AIBU? Husband won't use previously boiled water for his tea

[Frazzlefrazle]

Petty light hearted discussion here however I have just boiled the kettle which had already had water in from earlier in the day so not fresh and made a herbal tea. 2 seconds later my husband tips out the hot water and fills it with fresh water and reboils for his Earl grey as apparently it makes the tea taste 'off if it's not completely fresh water! To me this just seemed very wasteful and maybe I have terrible taste but I haven't ever tasted my tea being 'off' so who is right?

YABU - I'm clearly a heathen all these years who drinks terrible tea
YANBU- He's a weirdo

Some people are more sensitive to taste than others - google ‘supertasters’ and there will be individual variation amongst people who aren’t supertasters so it’s not surprising that some pps can taste a difference and others can’t.

In our area, water is so hard that it has a funny taste, plus it leaves a ring of scum around the top of the tea, particularly if I let it go cold. Yuck! So I filter my water and it makes a massive difference to taste. Only heat one cup at a time these days.

Waitrose Lockshill water is the best tasting bottled water for tea that I was recommended - different brands do taste different - but I couldn’t live with the plastic waste.

Yanbu he's odd 😉

Sorry OP, your husband is definitely right to use fresh water to make his tea 🙁🙁🙁. I read years ago to never use reboiled water for one's tea, and, have since become a complete obsessive nightmare about it! X

I always refill the kettle! I try to only boil what I need each time and then empty what is left down the sink. Once a day I completely fill the kettle, make the drinks needed and our the rest down the sink. A flush with boiling water helps to keep the pipes clear. I never reboil water but our tea can still be a bit scummy because our water is so very hard.

Both. Mines the same, drinks loose leaf in pot, says it spoils the flavour.
I drink bags, not bothered either way.

He's right, i thought it was our kettle, i didn't realise it changed the composition of the water. I can tell if my husband makes me a drink and has reboiled the kettle so its not my imagination.

@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue

When you boil water, the water loses some of its oxygen, so tea made with previously boiled water won't taste as good as fresh. To me it doesn't taste 'off' though, just less flavour.

That's what I was coming on to say! https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/do-not-reboil-kettle-when-making-a-cup-of-teaukk_58d4db2be4b03787d356eb6c

As @HidingUnderARock says the mineral concentration thing is bunkum. Unless you are boiling away 90% of the water you aren't going to get a significant difference in the concentration of any mineral. The article this seems to have come from cites references on the harmful nature of some minerals (at levels much higher than in tap water) but none on studies on concentrations after boiling. Snopes has a good summary www.snopes.com/fact-check/never-boil-water-twice/.

If there were a drought/water shortage he would bloody well have to get used to recoiling the water!

The oxygen thing may also be false. hotwatermagic.blogspot.com/2013/04/destructive-myths-dissolved-oxygen.html?m=1.
I think the only thing for it OP, is to get your DH to blind taste test tea and report back .

@CounsellorTroi

If there were a drought/water shortage he would bloody well have to get used to recoiling the water!

Why?

Surely it is so much easier to just boil the right amount each and every time. I am flummoxed why people seem to not be able to grasp this basic fact. I don’t reboil water as I only boil the amount needed for however many cups are wanted at that time.
Everyone is constantly told to do this as it is also energy efficient.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/making-up-baby-formula/

Well the NHS state not to use previously boiled water for baby formula and I always understood it to be because of the potential harmful effects of minerals.

Ugh my parents boil and reboil and reboil and it gives me the boke!

I always boil fresh water but only enough for one/two however many cups I'm making