What's in your water?

When making coffee, not all water is created equal. Water that tastes good may be mediocre when brewing coffee, but the goal is for the coffee to be great. Good taste is a good start. However, the coffee you are brewing may need different minerals to help tell the full story your cup of hot greatness is trying to tell.

 How I talk about water for coffee has changed a little over time. I used to talk about using a specific amount of calcium and magnesium in water to properly extract coffee. This method has been proven irrelevant to coffee extraction. What is true is the minerals in water will react with coffee and produce different flavors.  In a YouTube video called “Demystifying Water for Coffee,” Lance Hedrick and Scott Rao discuss further developing thoughts regarding minerals in water and the water’s TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). The mineral salts have stayed the same while their understood impact has changed.

Third Wave Water makes a difference!

So, what can a person do to their water to ensure their coffee will be fabulous? The answer falls along the same lines as before: You can purchase a reverse osmosis (RO) system with remineralization cartridges or purchase a product like Third Wave Water. Third Wave Water is simple packets of calcium and magnesium that you add to 1 gallon of distilled water. These packets come in boxes of twelve and are properly balanced for great-tasting coffee. I use them at home and have been happy with the results. Another option is to manually undertake remineralizing water. This process starts with distilled water and adding a homemade concentrate of calcium and magnesium. I have done this and it was not fun. You don’t need much of the concentrate to add to the distilled water; I ended up with so much concentrate that I poured most of it down the drain a month later. Products like Third Wave Water save the day!!

What are your thoughts on your water? Do you live in a city with water that produces awesome coffee? Until next time. To better coffee!