First step to making great coffee: Water
As an average guy looking for great coffee, I really never gave much thought to the complexities of making great coffee. When you start to break it down though, there is really a lot to a good cup of coffee. There’s the beans, the roast, the coffee maker, the method of preparation, how the coffee is stored, how long it has been since the coffee was roasted, and …….the water. Yeah, that’s right the water.
Coffee is primarily made up of water. And so if you don’t have the right water, and brew your coffee at the right temperature, you’re not going to have a great cup of coffee. So with that in mind let’s “dive” into the water we need to make a great cup of coffee.
Photo by Roland Tanglau
Many people I know, simply use water from the tap to make their coffee. That’s okay if you’re looking for “average coffee” but not so much if you are looking for a great cup. If you have to use tap water, make sure you let it run for a few minutes – this is especially true if your water has a taste or odor to it as it come out of the tap. Make sure you don’t use softened water, as it has had the minerals removed from it by exchanging them with sodium ions, thus sometimes softened water can taste salty, which can also negatively impact the flavor of your coffee.
To make the best coffee, make sure that you use water that is filtered or is natural spring water. Some folks keep one of those filtered water containers in the fridge specifically for making water for coffee, which I think is a good idea. Also make sure, if you are storing your water, that the container in which you store the water is cleaned regularly. The accumulation of microbes and other junk in your water storage container, can ruin the great coffee you’re trying to make.
So what about the temperature of the water?? Does it matter how hot the water is when you make your coffee? The short answer is YES!
According to every resource I reviewed, the ideal water temperature to make great coffee is 195-205 degrees F. This range is important as it has to do with “extraction”. Extraction is the amount flavor that is obtained from the coffee you are making. Please note, that were not talking about the strength of the coffee as it is possible for example to have under extracted strong cup of coffee. (We’ll talk more about coffee strength later – but for now a good resource is from Coffee Chemistry.) If the water temperature is below this under extraction of the coffee will occur and the coffee will taste weak. If the temperature is too high, over extraction will occur and the coffee could taste strong and bitter.
So there you have it – bottom line – the first step in making a great cup of coffee, make sure that you use fresh, filtered water and make sure that it is heated to the proper temperature. Next we’ll take a look at the coffee bean itself.
All the best,
Island Mike
