I'm re-evaluating my entire approach to coffee because of the inconsistency I'm getting with brewing at home. I'm starting with water.

My current water regimen is to put tap water into a brita container and then pour that water into a Zojirushi water tower (Dispensed at 208F). I wanted to assess taste differences between this water and tap water, so i boiled up some tap water in my Hario kettle and waited for it to get to 208F and cupped a Brazil Cerrado Gold from Ceremony Coffee Roasters.

The cup on the left is cupped with the tap water at 208F and the cup on the right with the filtered water at 208F:



Both were cupped using the same amount of coffee (11g) at the same grind particle size, with the same amount of water (180g). The only difference is the water, besides the cup on the right beginning the brewing process ~15 seconds later (It never developed a crust at any point in time, unlike the tap water cup).

To be honest, neither tasted great. I think the grind particle size was not great for cupping. They did, however, taste completely different from one another. I've ordered a ZeroWater w/ TDS meter as well as a GH/KH test kit to further explore.

Have you measured temperature in the cups, using an accurate thermometer?

Water I pour from a just-boiler stovetop kettle is assuredly at a higher temperature in the cup than water from the Zojurishi water boiler set @ 208 F.

Richard wrote:Have you measured temperature in the cups, using an accurate thermometer?

Yes, though I don't have the greatest trust in my thermometer.

You may be seeing the effect of a difference in alkalinity. The Brita filters contain a weak acid cation (WAC) exchange resin in addition to the charcoal. If the filter is fresh, and your water has some alkalinity, that alkalinity will be reduced and the water will become slightly more acidic. (See this for some of the chemistry, and see this post for some example measurements by an HB member.) Some hardness is also removed. As the filters are used the resin gets depleted and there is less effect.

I just replaced my ceramic burrs with steel burrs since I don't do any espresso at home. To celebrate the occasion I went out and bought the Papua New Guinea Kunjin from Ceremony Coffee, 3 days off roast. I had this coffee in the cafe and it was great, and so I brought it back home, replaced the grinders, calibrated and then cupped with just the water from my Zojirushi @ 208 (Brita filtered).

Once again, no crust formed (Grind is somewhere between drip and french press) and the coffee tasted like absolutely nothing, just terrible. The best words I could use to describe it would be a warm, wet sock.

This is getting frustrating.

Any updates?

Several years ago, I couldn't figure out why I got good coffee at home, and bad coffee at work. I was using the same beans, using practically the same grinder, set to about the same grind (porlex at home, porlex mini at work), brewing with a v60 at work, and a Chemex at home. I even tried taking my Chemex to work to see if that made the difference. Nope. Finally remembered the one variable that I wasn't controlling for - the tap water. What clued me in was something like your picture - foam/froth at home, nothing at work. I'm blessed with good tap water for coffee in my home, and I was working in a town with a different, and badly over-chlorinated water supply. I started bringing water with me to work in a stainless steel bottle, and like magic, my coffee started tasting good at work.

Fascinating thread. I use both the Brita and tap water at home with both providing good drinking water. Never thought about using the Brita for brewing.

Guess what I am doing this weekend. Yeppir, side by side with pourovers.

I slept over my inlaws this past weekend, they have a chemex and encore grinder. The coffee always tastes dry and chalky from their filter on the refrigerator and the tap is worse. So I ran to a local convenience store and got a bottle of Kaiakea artistan water, since I figured it was better than deer park. The coffee tasted much sweeter and juicier and everyone was astonished by the difference.