The impact of water quality on coffee taste

If you want to make a good cup of coffee, you need to work on more than just the selection, roasting and brewing of coffee beans. 99% of the coffee poured into the coffee cup is water. From this perspective, water can be said to be the secret key to whether the coffee is delicious or not.

Speaking of the properties of water, in recent years, there are various bottled waters on the market, and we often hear the words "hard water" and "soft water" in our daily life. In fact, according to the hardness of water, water can be roughly divided into hard water and soft water. The so-called water hardness refers to the total concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in water. The lower the concentration, the softer it is, and the higher the concentration, the harder it is.

For example, tap water or groundwater in Japan is almost all soft water, while in Europe and the United States, most of the water is hard water. As for whether hard water or soft water is more suitable for brewing coffee, there is actually no definite answer, but the mineral content in water does affect the taste of water.

Generally speaking, water with too much or too little mineral content is considered to be unbalanced. For example, if the content of calcium and magnesium ions is too high, it will hinder the extraction of main coffee components such as caffeine and high-quality tannins. On the other hand, if the water quality is too hard, its impact will also be directly reflected in the bitterness of coffee.

But then again, what kind of water can bring out the greatest balance when brewing coffee depends on personal taste and preference.

Water hardness also affects the taste of water

So, hard water or soft water, which one is better for coffee?

Regarding this point, after a detailed investigation of many literatures discussing the relationship between coffee and water, it was found that there is no definitive conclusion and opinions are still divided. For example, people who like the smooth taste of coffee will think that soft water is better for brewing, but people who like the unique bitterness of coffee usually prefer to use hard water to brew, so that the bitterness of coffee can be highlighted. In addition, between hard water and soft water, there are other types of water quality, including medium hardness water with calcium content and extremely hard water with super hardness. Therefore, after combining the mineral water available on the market and tap water, the following conclusions are finally obtained.

Don't think about which water is best for coffee, but which water will make the coffee you like?

1: Hard water, the taste will remain in your mouth, which can cause the bitterness of coffee and a stimulating taste. The aroma of roasting will also be more obvious and the weight will be full.

2: Medium hard water. The taste of the water is between soft water and hard water. Therefore, the sourness and bitterness of the brewed coffee are also between the two, and the stimulating taste is suppressed to a certain extent.

3: Soft water, the water tastes clean and refreshing, the brewed coffee tastes smooth, is more likely to show sourness, and has a weaker roasted aroma. It is easy to show the characteristics of the coffee itself.