Water Filtering

[redeyegreeneye]

Why else would you be on Coffee Snobs if you werent a coffee purist?

Assuming you use treated town water in your favourite espresso machine, do you go a step further and use any of the readily available water filters?

Some water filters use charcoal filtering, others use reverse osmosis, seems there are many types.

Does using additional water filtering make a better coffee?

Is there a tried and tested technique that makes water filtering a must ... or is it a case of a good quality coffee bean making any water taste great?

Thanks,
Mick

[JavaB]

Re: Water Filtering

Mick,

I dont use water filtering per se, but do use water softening.

Here in Perth, Adelaide also, and in the east to a lesser extent - the water is very hard and will deposit scale on the inside of your boiler. A water softener reduces this considerably (a normal under the sink filter does nothing to remove calcium salts).....

If you are using a normal domestic machine with a reservoir then a Brita filter will reduce the calcium (and lots of other nasties.... which may / may not improve the taste). If using a commercial machine then there are specific water softeners made for them..... and which should be used.

But the calcium salts - which produce the scale - are the ones to be removed to extend machine life.

[Thundergod]

Re: Water Filtering

My Expobar has a water softener in it and I also use Brita filtered water.

[Dimal]

Re: Water Filtering

Is there a tried and tested technique that makes water filtering a must ... or is it a case of a good quality coffee bean making any water taste great?

Gday Mick,

If you want to get the best info straight from someone who installs filtering setups for espresso machines, Id suggest talking to Attilio from CosmoreX Coffee..... One of our sponsors who goes by the tag of Fresh_Coffee and knows a thing or three about pretty well anything to do with brewing coffee

Mal.

[redeyegreeneye]

Re: Water Filtering

Hi JavaB,

If calcium salts are not a problem then I guess theres no urgency in adding a water softener system?

I have used citric acid descaling maintenance on previous espresso machines and never seen any scale flush out leaving me to believe scaling is not a problem for water in Canberra.

I know descaling can dissolve these salts but there was no evidence of a problem - this doesnt mean I wont add a filter because if adding a filter helps keep my machine clean and possibly improve coffee quality, then I might have just talked myself into getting a filter : )

Thanks for your answer.

Cheers,
Mick

[JavaB]

Re: Water Filtering

Mick,

Yep, Eastern states water (especially Melbourne) is quite soft - especially when compared to Perth and Adelaide.....

The calcium deposits (scale) are easily removed by regular citric acid flushing in a domestic machine (works great to restore that "new" gleam to SS kettles as well)..... but with a commercial machine or a prosumer it is a strip down to do a descale...... and thats not something you want to do very often.

Makes it far more important to use soft water on those. :

[redeyegreeneye]

Re: Water Filtering

My Expobar has a water softener in it and I also use Brita filtered water.

Hi Thundergod,

Domestic tap water has chlorine in it. Once the tap water is sitting in your espresso water reservoir the chlorine evaporates - not that I can tell the difference in my doppio.

Do you recommend use of filtered water?

Thanks,
Mick

[redeyegreeneye]

Re: Water Filtering

Is there a tried and tested technique that makes water filtering a must ... or is it a case of a good quality coffee bean making any water taste great?

Gday Mick,

If you want to get the best info straight from someone who installs filtering setups for espresso machines, Id suggest talking to Attilio from CosmoreX Coffee..... One of our sponsors who goes by the tag of Fresh_Coffee and knows a thing or three about pretty well anything to do with brewing coffee

Mal.

Hi Mal,

Attilio has a great set up. I have toured Cosmorex Coffee and checked his roasting process first hand. I have also spent plenty of dollars there on beans and coffee equipment and accessories. Im going to do one of his barista courses one day.

I will take your advice and check with Attilio on water filters.

Thanks,
Mick

[Thundergod]

Re: Water Filtering

My Expobar has a water softener in it and I also use Brita filtered water.

Hi Thundergod,

Domestic tap water has chlorine in it. Once the tap water is sitting in your espresso water reservoir the chlorine evaporates - not that I can tell the difference in my doppio.

Do you recommend use of filtered water?

Thanks,
Mick

I prefer to give my machine the best start possible.
My wife insisted on getting in bottled water for our drinking purposes rather than use the tap water (Im not that fussy).
When I got the Expobar I started using that but we were going through water a lot faster, so I dug out an old Brita jug my mother gave me once and started using that instead.
I think it may even work out a bit cheaper because Im cutting out the middle man.

[hazbean]

Re: Water Filtering

I wouldnt put raw Adelaide water in anything.

Brita jug for coffee, RO system for tea.

If youre in Canberra, talking to Attilio is excellent advice.
Search for some of his posts on the subject.


"1-3-7 Trimethyl Xanthine" ? Give me 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-
1 H-purine-2,6-dione any day

[redeyegreeneye]

Re: Water Filtering

Well done Hazbean,

Most of us know that  1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6(3H,7H)-dione is the systematic name for 1,3,7-trimethyl-xanthine.

The questions now are:
1. what molarity is your mix and
2. how many beans do you use per cup?

: ) Mick

[hazbean]

Re: Water Filtering

"what molarity is your mix" ? Around 8 x 10^-3 M, I think. But I might be wrong, I
had to revive at least Avogadros number of dead brain cells to do the calculation, its
been many years . Assuming double espresso arabica.

"how many beans do you use per cup"? About 150, computed by extrapolation.

I found that its much easier to compute molecular weights now than in years
gone by -- the great associative memory called Google gives the result in just
a few seconds

Anyway, thats enough brain cycles expended for one evening.

[redeyegreeneye]

Re: Water Filtering

"
"how many beans do you use per cup"? About 150, computed by extrapolation.

... so the "43 beans in every cup" isnt a sales pitch by Nescafe, but an admission of diluted quality : )

Mick

[hazbean]

Re: Water Filtering

Yes Mick I think it must be. I was sadly disillusioned.

Or it may have to do with the fact that I get 22g into a double basket.