Brewing at Home, Part 4: Improve Your Water Quality
Maybe you've decided to take our advice. You're standing in your kitchen with a bag of sweet Hartmann Honey. Maybe you read Jeremy's (RIP) awesome post about grinding and decided to go ahead and purchase a modest burr grinder for home. You've chosen Moka Pot as your method of extraction, and have the grind size and dose exacted to your taste preference. But what about your water?
Coffee is some crazy high percentage (98.5%) water. Amazing that
it's sometimes an afterthought in home coffee brewing, huh? There are
several options for improving water quality at home.
1. Get Tested!
What if you don't have enough hardness? Some mineral content is needed to brew a good cup of coffee. As David Beeman of Cirqua Customized Water says, "You want to add minerals back in to create flavor. Without minerals, there's no chemical reaction with coffee, tea or bread." Now here's where it gets tricky - if you happen to have soft water at home, the more economical choice may be bottled water, as adding mineral content back into water is pretty involved and expensive.
I've heard that the water is NYC (where our Mott Street and Lorimer Street stores are) is excellent, but the problem is that the pipes are old and dirty. That means they need a good filtration system to make sure that none of that dirt gets into brewing water - and brewing equipment. At home in NYC, you'd have to pay to get your water tested. The most economical way to go would be to purchase a Brita or Pur filter, which uses a carbon filter to remove the particulates.
1. Get Tested!
- Your city or county may have a water testing plant; they usually charge.
- They will test for potability - ecoli, lead, nitrates and nitrites (extra charge), fecal coloform.
-
In Tompkins County, where we roast our beans, we have Yaws Environmental Laboratory.
- OR,
if you live in a college/university town, try calling their Horticulture Department to find out if they have an analytical lab -
they may do the testing for free!
- Both filter out particulates - sand and dirt.
- Cotton ones are cheaper, and the carbon ones will filter more out.
- In our cafes, we use two cotton filters first to filter out the bigger particles, then a carbon filter.
- You can buy a water kit, such as this one.
- Send your water to a testing facility, like Cirqua Customized Water.
- TDS are inorganic and organic substances contained in your water and are commonly measured in parts per million (PPM).
What if you don't have enough hardness? Some mineral content is needed to brew a good cup of coffee. As David Beeman of Cirqua Customized Water says, "You want to add minerals back in to create flavor. Without minerals, there's no chemical reaction with coffee, tea or bread." Now here's where it gets tricky - if you happen to have soft water at home, the more economical choice may be bottled water, as adding mineral content back into water is pretty involved and expensive.
I've heard that the water is NYC (where our Mott Street and Lorimer Street stores are) is excellent, but the problem is that the pipes are old and dirty. That means they need a good filtration system to make sure that none of that dirt gets into brewing water - and brewing equipment. At home in NYC, you'd have to pay to get your water tested. The most economical way to go would be to purchase a Brita or Pur filter, which uses a carbon filter to remove the particulates.
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Janet Jun 10, 2009 – 10:55 AM
Great informative post Erin! What home burr grinder do you recommend?
Phoebe Jun 10, 2009 – 12:47 PM
YAY WATER! When people ask me "why isn't my coffee as good when I brew it at home?" I always ask first about the water they are using. No doubt about it, it really affects cup quality.
P.S. Erin, you are super duper. Spades tournament at The Shop?
Erin Jun 10, 2009 – 3:54 PM
Thanks, Janet! I've had great experiences with the Baratza conical burr grinder and the Capresso Infinity conical burr grinder. I recommend going to www.coffeegeek.com and reading customer reviews of consumer (as opposed to professional) burr grinders. When you're ready to buy, check out ebay first for used equipment (our company was practically built on smart ebay bids!). I imagine www.baristaexchange.com can get you in touch with some used grinders, as well. If you're into buying refurbished, make sure you're buying a grinder that has burrs you can find to replace. Good luck - I'm in the market for one, too, since pretty soon I won't have awesome gimme cafes in walking distance! (Athens, GA, anyone? - holler back!)
Erin Jun 10, 2009 – 4:00 PM
Hey Phoebe - how true. I'm sure The Shop (insert future web link here) got hooked up with proper filtration and softeners from our own Thom Cooper (link to his sweet blog posts here), correct? You're going to be selling that Piccolo Mondo blend on tap, espresso style, right in downtown Ithaca? Dang. That coffee is good.
P.S. I learned it from you. Spades tournament for real - third week in July?
Phoebe Jun 11, 2009 – 10:26 AM
Oh you betcha Erin, filters, softening canister, the works! ** Even the ice machine and the hot water brewer are on the filtration line.** Tom and Tomas hooked this place up, bless their hearts!
Ive got my Spades face on for July, hows about Sunday the 19th!