure to post your results – I can’t wait to see what you discover.
you may also want to try the charcoal in water stored in porcelain or glass. I usually saw the tea “experts” in China storing in porcelain or glass, and Tea Gallery notes that their porcelain can sweeten water: http://theteagallery.blogspot.com/2008/10/like-water-for-tea.html
T:
I’ve also read that the charcoal can go directly into the pot in which you boil the water, or a container in which you store the water overnight.
You may wish to wash the charcoal before putting it into your water, as well. I know the Japanese will go so far as washing their charcoal before using in tea ceremony, to avoid any flammable dust that can cause sparks.
Mitsuwa, out in Arlington Heights, had a huge endcap dedicated to charcoal last time I went out there. May have to pick some up…
Tony: Oddly enough, I just made my first purchase of Japanese bamboo charcoal, as well, from here:
http://shop.luhyutea.com/product.sc;jsessionid=B6FFC8F18E66785469C6DF2F7595DA84.qscstrfrnt01?productId=92
It should arrive in a couple of days, and I think I’ll try the same experiment Perhaps if we get enough people experimenting in a methodical way, we can establish a useful data point.
Nice! Lets definitely combine data. Are you testing against city water as well as Brita filtered?