The Science of Coffee

The two ingredients in water that ruin your coffee, and the ancient story behind them


Listen Later

550 million years ago, earth was perfect. We had perfect water for coffee AND we were living in a vegetarian paradise!

 

But then Earth changed—violently. The planet shifted from a peaceful, plant-eating paradise to a darker, more brutal world. And in this new world, the chemistry of water was forever altered.

 

This is the wild story of how earth-shaking forces and the spirits of long-dead critters ruin your coffees today.

 

This story will help you remember the two invisible ingredients in your water that have a huge impact on coffee flavour and your brewing equipment: calcium and hydrogen carbonate.

 

Read Marcia Bjonerud’s amazing book, Reading the Rocks

 

 

Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee!


Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story
Write a review on Apple Podcasts

Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter

 

Season 3 of The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:

 

The Coffee Quest | BWT | TODDY | Algrano | Probat

 

Note: this is a reworked version of my 2022 episode Water for Brewing Coffee.

 

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Science of CoffeeBy James Harper

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

27 ratings


More shows like The Science of Coffee

View all
Good Food by KCRW

Good Food

1,095 Listeners

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters by American Public Media

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

3,047 Listeners

Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Gastropod

3,625 Listeners

Bon Appétit by Bon Appétit

Bon Appétit

2,533 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,871 Listeners

The Coffee Podcast by The Coffee Podcast

The Coffee Podcast

123 Listeners

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio by Milk Street Radio

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

2,950 Listeners

Inside Trader Joe's by Trader Joe's

Inside Trader Joe's

4,283 Listeners

This Is TASTE by Aliza Abarbanel & Matt Rodbard

This Is TASTE

299 Listeners

Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries by James Harper

Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries

87 Listeners

Making Coffee with Lucia Solis by Lucia

Making Coffee with Lucia Solis

61 Listeners

Adventures In Coffee by Jools Walker, Scott Bentley, James Harper

Adventures In Coffee

27 Listeners

A History of Coffee by James Harper

A History of Coffee

70 Listeners

Food with Mark Bittman by Mark Bittman

Food with Mark Bittman

970 Listeners

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb by Deb Perelman & J. Kenji López-Alt

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb

443 Listeners