What are the requirements for water for making coffee?

Nowadays, with the old chain brand Starbucks blossoming everywhere in China, the new generation of Lian Coffee and Luckin Coffee competing for the market, the instant coffee Sandunban emerging as a dark horse, and various independent brand coffee specialty stores popping up everywhere, coffee is becoming a part of the daily life habits of more and more people.

In other words, there are now a large number of consumers in China whose lives are intertwined with coffee. Coffee is an integral part of their lives.

This explains why a large number of coffee lovers are pursuing the ultimate coffee experience. In the coffee experience, there is a thing that used to be insignificant, but is now being mentioned by everyone. For example, what are the requirements for the water used to make coffee?

A cup of coffee is 98% water and 2% coffee.

In the past, the most researched thing was 2% coffee. The flavor of coffee is mainly composed of two parts:

1. Green coffee beans. For example, Arabica beans are more commonly used in the commercial market, and Ethiopian Gesha and Yirgacheffe are more commonly used in competitions.

Green coffee beans vary in caffeine content, fat content, sugar content, aroma and acidity.

2. Roasting: The flavor of raw beans is transformed through the transformation of internal components through roasting, and the degree of roasting will also affect the flavor of the beans.

Medium roasting has more sourness than bitterness, and the aroma and concentration are moderate; deep roasting has more bitterness than sourness, and the aroma is rich; ultra-dark roasting is also called Italian roasting, the degree of roasting is close to carbonization, and there is a burnt smell. This kind of beans is used in cappuccino and espresso.

The pursuit of coffee flavor is the same as that of red wine and Chinese tea. Coffee beans are as important as grapes and tea leaves.

There is an old Chinese saying: 80% tea, 10% water. This means that no matter how good the tea is, it can only play an 80% role, while water plays a 100% role.

This truth summed up by tea lovers is also circulated in the field of professional coffee.

The most famous coffee competition in the world is called the World Brewers Cup (WBrC), which is equivalent to the World Cup of coffee.

The WBrC competition is divided into two parts:

1. For designated brewing, everyone uses the same beans and the same water.

2. Choose your own brewing, using your own beans, your own water, and your own brewing recipe.

In 2012, Matt Perger, a coffee master from Australia, announced his brewing plan after winning the championship. He believed that his success was due to the new EK grinder and, more importantly, the water distribution plan .

Another person who believes that the water distribution plan affects the outcome of the competition is the 2016 world champion, Tetsu Kasuya from Japan, who is world-famous for his 46 brewing method.

Matt and Tetsu Kasuya use mineralized pure water to distribute water. Matt's water distribution plan includes:

1. Pure water

2. Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3

3. Magnesium sulfate MgSO4

Matt specifically noted in the water distribution plan:

Don't worry about the "not for drinking" label on purified water; minerals are added to it to prevent people from drinking too much purified water.

But Matt did not disclose the specific content and configuration ratio. After all, it is used for eating.

However, fortunately, there is a prospective postdoctoral fellow who specializes in the research of "water for coffee".

His name is Christopher H. Hendon. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from Harvard and is currently pursuing a postdoctoral degree at MIT.

He is called "Dr. Coffee" by Americans on social networks. "I regard coffee as an object for experiment. If you remove the human factor and the influence of sensory organs, the coffee you drink is the real pure coffee."

Henton redefined the coffee flavor evaluation system with rational means. He and another coffee researcher co-authored an article titled "Water for Coffee", which explained the importance of water quality to coffee brewing based on the chemical structure and properties of water .

In the paper, he used experimental data to prove that water quality affects the taste of coffee.

1. Water with higher magnesium and calcium ion content will give coffee a stronger flavor.

2. The bicarbonate in hard water increases the bitterness of coffee.

Henton confirmed that pure water is not suitable for brewing coffee, and water containing trace elements and minerals is more suitable for brewing coffee. Different mineral content and proportions of water will have different effects on the flavor of coffee.

Both theorist Henton and practicalist Matt believe that minerals and trace elements in water are important, but neither gives a specific range of calcium and magnesium ion concentrations.

Fortunately, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has given official guidance on water used in coffee. SCA was formed by the merger of the European Coffee Association and the American Coffee Association. It is the world's most authoritative coffee membership organization and also provides professional training and qualification certification for professional baristas.

As can be seen from the above figure, the American Coffee Association believes that the most suitable concentration of water for brewing coffee is 150 mg/L, the calcium ion concentration is about 68 mg/L, and the sodium content is about 10 mg/L.

Such water can be obtained artificially, but if the water naturally contains minerals and is within the above range, it is extremely valuable.

In China, Tiandi Jinghua, Evergrande Ice Spring, Uni-President Aikua and Master Kong all meet the above criteria.

From this point of view, Chinese baristas have the best of time, place and people.

Time: Now is the era when the Chinese coffee market is developing fastest and most vigorously. China Business News once predicted that by 2020, the sales volume of the Chinese market will reach 300 billion yuan.

Geographical advantage: China has high-quality local natural mineral water sources, rich in low-sodium, low-mineralization, and low-hardness natural water, making it easy to find mineral water suitable for brewing coffee. Chinese people have more opportunities to enjoy Jinbei-quality hand-brewed coffee in their home country.

Renhe: The number of coffee consumers in China is growing at an annual rate of about 15%. The coffee industry will fully benefit from China's demographic dividend.

The Chinese studied tea 2,000 years earlier than Americans studied coffee.

In the Tang Dynasty, tea master Lu Yu tasted hundreds of waters and found the best water for tea . He believed that such water should meet five criteria:

1. Clear: clear and clean

2. Light: low total concentration and low hardness

3. Gan: sweet

4. Lie: refreshing and smooth

5. Live: fresh water

If you compare them carefully, you will find that Lu Yu's quality water standards are basically consistent with SCA's standards for coffee water.

Coffee may seem like a new thing, but in fact, it is no different from drinking tea. People who are particular about it are naturally particular about it, and water is very important in this particularity.