1) Water For Brewing Coffee

Oct 25, 2022

Discover how the quality of water can transform your coffee experience! Journey back billions of years to explore how calcium influences flavor, and learn why mineral-rich waters can make your brew shine. Uncover the surprising impact of limescale on espresso machines and how proper water chemistry plays a crucial role in achieving the perfect shot. Plus, find environmentally friendly tips for sourcing quality water at home. This tale intertwines science, geology, and a passion for coffee that will leave you brewing in bliss!

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Intro

00:00 • 6min

Brewing the Cosmos: Water, Geology, and Coffee

05:45 • 12min

The Journey of Calcium: From Ocean to Coffee

17:20 • 15min

The Impact of Limescale on Espresso Machines

32:13 • 2min

Balancing Water Chemistry for Perfect Espresso

33:47 • 14min

Brewing Better Coffee: The Role of Water Quality

48:06 • 4min

Navigating Water Quality Solutions for Home Brewing

51:42 • 5min

From Finance to Coffee Passion

56:37 • 6min

A newer, updated version of this episode is out — listen here instead!

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Water really matters when you’re brewing coffee. Different waters can dramatically change how a single coffee will taste.

But what is the right water for the best coffee?

In this episode I will give you the answer, but I will first take you back billions of years to tell you the story of a single mineral and how it's responsible for making our coffees taste lame. Because here’s the thing: water science is chemistry, and chemistry is very complicated and easily forgettable. But with a great story, I’m hoping you’ll remember!

In the second half, I show you why Christopher Hendon’s book Water for Coffee made a big splash in the coffee community, but also why some academic chemists are critical of the book, and how this all manifested in the creation of the Specialty Coffee Association’s Water Quality Handbook.

And, to cap it all off, I offer you some environmentally conscious ways to get hold of good water for coffee, so your coffee brews can finally explode in flavour.

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Discover this episode’s sponsor BWT’s water filtration products. I use their Penguin Magnesium Mineralised cartridges and cafes can use their BestAqua ROC

Read Marcia Bjornerud’s amazing book, Reading The Rocks

Want more to listen to more documentary podcasts about coffee? Check out Filter Stories

Want to go deeper into water chemistry?

SCA’s Water Quality Handbook
BWT White Paper on the effects of magnesium (German)
How to add magnesium to your soft water out of the tap (scroll to bottom)
Christopher Hendon’s Water for Coffee
Certificate of Advanced Studies at Zurich’s Coffee Excellence Center online course
Read ‘The Craft and Science of Coffee’
Barista Hustle's Water course
James Hoffman's water video

Connect with my very knowledgeable guests:

Samo Smrke - LinkedIn and Instagram
Chahan Yeretzian - Linkedin
Frank Neuhausen - LinkedIn
Marcia Bjornerud - Academic profile
Christopher Hendon - LinkedIn and Instagram

The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:

BWT Water and More - https://bit.ly/3EEpuxN
Marco Beverage Systems - https://bit.ly/3T2YDzY
Trabocca - https://bit.ly/3Tjn8bV
Eversys - https://bit.ly/3CBkp6X
Oatly - https://bit.ly/3exvlKS
Fiorenzato - https://bit.ly/3T3nmUQ

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