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Thread: Water

  1. #1
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Water

    Tea specially blended for...what?? Okay, someone please explain this.


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    Default Re: Water

    Something to do with the hardness of the water (limescale and such)?

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    Default Re: Water

    They have a website you know.

    Scottish Blend Tea was the first tea to be specially blended to match the softness of Scotland's water. Today, Scottish Blend is Scotland's second favorite tea.

    A quote which, of course, begs the question: what is Scotland's favourite tea?



    Side note: funny that they use the US spelling for "favourite".

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    I don't know if Scottish water is especially soft, but I do know that much of England has water that is known as hard. i.e. it scales up crockery, kettles, taps, toilets, central heating pipes etc etc.

    So maybe tea for Scottish soft water is blended differently than tea for England's hard water is?
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    It's just advertising! Scotland has both hard and soft water in different areas. I don't know what Scotland's favourite tea is. I go for Ty-Phoo myself.
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    Deb
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    Default Re: Water

    Marketing at its best!

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    Default Re: Water

    Doesn't Scottish water have a brown color and a peaty flavor like the whiskey? Anyway, send us some of that tea so we can toss it into the harbor and taste the result.
    "Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little." -Epicurus-

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    azkid (January 16th, 2019), Chrissy (January 16th, 2019), SIR (February 5th, 2019), VertOlive (January 19th, 2019)

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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by Paddler View Post
    Doesn't Scottish water have a brown color and a peaty flavor like the whiskey? Anyway, send us some of that tea so we can toss it into the harbor and taste the result.
    No it's just plain old water. Oooh controversial
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Senior Member AzJon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    I will never forget the relative horror of making tea in London to find a lovely layer or minerals floating on the surface.

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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    I will never forget the relative horror of making tea in London to find a lovely layer or minerals floating on the surface.
    Yes that's called "hard water scum" and usually comes from the kettle. There is a need to descale kettles regularly here.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    I will never forget the relative horror of making tea in London to find a lovely layer or minerals floating on the surface.
    Yes that's called "hard water scum" and usually comes from the kettle. There is a need to descale kettles regularly here.
    I just learned to embrace the scum.

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    Senior Member Voiren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    You're more likely to have soft than hard water in Scotland (source: https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/you-...rqualitysearch - the Scottish Water Hardness document there has only a few places with hard water listed). Whereas SE England has fairly hard water.

    It does make tea taste different, but as to how much you can taste that with typical teabags...

    It's the way that bathtaps, tubs and sinks as well as kettles down here all get buildup on them that is annoying! Everything looks much shinier when that doesn't happen.

    Some places do have peaty tapwater, I've been on holiday to some but can't recall quite where.

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    Default Re: Water

    Some people think that Scottish water also has a slight saltiness to the taste.

    Tea made with the same teabag in different parts of the country produces very different results.

    My Yorkshire tea bags in London produce a blackish brew almost instantly. The same tea in different softer water areas needs a couple of minutes to go brown.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVjiGWUhHnw

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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by Paddler View Post
    Doesn't Scottish water have a brown color and a peaty flavor like the whiskey? Anyway, send us some of that tea so we can toss it into the harbor and taste the result.
    That'll be whisky. And yes, in some areas the water is as you describe but less and less as Scottish Water makes us all the same.
    Regards,
    Deb
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    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by Voiren View Post
    You're more likely to have soft than hard water in Scotland (source: https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/you-...rqualitysearch - the Scottish Water Hardness document there has only a few places with hard water listed). Whereas SE England has fairly hard water.

    It does make tea taste different, but as to how much you can taste that with typical teabags...

    It's the way that bathtaps, tubs and sinks as well as kettles down here all get buildup on them that is annoying! Everything looks much shinier when that doesn't happen.

    Some places do have peaty tapwater, I've been on holiday to some but can't recall quite where.
    Where I live in the very north of Scotland the water is comparatively hard. Wherever you have limestone or chalk you'll have hard water.
    Regards,
    Deb
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    Senior Member Voiren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by Deb View Post

    Where I live in the very north of Scotland the water is comparatively hard. Wherever you have limestone or chalk you'll have hard water.
    Absolutely - it's just in Scotland those places seem to be more localised, unlike large swathes of England. I'm from Edinburgh, and as far as I can recall, everywhere we ended up visiting for walking holidays also had soft water. But Greater London ranges from 'slightly hard' to 'extremely hard'!

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    Senior Member Voiren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    I wonder if Orkney has a different favourite tea...

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    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by Voiren View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Deb View Post

    Where I live in the very north of Scotland the water is comparatively hard. Wherever you have limestone or chalk you'll have hard water.
    Absolutely - it's just in Scotland those places seem to be more localised, unlike large swathes of England. I'm from Edinburgh, and as far as I can recall, everywhere we ended up visiting for walking holidays also had soft water. But Greater London ranges from 'slightly hard' to 'extremely hard'!
    It's mostly down to geology. Much of the northern tip of Scotland is Old Red Sandstone - Orkney too - or harder rocks like gneiss. None of that gives rise to hard water but there are inclusions of limestone here and there - Durness in North Sutherland especially. But another factor that affects the water here is what farmers put on their fields and which then drains into the lochs which are our reservoirs. Both lime to combat acidity and pelleted fertilisers cause hard water to some degree. I have to descale my kettle once a year. I expect it has to be done more often in London.
    Regards,
    Deb
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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    Are there similar boxes for English, Welsh and Irish water on the shelves? I would hope Scots shoppers would reject the claim out of hand, given that water will vary from one valley to the next, let alone across the nation. Perhaps it was a leftover box from April 1st of last year.

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    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Water

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Are there similar boxes for English, Welsh and Irish water on the shelves? I would hope Scots shoppers would reject the claim out of hand, given that water will vary from one valley to the next, let alone across the nation. Perhaps it was a leftover box from April 1st of last year.
    It's surpisingly popular. I see it in several of the supermarkets.
    Regards,
    Deb
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