What is the best type of water for coffee?

We all know how important water is but did you know how significant the quality of your water is for the taste of your coffee? 98 percent of your coffee is actually water so the role water plays in your cup is significant for the taste.

Fresh cold water is the best starting point for brewing coffee, because you would want to eliminate any odd taste or odour from the water. Hot water from the tap is usually not fresh and quite often has a bad taste and odour to it.

The water you use for brewing your coffee should be clean and fresh by taste, smell and look. There should be no chlorine, chloramine or hypochlorite in the water, this is what affects the taste of tap water in Malta. Surprisingly enough magnesium and calcium are in fact helping to extract more taste from the coffee so we want these minerals in the water but not too much of them. 

Calcium easily bonds with other substances, together with carbonate hardness level it causes limescale which is a downside. Magnesium on the other hand does not easily bond and rarely causes formation of limescale. The carbonates make the pH more alkaline, so Malta's naturally alkaline water is great for coffee as long as you can inhibit the limescale forming in your kettle or coffee machine. 

If the water is too high in alkalinity the taste maybe of earthiness and dull, and in case of low alkalinity the taste will be vinegary and sour. Magnesium and calcium are the most important minerals for coffee extraction and magnesium is more desirable since it does not cause limescale. At the end of the day it is all about the balance between the minerals in the water, so what filtration method can accomplish this?

Distilled and purified water is not great for coffee making unless you make espresso, these methods do not only remove the bad minerals, they often remove the good minerals too. If you use a RO system (reverse osmosis) you might have to add magnesium and calcium since they are removed completely in the process. 

Bottled water does not have chlorine added and only the more expensive brands will have medium to high mineral content, but bottled water can provide great tasting coffee. But on the other hand it’s generally money wasting, inconvenient, unhealthy and bad for the planet to buy bottled water.

Filtered water such as a tap filter will be a good option for a coffee lover since the filter will remove any major impurity yet still leave the natural minerals that you need to enhance the flavour of your coffee. 

TAPP Water has a 5 stage advanced filtration system  which filters over 100 contaminants but leaving  the magnesium and calcium  allowing a fuller flavour with your next brew of coffee. Limescale is effectively inhibited by the TAPP Water filtration system in Malta so you can be assured of keeping your kettle or coffee machine working for many years.

TAPP Water filters are made from coconut and have been independently tested here in Malta and TAPP water also offers a guarantee that allows you to try TAPP Water for 45 days in your own home.  That way you can make a proper decision for yourself.