Be Your Own Favorite Barista (BYOFB) Series Pt 2: Water is Life
Those of us in the “Water is life” club, who drink lots of water throughout the day know this age old truth… not all water is the same! It doesn’t taste the same across the board from different sources, and there are all kinds of factors for that which include: mineral content, conditioning, water treating, bottle type, spring vs purified, pH levels/alkaline water, and so on! In the same way, not all water is the best for coffee. After all, coffee is 95% water!
Be your own favorite barista and learn how you can use better water to make the best cup of coffee at home.
Be your own favorite barista (BYOFB)… no standing in line or curbside pickup required.
Our friends at FreshGround Roasting in Geneva, Il., share some great insight to making really amazing coffee right in our own kitchen which we will share right here. If you’re starting with us on this series, you’ll want to check out the first blog post in this series on what makes a great bean. After that, head back here to continue our BYOFB series.
So good coffee at home is really influenced by the water you use to brew it with… and you guessed it. Your tap water probably isn’t the most ideal. Here’s what you’re looking for when it comes to water for the best coffee at home.
- Mineral Content: Most tap water has a really high mineral content, not to mention chlorine and fluoride which aren’t great for coffee brewing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, distilled water has ALL minerals completely removed from the water – so it’s just Hydrogen and Oxygen. (Same for Reverse Osmosis, if you have such a system in your home.) Ideally, water with a small mineral content brings out the best coffee flavor.
- Water hardness: Water softness versus harness refers to the concentration of ions, particularly calcium and magnesium, present in water. Hard water has a higher concentration of minerals, while soft water has a lower concentration. Again, a lower concentration of minerals wins again here, so softer water is best. Hard water can also put an extra strain and add build up in your coffee machines.
- Water pH: Not gonna get too chemistry-nerdy here, but great water for coffee is neutral and has a pH of 7.0… not acidic or basic.
Ultimately, clean, soft, chlorine free water is ideal to make the best cup at home. We suggest doing some taste testing at home – try brewing using tap water, bottled water, and other sources to taste differences for yourself. Another option, if you want the absolute perfect cup without testing and trying a bunch of options, is to use distilled or reverse osmosis water (100% devoid of minerals) and then use light mineral additives like this one – that are created to add the perfect amount and blend of minerals to water specifically for coffee brewing. (No we don’t get any commissions for making this recommendation, it’s just a great option and recommended by our very own roaster!)
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Ps. Did you hear?! We launched our Coffee Connoisseur Club (C3), our specialty coffee subscription service! To get coffee delivered to your door whenever you want, just:
1. Choose your favorite roasts and grind preference,
2. Click on “Join our Coffee Connoisseur Club: Subscribe & Save 5%”
3. You decide when you want it to show up at your door! Check out and never have to worry about running out of coffee again. All while taking 5% off with each and every automatically recurring order. It’s that easy.