Ars Article - The science behind good coffee

[astr0b0y]

A good article that I learned a few things from - The science behind a good cup of coffee | Ars Technica

- Claim that roast time affects caffeine content is not correct
- Hard water is better at extracting flavour (can we get unfilters?)

[Javaphile]

Actually the article does not say that "hard water is better at extracting flavour". Rather the article states "...positive ions, often found in “hard” water, are good at grabbing the flavorful compounds in coffee.". Just because water has positive ions in it does not make it hard water.


Java "Say what?" phile

[Thunder240]

Except the very next sentence after the one you quoted reads, "In particular, calcium and magnesium ions were best at snatching flavor compounds without otherwise altering the coffee taste." Those particular positive ions do indeed make hard water!

[Javaphile]

Except the very next sentence after the one you quoted reads, "In particular, calcium and magnesium ions were best at snatching flavor compounds without otherwise altering the coffee taste." Those particular positive ions do indeed make hard water!

They make hard water only if a high enough quantity of those ions are present in the water! Water isn't hard simply because it contains those ions. It's hard when it contains a large enough quantity of them. The article was very carefully worded so that it did not state that you needed to use hard water to get the flavorful extraction, merely that you needed to use water that contained some ions.


Java "Science what?!" phile