Found out my tap water was ruining my morning brew this whole time

I got a water test kit last week after my pour over started tasting flat, and my city's water here in Austin is way harder than I thought at 180 ppm. I always blamed my beans or my grinder, but the mineral balance was off for coffee extraction. Anyone else check their water hardness before blaming their gear?

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1 Comment

the_david24d ago

Is 180 ppm really enough to wreck your whole cup, or are we just looking for something to blame besides our own technique? I mean, sure, water chemistry matters, but a lot of folks chase this rabbit hole and end up with the same average coffee, just with more gadgets on the counter. If your brew was fine before you read that test result, maybe just tweak your grind size or ratio first and save the science project for later.