Cooking With Soft Water

There are plenty of people who don’t know the difference between hard water and soft water. And though water doesn’t have a flavor, or at least isn’t supposed to, it sure can make a difference in taste when cooking with soft water.

Water is severely overlooked when cooking. Cooking with soft water helps showcase pure flavor from ingredients by bringing out their best texture and vitamin content, thanks to a lower amount of minerals in the water. Soft water also allows the cook time for veggies to be quicker, making them stay true to their natural flavors.

Trust us, your loved ones will thank you for keeping grandma’s southern sweet tea true to its taste. Here’s a quick recipe.

You will need:

• 3 cups boiling water
• 12 sprigs fresh mint
• 4 tea bags
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup orange juice
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 3 orange slices (garnish)
• 3 lemon slices (garnish)

Prep time 10 minutes, ready in 10 minutes

Place the tea bags and mint sprigs into a large pitcher. Pour boiling water over them and allow them to steep for about 8 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags (squeeze out excess liquid) and mint leaves (optional). Stir in sugar until dissolved, and then stir in the orange juice and lemon juice. Pour in the cold water. Serve over ice cubes, garnished with orange or lemon slices.

It’s helpful to let the tea settle until the second day after preparing it by leaving it in the fridge overnight.