I recently moved to Portland. The water out of the tap is delicious (eat your heart out, Marshall). But it is, according to received wisdom, too soft for optimal extraction. According to the city's latest report, it is 26 ppm TDS, 7.5 ppm CaCO3 hardness, 12 ppm CaCO3 alkalinity, and 8.0 pH. The latter is created by adding sodium hydroxide to the supply so that it won't dissolve everybody's pipes.

I looked at the mixture that Adrian provided here, but I don't want to use salt. I have tried adding a very small amount of salt to coffee before, and while it does improve extraction, it also suppresses the bitter receptors and gives the coffee what, to my taste, is a one-dimensional sweetness that I don't much like. I also don't want to get into bottled waters if I can avoid it, for ecological reasons and to avoid feeling like an idiot.

Obviously a lot of people are making very good coffee here. What have people found for this issue?

Best,
David

David,

I found the baristas and owners very happy to talk about their shops and coffee when I was in Portland for several days last month. I would just walk into one of the (many) good shops and ask how they treat their water.

I assume you moved because of the SCAA Event coming up in April?

I haven't done an exhaustive survey. My neighborhood shop is Barista, and Billy Wilson told me they just filter it. Since the coffee is certainly good and Billy Wilson is certainly knowledgeable, that's one good-sized data point for leaving it alone.

Best,
David

Good plan - given the extraordinary care Billy Wilson takes with every facet of brewing at Barista, if he says just filter it, that's good enough for me.

And as far as optimal extraction is concerned, I've enjoyed many of the best espressos on my life list at Barista, and I can't believe there's anything left in the puck worth drinking when Billy or his people are done making a shot.

Ps: filtering the water may help your equipment but I've been unable to detect a taste improvement by filtering the water in my Portland neighborhood. So for espresso I filter the water, but for pour-over, it goes straight from tap to kettle and it might even be better that way.