How are your coffee beans lately? Mine are AWFUL!

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Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Glider, as our resident Industrial Chemist, can advise on the efficacy of what I would propose here (I dunno if the solutions need to be separate - but I doubt it)

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Huh? Did someone mention my name? Give me a moment to collect my thoughts...

A quick search revealed that the pH of coffee is on the low side and using slightly alkaline water apparently makes it taste much better. That much I can accept. However, just because naturally occurring alkaline water around pH 8-9 tends to contain more minerals, it doesn't follow that the addition of said minerals will enhance the flavour of coffee. SO, I would eliminate the mag sulphate from the formula and test it against one which contains it. My bet is that it'll make little difference in a double blind test.

BTW, I would substitute potassium bicarbonate for sodium bicarb for health reasons, especially if you're a frequent coffee drinker.

If you want to try the formula but can't weigh small quantities, dissolve 10x more in the specified volume of water and then dilute the mixture x10.

mick

Now, where did I put that bloody chisel?

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Originally Posted by Glider

Huh? Did someone mention my name? Give me a moment to collect my thoughts...

A quick search revealed that the pH of coffee is on the low side and using slightly alkaline water apparently makes it taste much better. That much I can accept. However, just because naturally occurring alkaline water around pH 8-9 tends to contain more minerals, it doesn't follow that the addition of said minerals will enhance the flavour of coffee. SO, I would eliminate the mag sulphate from the formula and test it against one which contains it. My bet is that it'll make little difference in a double blind test.

BTW, I would substitute potassium bicarbonate for sodium bicarb for health reasons, especially if you're a frequent coffee drinker.

If you want to try the formula but can't weigh small quantities, dissolve 10x more in the specified volume of water and then dilute the mixture x10.

mick

Now, where did I put that bloody chisel?

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Thanks Mick, but that's not quite what I meant. My post was about re-interpreting the somewhat long-winded and Imperial/Metric mix. (making two different litres of water to add parts of to the "Coffee Water"). In other words, can the two compounds, NAHCO₃ and MgSO₄ be added to the final water at the same time, or is it necessary to do it in stages?

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Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Thanks Mick, but that's not quite what I meant. My post was about re-interpreting the somewhat long-winded and Imperial/Metric mix. (making two different litres of water to add parts of to the "Coffee Water"). In other words, can the two compounds, NAHCO₃ and MgSO₄ be added to the final water at the same time, or is it necessary to do it in stages?

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Sorry Brett. You can add all the salts together. The buffer solution would only be used to adjust the pH in case the original formula results in a lower value. Without a pH meter or the right set of indicator solutions (I don't like pH papers), you are left with taste testing.

Sydney Water adjust their pH to offset their chlorination. Your water supply comes from the Cascade Dams and Oberon Dam. The latter is water of the highest quality lightly flavoured with cattle and sheep manure from Pete H's, John B's and Paul K's farms.

mick :)

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Originally Posted by Glider

Sorry Brett. The buffer solution would be used to adjust the pH in case the original formula results in a lower value. Without a pH meter or the right set of indicator solutions (I don't like pH papers), you are left with taste testing.

Sydney Water adjust their pH to offset their chlorination. Your water supply comes from the Cascade Dams and Oberon Dam. The latter is water of the highest quality lightly flavoured with cattle and sheep manure from Pete H's, John B's and Paul K's farms.

mick :)

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:D

Yeah ok, he's (Whole Latte Love) is just saying to add them straight into the distilled water (which would or SHOULD be a known pH).

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Originally Posted by Glider

... and Oberon Dam. The latter is water of the highest quality lightly flavoured with cattle and sheep manure from Pete H's, John B's and Paul K's farms.

mick :)

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Ah the dam. Many a worm drowning occurred, plus a long time ago now the occasional sail around, when there was no natural filtering by the surrounding hills and natural yellowing may have occurred. Kids, who would have em ! (not me, don't have em)

FFS, its a cup of coffee, not some magical formula for turning lead into gold! I enjoy my coffee as much as the next man, but a plunger of Harris Park Very Strong, ground by them and in a sealed bag, makes as good a cuppa as I could wish for using good old Sydney tap water..

