December 12, 2011 - Water
So many many many many many times, we get asked about Slayer, Synesso, La Marzocco, Wega, San Marco etc etc, and talk in depth about machines, grinders, tampers, grinders again, dosing tools, origin, roasting techniques, green grading systems, certifications, grain pro bags, travel time and temp from origin in relation to the quality of a coffee that can be poured, filtered, brewed.
We spend countless hours going through technique, set up, freshness (age – but really lets use age for wines and measure it in years not days), all the angles on nuturing a bean to impart it’s best, only to find a rusty old, forgotten about water filter jammed in a hard to reach place. A recent discussion with a local barista (who works only in coffee on coffee and is seeking to make it a profession) came down to ‘water filtration? man, no idea…does it matter?’…. uh, yep.
Espresso is 95% water (ok it’s probably less but for the sake of the discussion – a lot), so lets say we have the same coffee and are brewing it all over the city, what is the single biggest contributor to the flavour after the actual bean itself ? water. Our city store – the league of honest coffee had to have all of the filtration doubled due to high copper levels from new plumbing in the water mains 5 levels below, did it change the coffee flavour - it had a HUGE affect, and was something we hadn’t come across before. So how is it that so many cafes don’t even know they have filtration let alone what it is or when it last got changed ?
Two main reasons – one is Melbourne. Here in Melbourne we are lucky to have some of the softest (measured in unts of CaCO3 mg/L) and lowest chlorination levels (again mg/L) in Australia – CaCO3 levels averaged 30-50 mg/L and Chlorine 0.2 mg/L – depending on how far away you are from the Chlorination dosing points.
Secondly – old pipes. Generally old (or older) pipes have had so much water washed through that there is very little in the way of contaminants due to the pipe. Try drinking water out of new garden hose that’s been in the sun and you’ll know what I mean.
Ensuring water is filtered will in turn lead to less machine or equipment failure and ensure sweeter coffees. Try drinking a glass of water from the tap and writing down how it tastes. Most people will pick out chlorine, but can you also taste mud, sharp metallic flavours or salt? Try comparing your filtered water with unfiltered tap water, and then imagine how this would affect your coffee brewing…
Most times a filter only blocks when something gets caught in it – roadworks, new plumbing fittings – or it’s very very old. And at this point we replace it. Filters should have a volume or time based expiry, so try and set a date in the diary or remind yourself when you see the water bill to check the filters as well.
