We had a “bad water day” at Borough Market the other Saturday: there was a distinctly brackish, almost metallic, aftertaste to most of the teas we brewed, lessening the confidence with which we presented sample.
There are precedents, generally in hotter weather. Once we, eventually, found a tea leaf trapped under the rim of the kettle. After a week mouldering there, its contribution to flavour was most undesirable.
This was not the case recently. I suspect two possible causes. One is increased water treatment minimising the growth of algae and bacteria caused by higher temperatures (though conversely, a build up of heterotrophic organisms (many non-pathogenic) can also have an adverse affect on taste. Another possibility is the replacement of water mains in the area, damage to Victorian pipes being a major contributor to water loss in our drought-susceptible land. Perhaps new mains, made of synthetic materials, or the jointing compounds used may contribute unwanted effects.
On the market, sans sink, we have always used small acrylic tasting cups, which we neither discard nor recycle: we reuse. Each is carefully (by hand) sterilised, washed, twice or thrice rinsed and air-dried. It’s greener than single use; my Scots blood (25 per cent) prompts thrift, and, perhaps best of all, after this, the aroma of plastic is negligible.
More on these topics soon.
You can find Alex Fraser at East Teas, Borough Market, London, on Fridays and Saturdays, www.eastteas.com.
