Had to eat crow after a local roaster called out my water

I brought my home-brewed coffee to a cupping at a shop in Portland last month, and the owner took one sip and asked what water I was using. I told him tap, and he just shook his head and pointed me to a chart showing how our city water has high chlorine that kills the flavor. I switched to a $25 jug of filtered water from the store, and my morning pour-over went from bitter to actually sweet and clean. Anyone else had a water quality wake-up call that changed their whole setup?

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1 Comment

price.alice28d ago

Oh man, water is way more important than people give it credit for. I had a similar thing happen but with my espresso machine. I was getting this weird metallic taste no matter what beans I used. Tried everything, cleaning cycles, new filters, different grind settings. Finally I brought a sample to a local shop and the guy tested it for total dissolved solids. Turns out my water was way too soft, basically stripped of minerals, and that was pulling out all the harsh compounds from the coffee. Switched to a remineralization packet I add to a jug and it was night and day. I still think people overthink their gear when the water is the real problem.