Good water makes great coffee

Let’s talk about something that might be silently sabotaging your Cuckoo Coffee: your water.

Yep—water. The thing that makes up 98% of your cup of coffee. If the water you’re brewing with isn’t good, you’re not tasting your coffee the way it’s meant to be tasted—no matter how high-quality your beans are.

Most people just use tap water, which in some cases is totally fine. But it’s helpful to know the mineral content in that water for a couple of reasons. Too many minerals (a.k.a. hard water) can lead to over-extraction, which causes coffee to taste bitter and astringent. It doesn’t matter how good your grinder is or how great your beans are—if your water is pulling out too much from the coffee (especially things that shouldn’t be extracted), it’s going to taste off. There’s just no way around it.

A simple, inexpensive solution is using a store-bought filter like a Brita. These reduce the amount of dissolved solids to an acceptable level and remove anything that might cause off-flavors—or even be hazardous. What your coffee really wants is moderately mineralized water, with a good balance of calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonates. Think: clean, not stripped. Balanced, not overloaded.

The ideal mineral range for coffee brewing is around 150 ppm of total dissolved solids (TDS). Sounds a bit sciencey, but it’s easy to measure using a cheap TDS meter ($10 on Amazon). It’s actually a handy tool to have in general, not just for coffee. It doesn’t tell you exactly what’s in your water, but it tells you how much, which is enough to help prevent build-up in your appliances—especially your coffee maker.

Another option some people turn to is reverse osmosis (RO) water. RO water has nearly all minerals (and everything else) removed through multi-stage filtration. But like I mentioned earlier, you need some minerals for balanced coffee. Without them, your brew can taste flat and stale. I’ve done taste tests—same coffee, same method, one brewed with RO and one with properly mineralized water—and the difference is instantly noticeable.

At home, we have an RO system and I use specially designed mineral packets called Coffee Water to re-mineralize the water before brewing. Sounds geeky, but it’s not that complicated (or expensive). One little packet added to a gallon of RO water can last several days, depending on how much coffee you drink. There’s also a really fun and customizable option called Lotus Drops—four bottles of separate minerals that you add to your water in different ratios to create your own “signature” coffee water. There are recipes online, and the experimenting is actually pretty fun. Plus, it impresses people when they visit and ask why your coffee tastes so good - and you tell them that it’s science!

One more reason to care about your water: protecting your coffee gear. Hard water is the number one culprit when it comes to shortening the life of coffee makers. Here’s what happens: your coffee maker heats water rapidly using a boiler or heating element. If that water has a lot of minerals in it, they build up as scale on the walls of the heating element over time. This reduces efficiency, slows down brew time, and eventually causes your machine to stop working altogether.

That’s why descaling powders and solutions exist. Most modern machines have a built-in timer that tells you when to descale—not because they’re actually measuring buildup, but as a helpful reminder to clean it at regular intervals. If you’re already using good water, descaling may not be necessary as often, but it still doesn’t hurt. You could even use a weaker concentration of cleaning solution. Just please don’t use vinegar—it’s hard to fully rinse out, and your coffee will taste and smell like salad dressing for days.

I remember when I was first getting into coffee, learning about water completely blew my mind. The difference it makes is real. That said, how you drink your coffee is totally personal—if you’re happy with how it tastes, you don’t have to change a thing. But if you want to protect your machine and improve the flavor of your cup, dialing in your water is a win-win.

If you have any questions about water, minerals, gear, or brewing, hit me up. I love talking about this stuff—not to be fancy or pretentious, but because it really helps the coffee shine. Coffee doesn’t have to be complicated. But when you take care of the details, it can be a lot more enjoyable.

Brew with good water. Drink better coffee!