Some Thoughts on Water:
As most of us in the coffee business know, great coffee begins with great water. About ninety-eight percent of coffee is water, so it only makes sense that the water you brew with is the best that you can get. Some colleagues of mine discovered an easy way to achieve this: A product called Third Wave Water.
Third Wave Water took essential minerals which are best for brewing coffee and put them into a little packet (or, as they call it, a capsule) which is measured out to be the perfect amount when added to a gallon of distilled water. (A pack of twelve capsules costs $15.) To use Third Wave Water, all you have to do is take a capsule, put it into a gallon of distilled water, shake well, and you've now got the perfect water for coffee. Two capsules is all you need for a 12-ounce bag of coffee. This is the best, and easiest, way of getting great water for your coffee.
If you don't have Third Wave Water, however, I recommend using either purified water or spring water. Only use tap water if it's been filtered -- e.g., using Brita or other similar water filters. Between the two of these, I'm more likely to choose purified water for brewing my coffee.
When it comes to spring water, remember that all are not created equally. As of today, I've made coffee using Deer Park as well as a Walmart brand of spring water. The Walmart brand resulted in a harsh, woody undercurrent all the way through. The Deer Park, on the other hand, produced a brew with terrific clarity, allowing for the coffee's subtler notes to shine through.
Concerning distilled water: Do NOT use it unless you also use Third Wave Water (or you've added your own blend of minerals). Just as you wouldn't want to use unfiltered tap water, distilled water will also not give you good-tasting coffee. While unfiltered tap water has dissolved in it many things -- resulting in a high number of total dissolved solids (TDS), pure distilled water has zero TDS.
Your coffee will find it difficult to properly extract when its water has a TDS which is too high. There's simply not enough room for your coffee to extract. On the opposite end of the spectrum, distilled water's TDS is too low, and your coffee will extract too much. For great tasting coffee, balance is the key.
Finally, the lighter the roast, the more important the quality of water becomes. One of the reasons why roasters traditionally have avoided roasting coffee light is because of the risks involved. There's not a lot of room for error. So it's risky for the roaster and it's risky for the brewer. Consistency, therefore, becomes much more important. So it's essential that everyone in the production chain -- including the customer -- is on top of their game. The risks, however, are worth the rewards. After all, not much satisfaction is achieved from aiming to achieve mediocrity.
Coffee, after all, is not like wine. Whereas wine is bought as a completed product which the producer controls virtually all its quality, the roaster has to rely upon the skills of others once it has left his hands. That's why communicating with customers is so important for everyone involved. The customer is the final link of a chain that begins with the farmer, continues to the importer, the roaster, and ultimately to the customer. One misstep in this process can ruin the entire endeavor.
That is why something seemingly so simple, such as water, should not be overlooked. It is vital to great tasting coffee. And to paraphrase the old Vidal Sassoon ads: If your coffee doesn't taste good, then we don't look good.
Dutch Hedrick is the founder and head roaster of Rube's Good-Brain Coffee. He has roasted coffee since 2003 and has previously roasted for Counter Culture Coffee and Joe Van Gogh. He began his career in specialty coffee in 1993. To shop our line of delicious specialty-grade coffees, just click wherever you see 'FRESH COFFEE NOW!'
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