Ars Article - The science behind good coffee

[astr0b0y Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 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