What Water is Best for Pour-Over Coffee? Does Nongfu Spring Water Make Coffee Taste Better?

The True Cost of Pour-Over Coffee

Once, FrontStreet Coffee was chatting with a friend who said: "Because coffee from shops (outside) is too expensive, I started making it myself. Little did I know, I'd fall into the money-devouring bottomless pit of pour-over coffee." To be honest, the entry-level budget for pour-over coffee is the lowest among all coffee brewing methods, but there will always be attractive equipment and interesting gadgets tempting everyone's wallets.

FrontStreet Coffee has shared before that you can get a decent pour-over experience with an initial investment of around a thousand yuan, though there's no upper limit. For friends with limited budgets, the goal is to spend money on what truly matters. However, everyone has different interpretations of what this "what truly matters" means. Some believe it means having a good pour-over kettle, others think it's about having a good grinder, while some insist on having quality coffee beans, and yet others find that beautiful equipment brings joy and makes coffee taste better. Therefore, everyone allocates their budget to what they consider most important.

The Three Essential Elements of Pour-Over Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee beans, grinders, and water are the three most important elements in pour-over coffee. The importance of coffee beans and grinders is easy to understand. Coffee beans determine the upper and lower limits of your coffee's quality, and the rest depends on what level you achieve between those limits. The grinder is undoubtedly the most important piece of brewing equipment—without exception. FrontStreet Coffee often encounters beginners who complain about certain coffees being too bitter or too acidic, then send photos of their coffee grounds after brewing. The grounds either show over-extraction (muddy appearance) or are visibly coarse in texture. Part of the reason is not finding the right grind size when starting to learn coffee brewing, but more often, it's due to the poor grinding quality of the grinder itself.

The Overlooked Importance of Water

The remaining factor—water—is something many people overlook because water is everywhere and easily accessible. FrontStreet Coffee once met a friend who would spend a lot of money on coffee beans and pour-over equipment, and who also seriously practiced brewing techniques. However, they weren't particular about the water used for brewing coffee, simply using filtered tap water from their (quite expensive) home filter. They mentioned that sometimes the coffee turned out delicious, while other times something seemed off, with mixed and confusing flavors. Initially, when FrontStreet Coffee told this friend that the water quality might not be suitable for brewing coffee and suggested trying different water, they were skeptical. Reluctantly, they bought a bottle of Nongfu Spring to try, and the result was pleasantly surprising.

A cup of pour-over coffee has a concentration of about 1.3%, meaning water accounts for as much as 98.7% of the beverage. Therefore, both coffee beans and water play crucial roles in determining the flavor profile of your coffee. According to research from some mainstream institutions, water containing appropriate amounts of calcium and magnesium ions produces coffee with better taste and texture. However, if there's too much magnesium, the coffee becomes bitter; with too much calcium, the coffee flavor becomes complex and astringent.

Understanding Water Quality for Coffee Brewing

Currently, some authoritative coffee institutions suggest that water with TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) between 75-250ppm is better for brewing coffee. However, this doesn't mean that water within this recommended range is without issues, because TDS only measures the total impurity content in water and cannot analyze the proportion of various trace elements. Besides calcium and magnesium, water also contains trace elements like potassium, sodium, and strontium.

Practical Water Considerations

Of course, when it comes to water quality, there's no need to be overly meticulous. If you're just brewing coffee, you don't need to research to such depths—you only need to understand that water quality does affect the flavor and texture of coffee. As for whether you need to change your water, that depends on the specific flavor performance of your coffee. If the coffee doesn't have any unpleasant flavors or textures, there's no need to switch water.

If you experience the same negative results using various brewing methods, then it's very likely an issue with either the coffee beans or the water quality. The troubleshooting method is quite simple: try brewing with different beans to see if the same negative issues occur, and try brewing with Nongfu Spring water to see if the coffee's flavor and texture improves. (Nongfu Spring is recommended because its water quality is quite suitable for brewing coffee, it's widely available everywhere you go, and the price is reasonable.)

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473