The water quality thing changed how I brew now

I always thought it was just snobs being picky about water for coffee. Then I tested my tap water here in Phoenix with one of those TDS meters last week and it was at 380 ppm, which is apparently really high. Most of the good coffee shops aim for like 150 ppm or something. I read this article from some specialty coffee site that said over 60% of bad tasting home brew is actually from the water chemistry being off, not the beans or the grinder. That blew my mind because I've been blaming my old grinder for months when the water was the real issue. Now I'm buying jugs of filtered water from the store and honestly the coffee tastes cleaner, less bitter. Has anyone else actually tested their water and seen a big difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilyt2311h agoTop Commenter

Gotta agree with you here... tested mine and it was at 450 ppm, switched to the store bought filtered stuff and it's like a completely different cup of coffee. Makes you wonder how many people are out there blaming their equipment for bad brew when it's literally just the water.

skyler_kelly6910h ago

Wait, what ppm did your tap water test at?

dianawilson7h agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, 450 ppm? That's basically liquid rock, I can't believe you were drinking that. My Phoenix tap was bad at 380 but yours sounds like it could grow stalactites or something. It's wild how much we just accept our tap water without thinking, like, it's the whole foundation of the coffee and we never check it.