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Originally Posted by AlexS

FFS, its a cup of coffee, not some magical formula for turning lead into gold! I enjoy my coffee as much as the next man, but a plunger of Harris Park Very Strong, ground by them and in a sealed bag, makes as good a cuppa as I could wish for using good old Sydney tap water..

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This reminds more of the oil threads on a raft of forums.
But
Given three of the worlds most traded commodities are oil, water and coffee so I guess it's only natural they be discussed ad nauseam?

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Originally Posted by Glider

Your water supply comes from the Cascade Dams and Oberon Dam. The latter is water of the highest quality lightly flavoured with cattle and sheep manure from Pete H's, John B's and Paul K's farms.

mick :)

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You need to add Mick T to that list. Katoomba water comes from Duckmaloi too. I think we might have found the source of the contamination Brett.

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Originally Posted by AlexS

FFS, its a cup of coffee, not some magical formula for turning lead into gold! I enjoy my coffee as much as the next man, but a plunger of Harris Park Very Strong, ground by them and in a sealed bag, makes as good a cuppa as I could wish for using good old Sydney tap water..

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Ahh, AlexS you are obviously not a coffee sommelier -- full disclosure, neither am I.

and as for that "magical formula for turning lead into gold" -- I agree the coffee formula is not that magical, but still there's a big difference between the quality of the particular batch of beans that Brett is bitching about and what he expected.


Much like you I know what I like when it comes to coffee, and I'll walk (maybe not run) past places that don't deserve my business and I will definitely draw the line at Harris Park Very Strong. My preference tends towards a more subtle flavour for my beans.

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Originally Posted by NCArcher

You need to add Mick T to that list. Katoomba water comes from Duckmaloi too. I think we might have found the source of the contamination Brett.

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Mea culpa, Tony. I forgot about the weir on the Duck above Tea Tree Creek although it's pretty silted up these days. Anyway, happy to help with the flavour.

mick :))

p.s. We use Fish River Espresso Blend. Buy local.

Mick, you promised me yesdy on the phone that I was safe from your minerals. :doh:

Brett, I think you should make a cup from the snow that is predicted to fall here tomorrow as I have heard that recently fallen snow makes the best coffee. You need to hold the coffee pot on your head and run around catching the falling snow. Don't let it touch the ground....Oh and you need to video yourself collecting it for the best flavour.

I may have to start another thread about my other first world problem involving Aldi supply problems. American Style Crunchy Peanut Butter - simply the best there is, by a considerable margin. Nothing but boring Smooth.

Haven't seen it in-store for two months. Other "substitutes" from Woolworths are twice the price and half the quality.

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Originally Posted by NCArcher

Brett, I think you should make a cup from the snow that is predicted to fall here tomorrow as I have heard that recently fallen snow makes the best coffee. You need to hold the coffee pot on your head and run around catching the falling snow. Don't let it touch the ground....Oh and you need to video yourself collecting it for the best flavour.

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Yeah we need the evidence.

Unfortunately rain or snow is not that clean these days, not unless it falls in the polar regions and stuff that falls near the ocean contains some salt. Remember every drop of rain and snowflake has at least one dust particle in it - that's how the condensation starts - without dust there would be no precipitation. While still cleaner than ground water, snow especially anywhere near urban and even rural areas contains combustion products including exhaust particles, and various salts. The cleanest snow/ice on the planet is derp in the middle of the Antarctica ice caps but even that contains evidence for volcanic dust from major volcanic eruptions and traces of ancient greek and roman lead mining.

Whew, that's a relief Bob. I guess I can stop my preparations for strapping the pot to my head then. (insulating my partially covered scalp from the SS pot was the tricky bit).