There are many factors that can have a significant impact on the flavor and taste of your coffee. Many cafe owners and baristas spend excessive amounts of time focusing on the grind size, finding the best-suited dose, perfect yield and time for their espresso. Even though these aspects are crucial they tend to forget about one of the most important variables. Water

Water quality differs all around the world. The amount of chemical components and minerals will all play a key role in the extraction and taste of the coffee you make in your cafe, or at home. Bad water will have a heavy impact on the coffee taste and it will damage your equipment.

Baristas, coffee lovers and cafe owners have the misconception that boiling water will lose all of the bad characteristics in their water. This is not true. Boiling your water will impact the water, but it will not clear your water of all the impurities and bad minerals that could be present.

Hard and soft, the true choice

There is a big debate over which water type would be the best suited for coffee. Many believe that there are only two options, hard or soft water. The confusion as to which is better leaves a debate that will never be solved. Not only are both options terrible for flavor, but each of them will also produce different characteristics in your coffee.

Hard coffee water quality can produce an over-extracted brew. Leaving the coffee drinker with a drink that is bitter, astringent and has a heavy body. On the other hand, very soft water can produce an under-extracted cup which can be perceived as little to no complexity or better known as flat.

The hardness or softness of the coffee water quality will be determined by the amount of minerals and chemicals in the water. Soft water contains less than 17 parts per million of both calcium and magnesium, while hard water contains more than 180 parts per million of minerals.

Both hard and soft water contain minerals. The type of minerals and the amount thereof will however differ between the two.

Soft water contains sodium and has a higher salt concentration. Soft water lacks calcium and magnesium. With soft water, brewers can expect to extract less coffee, which will lead to a cup of coffee that tastes bland, flat or lacks complexity and flavor.

Many coffee lovers would prefer to brew their coffee with harder water. The reason for this is to increase the extraction and to ensure that they can get the most flavor and complexity out of the coffee. This however holds other problems.

Hard water contains 180 parts per million of calcium and magnesium. This leads to over-extracted and bitter-tasting coffee. Hard water will have a higher level of bicarbonate, which will enhance the flavor of natural bitterness in the coffee.

Ideally, coffee lovers and baristas would not brew with either soft or hard water. But if there are no options, one would prefer to brew with soft water and simply add magnesium and calcium to the water before it is boiled.

The key minerals to identify

If neither soft nor hard water is great for brewing, what are we looking for to ensure that we achieve the best extraction and flavor out of every cup we brew?

There are certain minerals that play a key role in the extraction of coffee. The two main minerals

are magnesium and calcium. Magnesium not only enhances the flavor by increasing the extraction and enabling the coffee water quality to extract the desirable components in the coffee. Magnesium will ensure that the water extracts acidity and adds complexity to the brew.

Calcium on the other hand influences the balance of the coffee. When there is enough calcium, coffee lovers will enjoy a balanced cup of coffee. This means that there will be a harmonious balance between sweetness, acidity and bitterness.

Magnesium: The recommended concentration of magnesium in brewing water is typically between 10-30 ppm.

Calcium: The ideal concentration of calcium in brewing waterfalls is within the range of 20-40 ppm.

Later on we will provide you with the exact guidelines to ensure that you create the perfect water for your brewing.

Total dissolved solids (TDS), PH and alkalinity

There are a few more factors to consider when identifying the best-suited water for coffee brewing. By focusing on the TDS, PH and alkalinity levels, brewers can aim to extract all the flavor they desire by simply increasing or decreasing these factors.

The aim of using perfect water is to enhance the flavor at all times. Farmers, processing plants, and roasters all work extremely hard to produce the best possible product. It is up to the baristas, homebrewers and cafe owners to ensure that they enhance this product with the best-suited water. The water should never stand in the way of a great extracted coffee.

The total dissolved solids refers to the total amount of dissolved substances in the water being used to brew. This includes minerals, salts and impurities in the water. The aim should be to extract all the flavor from the coffee and not overpower it with its impurities and taste.

The pH of water measures the acidity of the water. A higher pH means that the water is more acidic while a lower pH leads to a more neutral water. With a higher pH coffee lovers can expect to extract more acidity from the coffee. When the pH is too high, coffee lovers might experience an unpleasant taste, and they can over-extract the coffee.

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids): For coffee brewing, a TDS level between 150-200 ppm (parts per million) is considered optimal.

pH: The pH of water for coffee brewing should ideally fall between 6.5 and 7.5

What can homebrewers and cafe owners do to obtain the best-suited water?

Filtration is one of the easier and more efficient ways to ensure that your water is full of the right minerals. Companies like Ultimate Water and BWT have created multiple filtration systems based on cafe and coffee lovers' needs.

These companies will provide you with a great service plan. This will ensure that your filtration keeps your coffee water quality clean, and full of minerals. Replacing the filters to ensure a great-tasting coffee has never been this easy.

Filtration can be an option for homebrewers, but many shy away from that option as it is pricey and they do not make enough coffee on a daily basis to justify the cost.

Coffee lovers can create the perfect water by adjusting the alkalinity in their brewing water by adding Bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate. Or in layman's terms, Baking Soda. This will ensure that the water can extract all the flavors in the coffee. Coffee brewers should be careful not to add too much to their water as this will lead to undesirable changes and over-treated water.

Epsom salt is another external addition that coffee lovers can add to their water. This is a source of magnesium and will add complexity in the form of acidity to your coffee brew. Add approximately 10 - 20 mg/L to ensure that the water extracts all the flavor and dissolved solids the coffee presents.

These options can be added to purely distilled water or reverse osmosis water. There are brewing sachets created by companies such as Third Wave Water that can be of great benefit to coffee drinkers who want an easy process of creating the best-suited water for their brewing.

The perfect water

For the best water for coffee brewing, the ideal mineral content in water should be as follows:

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): Between 150-200 ppm.
pH: Ideally between 6.5 and 7.5.
General Hardness (GH): Typically around 3-4 grains per gallon or 50-70 ppm.
Calcium: Approximately 20-40 ppm.
Magnesium: Around 10-30 ppm.
Alkalinity: Ideally between 40-70 ppm as CaCO3 (calcium carbonate).

Coffee lovers should use the guidelines mentioned above to ensure that they purchase close bottled water or within the range of the guidelines. This will enable the water to enhance and extract all the flavor, complexity and taste that the coffee presents.

Maintaining these mineral levels will also ensure the proper extraction of coffee flavors while balancing acidity, sweetness, and bitterness for a well-rounded cup. Adjustments may be necessary based on individual preferences and coffee characteristics.

Scott Rao has his own perspective on what minerals are essential for the best water for coffee which will ensure a great tasting coffee.

Final Words

Water quality plays a key role in how coffee tastes. Many work hard to dial in the coffee to ensure that all the flavor and taste. Simply adding the best-suited minerals, or searching for the perfect balance in your water will save you a lot of bad-tasting coffees. Making coffee is such a craft, don’t let bad water interfere with the taste and flavor of your coffee.

Water Matters: How Water Quality Impacts Your Coffee Taste