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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Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story
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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

Subscribe to my A History of Coffee podcast

Timothy Schoorel interview