Welcome to Season 2! This season we will be exploring various - potentially surprising - things that affect the flavour of your coffee. In this first episode of the new season we return to the topic of water. In Season 1, Episode 1, we covered the influence of the temperature of your brewing water on coffee extraction. This time it's all about the quality of the water that you brew with as the minerals, metals and salts in water not only affect its taste but also influence the extraction of the coffee too. This week’s FACQ tackles the best water for brewing coffee at home.

Check out Season 1, Episode 1 on brewing water temperature to complete the lowdown on brewing water:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify Podcasts
On the Blue Sky Coffee website

Bottled water:
Some numbers to use as a guide when buying bottled water to brew coffee with:

Magnesium levels of 3.5 - 8mg/l
Calcium levels of 12mg/l
Bicarbonate levels below 75mg/l. (Bicarbonate levels above this will flatten and mute fruit flavours, but increase the mouthfeel which is often seen as positive.)
pH: water that is slightly acidic, in the range of pH6 to pH7 produces coffees which have a bright, pleasing flavour.

Water filters:
Home water filter systems tend to focus on removing limescale and chlorine from the water but don't necessarily balance out the minerals in it, so may still produce poor tasting coffee. It may be worth trying out filter systems that add magnesium to the water as this can improve the coffee’s sweetness and balance.

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