When it comes to coffee beans and tea bags, people can be pretty fussy with many coffee drinkers especially thinking that cheap beans equals a bad coffee. But that isn’t always the case.
In fact ever day in the UK, we drink 100 million cups of tea and 95 million cups of coffee. But if your brew tasted delightful yesterday but off today, there’s a common reason for this. When your cuppa doesn’t hit the spot, you’ve likely blamed it on 101 things from the beans to the sweeteners you’ve added, but the culprit could be the last ingredient you’d ever think of – water.
Specialists from BRITA, one of the globe’s most trusted water filter companies, along with top coffee roaster, Matthew Algie, have revealed that your water quality significantly influences the taste. So, don’t rush to blame your choice of cheaper beans or teabags.
Samantha Scoles, BRITA sales director and certified Water Sommelier, said: “Taste and aroma of coffee and tea is impacted significantly by water quality. There are differing levels of minerals in water, then you have substances being added to water by treatment companies. This all has an effect.”
She highlighted that drinkers often overlook water as the problem, yet it’s something to consider when brewing a cuppa. She elaborated: “Water makes up 98% of a cup of coffee but it is often overlooked as an ingredient, with coffee beans and tea leaves prioritised instead. However, water directly affects the rate of extraction and flavour of a cup of coffee. So, understanding the quality of your water and how to treat it is important.
“When it comes to tea, the flavour profile can be very delicate, especially with white or green tea. Therefore if you have an imbalance of minerals and substances in water – they can easily be detected. It is crucial to treat water accordingly. Also, different teas require different water temperatures and steep time. Understanding the correct preparation method for the type of tea your making is therefore important as well. For example, many people say they don’t like the taste of green tea, but maybe they aren’t brewing it correctly. Green tea should generally be brewed at 85 degrees and brewed for three minutes, which people often don’t realise.”
BRITA, a company that has been producing water filters for consumers and high street coffee shops since the sixties, explains that filtering your water is vital as it means the water has the right balance of minerals in it.
Samantha continued: “There are a couple of impurities added to our water that kill bacteria and present no health risks, but can come with a certain taste or smell such as chlorine. Calcium and magnesium are present in minerals which water can pick up if it happens to flow through something like limestone on the way to our taps.
“Too many minerals can result in beverages appearing dull and lifeless. On the other hand, too few minerals can make hot drinks sharp, bitter and unpalatable. BRITA professional filters get your water within the Speciality Coffee Associations water specification. This is essential for high-quality hot drinks. There are environmental benefits to filtering water too. High mineral levels in water can lead to a limescale build-up in equipment. When elements become covered in limescale, it can take longer for the machine to heat to temperature, as just one millimetre of scale build-up results in 7% higher energy resulting in higher carbon emissions.”
So what should we look out for and how can we help prevent it?
Samantha further explained that scum and turbidity can be caused if the water coming out of your taps has a high mineral content which is why your water may look cloudy. Knowing how often to change your water filter ie also key as they need to be exchanged at capacity or annually, whichever comes first. You should also measure water hardness levels frequently and monitor usage through a filter cartridge to ensure it is changed at the right time.
BRITA has explained that even those who use bottled water could encounter the same issue, as it often has “the same effect as making tea or coffee with high mineral content as they are a mineral water. This means that they can still impact extraction and flavour plus cause issues with limescale, meaning filtering is the best option for hot beverages and the more environmentally friendly option.”
Matthew Algie, a coffee company, has issued a warning to coffee machine owners about the potential damage caused by poor water quality. A spokesperson from Matthew Algie stated: “Using unfiltered water in your machines can cause limescale build up, resulting in excessive energy consumption and machine breakdown. Hard water can cause mineral build up on components such as level probes.”
“When probes become covered in scale, they often lose their effectiveness of water level and temperature detection within the machine boiler. Particles from pipework can also make their way into the machine causing blockages in pipes and valves. One way to help minimise the risk of this happening is by ensuring your water filters are exchanged at the necessary intervals.”
So, how can you tell if your coffee machine is damaged?
If your coffee machine takes longer to heat to temperature – there is likely an issue, the coffee expert said. He explained: “Test your water to understand if you are in a hard water area. Scale forms above 4 dH. Fit a filter and ensure that the filter is set to the correct settings for that specific water quality. Monitoring the usage of your filter and ensuring it is exchanged before the point of exhaustion will ensure your machine is kept free from limescale, energy efficient and maximises the machine lifetime.”
Matthew Algie advocates using filtered water to guarantee top-notch coffee – whether that’s at home or if you serve up coffee in a cafe. “In commercial environments, customers are paying a premium for a coffee they feel they may not be able to achieve at home”, he says. “To ensure the best experience, especially in coffee shop chains, you want to ensure the quality of your beverage is consistent, no matter the geographical location of the shop, so customers return time and time again, as well as ensuring machine protections”.