E3: Coffee Smarter - The Impact of Water on Coffee Part Two
Coffee Smarter with Chris O'Brien of Coffee Cycle Roasting
Coffee Smarter with Chris O'Brien of Coffee Cycle Roasting
Filtered water is better than tap water when you’re making your cup of coffee.

There are already minerals in the water that are competing with the coffee grinds for space. They have to coexist in a given amount of water. Filtering out unwanted minerals that come with their own flavors will help you create a cup of coffee that is more reflective of the coffee bean you’re buying.
The temperature of the water matters. Brewing coffee with water ranging between 194 and 208 degrees is ideal. Brewing above 208 is debated by various coffee and water experts. It can be helpful to test your water temperature with a simple thermometer.
Generally, good coffees will probably be alright, even good, but bad coffees will be made worse because the extra high temperature will lead to the extraction of some bad tasting flavors.
The most important thing about any cup of coffee is, did you like it?
Water can be as complicated or not complicated as you want. If you want to get really complicated, download the Specialty Coffee Association of America Water Standards PDF here.
Chris mentioned a book, “Water for Coffee,” that digs much deeper into the proverbial woods when it comes to the science of water. You can find more info here: Water For Coffee on Goodreads.
Third Wave Water make’s mineral packets that you can add to water to create water tailored specifically to your cup of coffee.

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We welcome Brand Protection Attorney Maria Sinatra onto the Coffee People podcast to chat about the role of (and need for) intellectual property in the coffee industry.
We talk to Andrew and Christine Houghtaling of Kissing Rock Coffee to chat about their effort to bring specialty coffee to the coast of Oregon, and their recent victories at Golden Bean The Americas.
We visit with Kevin Hartley. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cambio Roasters. At Cambio, they are attempting to evolve the coffee pod from a wasteful coffee product into one that is made from recyclable aluminum and compostable coffee and filters.
We visit with Isabella Vitaliano of Royal Coffee to chat about their experiment testing how freezing impacts coffee freshness.