Water quality, bottled or filtered

I have been curious of water quality and the effect on brewing for some time. I have done some casual investigation. Mostly brewing coffee in a hotel is awful, partially because of using tap water. (that is another post).

Reports that I have read suggest 50-150ppm Total Dissolved Solids with 1-3 grains of hardness work best for brewing coffee. Bottled or filtered water is the normal recommendation for coffee brewing.

At home I use standard water filters for brewing coffee and cupping. Recently, I picked up some Arrowhead Mountain Spring water and thought it would improve the taste of coffee. I was not using distilled or carbonated water. So today I set up a cupping of 6 coffees, 2 cups of each. One kettle had filtered water and the other was Arrowhead.

They were pretty different. The home-filtered water let the sweetness and acidity of the coffee come through. Coffee brewed with Arrowhead tasted murky, less acidic. I asked my wife to taste two cups and tell me if the cups tasted similar or different. In her quick directness, she pointed to the Arrowhead and said it tasted flat. Tasting the water cool, the Arrowhead has a soft, sweet quality lacking hardness. Too much hardness and the coffee can taste bitter.

I have often used bottled water for off-site tastings where the water is not filtered and would do so in the future. I have heard many brands will add softeners or additive to improve the taste.

Having been a Sensory judge at barista competitions, competitors are required to provide judges with drinking water as palate cleanser. Often competitors will serve vogue water like Voss or Perrier. I have even had sparkling water. This changes the taste of their drinks a bit. If the water is carbonated you get an effervescence on the tongue. So when you are tasting espresso or a drink it may compete for flavor. I take a small sip, but don’t drink too much just to give the drinks a fair shot.

PS-don’t ever drink tap water in the Houston airport. Awful.

Filtered on left, bottled on right. Notice lighter and reddish tint on right.

Brazil

To be honest, I always had a negative impression of coffees from Brazil until a few years ago. I have been told that were cheap blender coffees and never had an opportunity to try any. A few years ago, I had some a few times which I really enjoyed and changed my opinion on them. Ecco Caffe specializes in offering several outstanding Brazils and I have begun to appreciate them for their full body, sweetness and honey aroma.

For the most part I generally stick to coffees from Guatemala. They are dense, hard coffees with brilliant acidity. Sweet Maria’s have quite a nice selection currently so I wanted to take advantage before they were gone.

Brazil Carmo de Mindas- Fazenda Ezperanca

Honey, nutty aroma with moderate acidity and clean finish. I kept thinking of figs or dates, mild sweetness. This was a bit tough to roast. The first crack was very quiet and just kept going.

Brazil Daterra Farms- Yellow Bourbon

Sweet, delicate acidity, medium body with clean finish. Hazelnut, maple and honey. Roasted very nice. I had two samples of this one. One was purchased in May and then other was from Sept. The September sample was more bright, cleaner and more effervescent. Daterra vacuum seals their green coffee, so I was curious if there would be a noticeable difference in the same coffee from 5 months apart.

Brazil Pocos de Caldas- Fazenda Barreiro

Low acidity and creamy body. Strong nut aroma, had a very distinct baking spice note, almost tobacco. SM’s description noted a single-malt scotch and leather quality. Roasted very nice, beans stayed a reddish light color when roasted with a smooth surface.

All coffees were Pulp-Natural and Yellow Bourbon varietal.

Each one was sample roasted then roasted to City +.