The short answer is usually. But no one puts stock in the short answer.
Ask any coffee enthusiast if the type of water matters in their coffee and everyone of them will (read: should) say yes. The three types of water available to the average household are usually filtered, tap and bottled water. To quickly rule out one option, I would agree with the growing number of people that bottled water is a waste of money and resources as well as in numerous cases practically the same as tap water in terms of health and taste benefits.
That leaves the duel between tap and filtered water, with the two issues being health effects and taste. Depending on where you are, your tap water can contain harmful agents that you might not want in your body. But at the same time, there are some regions of the country with exceptional tap water. So, it really comes down to your specific geographical source and hygenic philosophy as to whether filtering offers any real benefits for your health.
And then there was taste. Since coffee is mostly water, clearly the water you use to brew your coffee will make a severe impact on the taste of your coffee. Thus, while I know some cities boast amazing tap water, we're all not so lucky. Thus, I took up an offer from Pur to test out a Pur Water Pitcher to see if it made a difference in the taste of my coffee versus coffee brewed with my tap water.
While I do not have the specific information on the health qualities of my local water system, I would say that it ranks fairly high in taste comparatively to other taps I've tapped. As for my methods of testing, I compared my tap water versus the filtered water in both glasses of water and in cups of coffee.
Drinking the water straight up, my tap water produced an alkali-esque quality in the aftertaste compared to the Pur water which had a much brighter and sweeter flavor to it. This held true through multiple trials and even when my wife produced me a blind taste test, I was able to differentiate the tap and the filtered.
As for my coffee, the results were similar. The coffee brewed via the filtered water was a little sweeter and acidic in taste while the tap water produced coffee slightly more basic with a metallic aftertaste.
Thus, I can vouch that the Pur Water Pitcher did make a noticeable difference in the taste of my water and coffee. If you're looking to get better tasting water from your tap, a water filter could do it for you though there's no guarantees. And if you like being uber careful about possible threats in your water, then filtration will definitely help you sleep better (whether it really does the job, only time will tell).
So if you have less-then-stellar tap water and/or you want to take a step in the direction of water safety, then try out a Pur Water Pitcher.
note: pitcher was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.
11 comments:
What I love the most about coffee, is the vast array of subjects related to it. That's why I find it ironic that I just posted on my blog last week about water quality. For more information on water quality, Check out
http://caferoche.blogspot.com/2011/04/perfect-cup-pure-water.html
Filtered water makes a positive contribution to both tea and coffee making.
We've filter water using a jug filter and in its absence fall back on still bottled water.
Our beverages are always from the same source, our normal merchant being The Tea and Coffee Emporium, so we are sure that there is a consistency in the quality of the end result.
I do not know, if filtered water make coffee better, but does paper cup make it worst or not? Please comment...
Joe,
paper cups usually don't massively affect most forms of coffee except for espresso. but as a habit, i try to use ceramic
Great blog. I have visited a few pages and they're very interesting. I hate to shamelessly plug my blog but I am just embarking on a journey that you have completed - i.e. learning about coffee.
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I would greatly appreciate it if you (and your readers) occasionally visited and provided me with advice.
Thanks in advance.
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I cannot say for sure, but I only use filtered water. My wife taught me this five years ago, and I have been doing it since.
It all starts with the water that you are using. You should make sure that you have the best quality when you are brewing a gourmet coffee. The only question is what constitutes the best quality. I know that all my water is filtered through a Brita filter before brewing. This being said, I think the changes are subtle at best since most of the bottled water starts from the tap anyway.
I live in a hard water area and I always filter my water before making a brew. It's even more noticable when making tea, which leaves a scum on the side of the cup.
I think if you're going to spend good money on buying a quality coffee then it's worth spending that little extra time and trouble to make sure you get the best brew possible.
I know that some folks are lucky enough to live in an area where the water quality is really good but I guess most of us City dwellers don't emjoy that benefit
Whether from a tap or not, any espresso brewed through a machine needs to be filtered, and not just by a brita, otherwise you will have massive scale build up in the boilers of the machine, which not only will severely affect the taste but can also damage the machine itself. It blows my mind when I go to a coffee shop and realize they don't have any filtration system.
The kind of systems you need range from 200-500 dollars, depending on the number of stages. Ours uses a four-stage system.
ya i think same filter water make Tea purify ,but taste will be no change ,it only mental satisfaction .i use pentek water filters for making Tea.
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