For the coffee lovers, nothing feels good like an excellent hot espresso coffee. It’s mind blowing as well as refreshing. How you like your coffee determines how you brew it, but some things will almost
certainly remain constant as good quality water will undoubtedly make a good cup of coffee. Water forms the most significant part of your cup of coffee hence the need to have that water at its best quality.
But how do you make your tap water get to give you a nice cup of coffee? How do you make it be of quality for an excellent brewed coffee?
There has been an endless debate about whether it is soft water or hard water that makes the perfect cup of coffee. This, however, may be an unpredictable situation because people have different tastes and preferences. Today, we take a peek into brewing that cup of coffee with softened water and see whether it is a thing that you should consider.
But before we get into the nitty-gritty of the whole coffee brewing process with softened water, let’s first look at what is in water that determines its quality and the eventual good taste in your coffee.
Contents of good quality water.
As much as water may be clear and colorless, it contains lots of minerals; some good while others not so good. Some of the metals contained in water include calcium and magnesium.
But what does good quality water mean, especially when coffee brewing is put into consideration?
1.
Firstly, good quality water is odorless. Water should not contain some foul smell whatsoever. Water distributed from the public water supply system may sometimes include elements like chlorine which may give it an awful smell. You cannot possibly imagine taking a cup of coffee with some smell.
2.
Good quality water should come with some good taste. A good taste of water is from the presence of some amount of minerals. This will make your cup of coffee give you a great feeling that you will leave you craving for more.
3.
When considering your espresso machine, good water should not have calcium minerals. Calcium causes scale formation on your espresso machine which will substantially decrease its longevity and performance.
What is water softening?
As mentioned before, water contains minerals. These minerals may need to be removed from your water to ensure they do not cause blocking to your machine. This process of removing them is what is referred to
as water softening. It is done through different methods depending on you.
All in all, you may consider just acquiring a superb water softener to achieve your desired water quality.
Is softened water good for your coffee?
The process of coffee brewing may seem so easy that you may ignore what happens in that cup or your espresso machine. A blend of factors comes into play to extract that flavor and color from your fine roasted coffee beans. These factors include the heating temperature of your water and the minerals in it. These are the factors that bring out the excellent flavor in your coffee.
When answering the question whether softened water is good for your coffee, we need to consider these factors. Keeping in mind that softened water has minerals removed from it, one may be inclined to conclude that softened water is not good for your coffee.
But what amount of minerals is required in the process of flavour extraction from your coffee?
A number of a hundred and fifty to two hundred parts per million is considered to be quite a good number for the process. A number lesser than this makes it too soft which will not make good coffee. Therefore, you should avoid using overly softened water to make your cup of coffee.
When using an espresso machine consider using softened water to avoid damaging your machine or otherwise make frequent cleaning as per the guidelines by the manufacturer.
