The effect of water quality on coffee can water quality also affect the flavor of coffee?

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Although bean selection, roasting, grinding, water temperature and brewing techniques are all in place, ignoring 98% of the substance in a cup of coffee, the desire for the ultimate flavor is ultimately difficult to meet.

High quality water consumption

The ingredients of a cup of coffee are mostly water.

About 98% of the coffee prepared by general brewing method is moisture.

In the case of espresso, it's about 90% water. Therefore, if you want to make quality coffee, it is common sense to use high-quality water.

Then what kind of water is good water? First of all, it must be odorless or tasteless, and it must not have color or other impurities visible to the naked eye. In addition, its pH should be between 7 and 8 and should not contain chlorine.

A little deeper, the total dissolved concentration (TDS) of water should be about 150mg / L, including about 55mg / L of calcium hardness.

When the TDS value is too high, the solubility of that water will not extract coffee efficiently, and the brewed coffee will feel underextracted, but on the contrary, if the TDS is too low, for example, if you use pure water with a TDs of 0, the resulting coffee is easy to have a bitter taste.

Water experts who have been engaged in coffee and water research for many years and served as judges of several Korean World Coffee competitions & Golden Coffee Award tell you how water quality affects the aroma and taste of coffee.

Water can screen out good aroma components and awaken coffee flavor.

The strongest parts of the aroma will be extracted at the beginning, and as the coffee particles come into contact with water for longer and longer, bitter, bad-flavor substances will be gradually released.

The ideal TDs value can show the flavor of coffee.

Scientific experiments have confirmed that minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium) and trace elements in water can change the sensory properties of coffee. The right amount of minerals will help to improve the flavor, aroma, taste, sweetness, mellow, aftertaste, etc.; excessive will change the taste of coffee, making it strongly sour and astringent.

Effect of Ions in Water on extraction of Flavor substances

There are seven ingredients in coffee beans, including lactic acid, malic acid, citric acid, quinic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeine, and eugenol, which plays the role of fragrance. The combination of cations (magnesium and calcium) dissolved in water will improve the extraction rate of aroma components and affect the final flavor of coffee.

Using Water Taste Map to analyze different Water quality

Water is tasteful. in the book, the sensory characteristics of ideal water quality, high TDS value water, high pH value water and salty water (or salt water), such as aroma, acidity, sweetness, bitterness, pure thickness, and metallic taste, are presented in a water taste diagram, mastering the performance and characteristics of water, you can highlight the level of coffee.

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