Does anyone have any experience with the Berkey water filter system and coffee brewing? I just ordered one and was curious to hear about how it affected anyone's brewing.

I don't have experience with such type of filter system. However, I found some good articles online. So you can try to just google it

soadasopa wrote:Does anyone have any experience with the Berkey water filter system and coffee brewing? I just ordered one and was curious to hear about how it affected anyone's brewing.

I tried it for a couple of months and it wasn't really much better than the tap water in the cup.

Tasting water from tap vs berkey was a difference as it tasted cleaner but tasted "sandy".

Interesting.. I got my Berkey set up this weekend and found it had an increased TDS after several flushes. Not sure why but I don't think it is having a negative effect.

Previously my water was so hard that brewing at a 1:16 ratio made for a very muddled and intense cup. I was brewing at a 1:21 ratio, which was weak, but much more drinkable.

I noticed the very first cup I made with the Berkey was very dry and astringent so I knew it was time to lower the ratio.

I made a 1:16 this morning and it was much improved over both my original water and the first cup from the Berkey.

I also carbonate my own water at home and this improved as well. Much more neutral taste, which is what I was looking for.

So short term impressions of the Berkey is positive. Previously I was using tap water through a Maeva filter.

Edit: I am using the white ceramic filters for the record.

One more edit: the system filters super slowly. I think it's supposed to filter 1-2 gallons an hour. Mine is closer to .5 gallons an hour. It may be breaking in and I'll update if I learn more.

Couple of more updates since I know there's very little information on the internet about coffee + berkey.

The ceramic filters now register a lower TDS than the tap, so there was definitely some stuff getting flushed out. I think the manual says flush about 10 gallons. I would estimate 20-30.

The flavor of the coffee has moved from dry and astringent to a little bit sweeter and bright, but honestly it still isn't great. The tap water in my part of Aurora is not great for coffee anyways. It's pretty good for tea, so I think there's probably not a lot in it all together. The berkey improves the taste of the water for plain drinking and for tea.

I started adding 'trace minerals research' mineral concentrate to the filtered water and this definitely improves the flavor. I have tried third wave water and at best it makes the coffee taste kinda bland, so a move in the right direction, but not enough.

I've noticed that the less 'stuff' or TDS that's in the water, the longer it needs to brew and vice versa in order to move from astringent and dry to full and sweet, sort of like Matt Perger's brew compass. If you haven't seen that, you need to google it.

TL;DR is the Berkey does a decent job removing 'stuff' from the water, and does a great job removing that fresh tap flavor, but like most filters, unless the water is already decent for coffee, there's some post-work necessary to get your water to the right place (ie. add minerals). I envy those places where the tap water makes delicious coffee right away.

Berkey (with the Black Berkefield elements, which are different/better than the white ceramic elements) is a fantastic water filter and makes the best tasting drinking water of any filter I've tried. I use it for drinking water, ice maker water (a pour-over maker), and a Zojirushi water pot for tea, cocoa, etc.

However it's important to note it does nothing with TDS and hardness, and it' intentionally doesn't (preserves minerals your body needs etc. etc. in the marketing.) It may fluctuate up as heavier water accumulates in the tank, or down if there's sediment, but the thing to note is that it doesn't affect the hardness/scaling ability of the water in any way. So while it is excellent at removing contaminants, chlorine, etc, if you have hard water, iron, sulfur, etc, you'll still need to soften or process it post-Berkey if you're looking to avoid scaling issues. If you have soft water you might be fine using the Berkey water though. Flavor-wise, I expect it would be great!

soadasopa wrote:Couple of more updates since I know there's very little information on the internet about coffee + berkey.

The ceramic filters now register a lower TDS than the tap, so there was definitely some stuff getting flushed out. I think the manual says flush about 10 gallons. I would estimate 20-30.

The flavor of the coffee has moved from dry and astringent to a little bit sweeter and bright, but honestly it still isn't great. The tap water in my part of Aurora is not great for coffee anyways. It's pretty good for tea, so I think there's probably not a lot in it all together. The berkey improves the taste of the water for plain drinking and for tea.

I started adding 'trace minerals research' mineral concentrate to the filtered water and this definitely improves the flavor. I have tried third wave water and at best it makes the coffee taste kinda bland, so a move in the right direction, but not enough.

I've noticed that the less 'stuff' or TDS that's in the water, the longer it needs to brew and vice versa in order to move from astringent and dry to full and sweet, sort of like Matt Perger's brew compass. If you haven't seen that, you need to google it.

TL;DR is the Berkey does a decent job removing 'stuff' from the water, and does a great job removing that fresh tap flavor, but like most filters, unless the water is already decent for coffee, there's some post-work necessary to get your water to the right place (ie. add minerals). I envy those places where the tap water makes delicious coffee right away.

We have been using a Berkey filter for quite a few years and just bought a larger size because we go through a lot of water. We have a whole house softener and then filter with the Berkey. When people are over they think it is an iced tea dispenser
We have had many people comment about how good the water taste. We use 4 black filters and they can be washed many times with a blue scotch-brite pad.
I use the water for pour-over with a stainless kettle and I don't get any residue/ scale in the kettle, so I have used this water for our espresso machine as well.
We haven't tried the ceramic since from what I have read the black produce better results.
Hope this helps!