I have a Rocket Cellini Evoluzione en route to my house and want to make sure it will be alright to use this spring water in it (http://www.eldoradosprings.com/index.ph...n=analysis) ??
The spring is really close to my house so I can acquire it pretty cheaply until I set up a home filter setup and plumb-in my machine.

Thanks in advance for any help provided

Thanks for the quick reply Jim, it is truly appreciated!
I've been trying to do some digging on what it is I'm looking for in a water quality report but am still at the beginner stage.
How do I tell that its soft? Whats ideal water for espresso look like? I want to be using water that will eventually give me a "great" taste!!
Here's my cities water quality report (http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/pwwu/water...Report.pdf) any ideas as to what sort of filters I should be looking at to plumb it in the next couple months? The water at room temperature has a foul taste so if I have to drink tap its always ice cold.
I basically only drink reverse osmosis water that I refill in a glass 5gallon jug at the local healthfood store. I've read I can't use my RO water in my Rocket because the reservoir won't know its full and that good espresso requires minerals. I've seen an article about adding some minerals to the RO water to get it where it needs to be but basically want to get to know my machine these next couple weeks and not be conducting a mini science experiment if I don't have to.

CelliniEVO wrote:Whats ideal water for espresso look like? I want to be using water that will eventually give me a "great" taste!!

These are the current SCAA standards, which certified labs must reach (as do many (most?) of the best coffee bars): http://scaa.org/PDF/ST%20-%20WATER%20STANDARD%20V.21NOV2009A.pdf.

Without commercial water treatment equipment that you can fine tune and regular testing with professional chemical kits (not test strips), your chances of meeting all the "Target" ranges are slim to none. So aim for the "Acceptable Range."

Do you guy's think it would be alright to mix this spring water with half Reverse Osmosis water? Doing a 4-5oz flush each time, I'm going thru the spring really fast.....its 90 cents a gallon and a pain to chase down so frequently.

Really need to get around to plumbing my Cellini in sometime soon, what's the most used filter setup for espresso machines you guys use? The one from ChrisCoffee? I'd prefer to pay more upfront for something I want have to mess around with (other than changing filters)

Hi there,

You can use the data in Jim's insanely long water FAQ to calculate the acceptable level of hardness and alkalinity for your machine, using the datasheet on your spring water or by testing the water.

You can then test your water using tests kits sold for aquariums (the ones with drops of chemical you put in a test tube of water) to fine tune your mix.

For example, i use RO water mixed with some tap water i've filtered with a charcoal filter (for getting rid of funny tastes). I mix in just enough tap water to keep it below the limit for boiler safe water. In my case, it's 3 parts RO and 1 part tap water, our water is moderately hard. At these levels, your autofill and low water probes will be happy. I also have a Rocket.

I test every 3 months to check for variations in the tap and RO water. The RO water comes from a local food mart and is quite cheap. That way, i can prolong the time between descales and while maintaining an ok level of minerals for taste.

It sounds complicated but it's not once you've done the initial chore of setting up your ideal mix. And, you eliminate the need and cost of getting spring water.

Here's the link. http://web.archive.org/web/20080526072324/http://www.big-rick.com/coffee/waterfaq.html

The other route is to use harder water for optimal test but live with the PITA that is descaling a HX on more frequent basis.