So that batch of water from the last post? I had a couple teas with it, and two things happened – one, it outperformed my favorite spring water, MINISO from Mt. Palomar, California. Two, after sitting on silica beads for a few days, it reached 87 ppm silica!
advanced gongfu technique
There’s a way in which it was smooth and expansive in the mouth that I really enjoyed. The qi was working really nicely as well. We had WWSF 2011 Walong and then some nice Dayi.
Later in the session we had pu-erh.sk rareness 5 autumn gaogan, which really brought things to the next level. There was an immediate shift once we tried this tea, which was full of all manners of ripe fruit. I used crystal geyser water from johnstown, NY, which provided a heavy, lush session.
I’m amazed how my tea life continues to progress. I plan to make more batches of water as it seems to be in a way the best water I can get my hands on. There is no substitute for natural water but truly nice natural water is hard to come by unless you live near a spring or have a well. I live in NYC and have neither of those. It’s encouraging to be able to make my own water from scratch and have emotionally and sensorially satisfying sessions.
If you’re new here, yes, I make water. Is there a better way to say it? Maybe – I create custom water blends from scratch. This means taking distilled water and adding the minerals one at a time. I’ve been doing this for years now! One roadblock I used to have was how to get silica into the water. Silica, or SiO2, is found in all natural waters, but is highly insoluble. I used to use waterglass neutralized with carbon dioxide to get silica, but it caused all sorts of problems.
Years ago, before a water blending hiatus (I still would try blends of bottled waters, but stopped blending waters from scratch), I was experimenting with using fairly pure silica gel beads to get silica. I had no idea if it would work, but I thought it would be possible from what I had read from old research papers on silica solubility.
Yes, the silica gel beads in the packets that say Do Not Eat. They’re not poisonous of course if they’re pure, but they can absorb water from your system and also explode in your body. Here, they’re not being consumed, they’re used as a source of silica to dissolve into the water. First, I rinsed them many times with distilled water until any impurities were gone according to a conductivity meter. Then I made my water blend in the usual way, except I stored it in a jar with the rinsed silica beads on the bottom. Silica gel is in a form called amorphous silica, which is much more soluble than something like Quartz or glass.
I feel like I should say I don’t recommend doing this! I don’t condone the consumption of silica gel in any way – I’m just sharing what I did in my own experimentation.
I asked gemini AI if this technique would work, and it said there was no way, it would take months to even get a measurable reading. I asked it to cite its sources and it gave a bunch of research papers supporting its claim that there’s far too little surface area, it’s not hot enough, and the rate of dissolution is too slow or even negative. Well, turns out the AI was completely wrong! It works extremely well.
Silica Success! Reading after 2 days
Conductivity: 100
TDS: 80
Silica: 43 ppm
Ca:
12
Mg:
4
Na:
3
K:
1
HCO3:
51
SO4:
6
Cl:
4
Mahei 2016 with new water:
This is a 2016 mahei yiwu I got from a friend that is probably young plantation material.
Steep 1 opens with a grassy, citrusy sharpness. There is no astringency and the tea is silky and takes up space in the mouth. The length of flavor delivery is medium-long. On steep 2 I can taste the tea gradually move back through the mouth with a pleasant woodiness.
Steep 3 is round, has some fine astringency, very round, gelatinous like grass jelly. Some bubblegum on the aftertaste. The tea is very smooth and round – not a ton of high or low pitched notes, mostly mid. Great texture and easy to drink. Definitely some elegance here, which is something I go for.
Steep 5 brings more richness, woody and papery resins but with a good amount of body. Astringency is medium now.
Steep 6 brings a pleasant semi aged taste. I’m not sure if it’s the tea being plantation and light in taste and body, or if the water thins out by the end of the session. I should probably try a more serious tea.
New session!
White2tea Gaoshan Qingbing
It’s time to drink the long sold out budget aged sheng called gaoshan qingbing. This tea was always satisfying, and I’ve been storing it at 65% humidity so it’s probably in good shape.
Steep 1 opens softly, with leather, honey and camphor. The tea is very soft, and I must admit slightly flat so far. I would like a little more vibrancy. The qi is immediately very relaxing and enjoyable. Downward and comfortable
Steep 2: The delivery of taste is elegant, mostly low tones vibrating throughout the mouth. Very good mouth cooling on the aftertaste. Thickness is a solid medium. Plenty of bitter potency, low astringency. There is also a crisp acidity on the tongue. Overall there is an impression of woody fruity menthol coolness. You do really have to pay attention to notice the fruitiness though, but once your attention grabs it it’s obvious. Throat is very open and happy. Good for the body!
Around steep 5, starting to calm down into a woody experience with medium astringency. Not a ton of detail but enough to enjoy.
On the scale of bright to dark it was dark, but enjoyable. I have no idea why it turned out that way, but I’ll keep making new waters and learning through experience! The silica seemed to make things more round and elegant. It wasn’t a bomb of thickness that I was expecting, but it didn’t fall apart either. I’m left with a positive impression!
Tea Secrets 