A good cup of coffee is made from simple ingredients: water and coffee beans. But as simple as the ingredients are – technical know-how is just as important to have in your backbone when brewing. Reverse osmosis is knowledge you should get right if you want to master brewing a classy cup of coffee.
What is reverse osmosis?
Reverse osmosis is a filtration process that removes inorganic minerals, salts, bacteria and flavours from water. Only pure water molecules pass through the process, and the result is purified water.
The water you use to brew coffee is a crucial factor in the result you get in your cup. The combination of minerals, salt and metals in the water can affect the taste, smell and, indeed, the appearance of coffee. And yes. When it comes to coffee, we judge “by the looks”.
Some areas have soft water where there is not much lime to be found in the water. Other areas have hard water, which is high in calcium and magnesium, among other things. Therefore, putting the water through a reverse osmosis process can be beneficial to your coffee experience in the cup:
Here, the water is forced through a membrane where only water molecules pass through. Pollutants, metals and lime are, roughly speaking, filtered out in the process. You’re left with RO water, which doesn’t really taste good to brew coffee on either. However, RO water makes you quite privileged, as you can add the minerals you want to be in the water. And then we start talking about being able to conjure you into water that brews that classy cup of coffee.
