Coffee Water

Coffee Water

Not only the milk quality, but also the water quality is important for your coffee!
Coffee consists of 98 % water. The quality is therefore crucial for your coffee and also affects the taste.
In general, tap water is of a high quality in terms of cleanliness and freedom from pollutants thanks to treatment by waterworks and regular checks. For the coffee taste, however, also the mineralization and the oxygen content of the water are crucial. The regional differences in Germany alone are huge. How the composition of your water affects the taste of your coffee and how easy it is to get the most out of your beans at home, you’ll read today.

Minerals

  • Magnesium emphasizes the natural sweetness in coffee.
  • Calcium allows maximum extraction.
  • Sodium enhances the complex taste profile of the coffee.
  • The higher the amount of minerals, the harder the water is.
  • Too hard water neutralizes the fine fruit acids of the coffee – it loses its aroma.
  • Too soft water, on the other hand, makes the coffee too sour and bitter.
  • Optimal coffee water should have a German hardness of 8 °dH.
  • The pH should be neutral, at pH 7
  • At the responsible water authority or on wasserhaerte.net one can find out about the degree of hardness for your region.
  • At Brita, you can also order a water hardness test strip for free to determine the degree of hardness of the water from your tap.
  • Here are my values. What can I say, the water in Berlin is as hard as the party scene 😉

wasserhärte

Oxygen

  • Fresh water has good oxygen saturation and has a positive effect on the coffee taste.
  • Stagnant water, however, gets a dull to musty smell that you certainly would not want in coffee.
  • By the way, distilled water also takes the aroma from your coffee!
  • So after holidays you should first drain the tap water, before filling your kettle.
  • But also boiled water has lost oxygen by heating. It is therefore best to heat fresh water quickly to the optimum brewing temperature!

Filter for the home

The easiest way for home is a table water filter. The filter cartridge contains ion exchanger and activated carbon. While the ion exchanger dissolves substances dissolved in the water by removing the ions of e.g. lead, lime, cadmium, copper or zinc binds itself and gives off hydrogen ions, the activated carbon removes taste and odor-disturbing substances such as chlorine and heavy metals. In order to prevent the accumulation of bacteria in the filter system, the filter should be replaced regularly. Alternatively, but much more expensive, you can also use mineral water with low mineral content. And do not forget, your vessels and coffee maker should be regularly and thoroughly decalcified.

If you want the perfect blend of magnesium, calcium and sodium to SCA guidelines for optimal coffee water, you can buy it in capsules. Before the mixture is added to the water, however, it must be demineralized (distilled, reverse osmosis, deionized).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *