The World of Coffee

[RTT]

Originally Posted by MuffinMcFluffin

I'm afraid to get addicted, actually. It's like all things... I'd just rather not, because I know that I'll just crave it the rest of my life, and feel that I can't live without it. It's the same reason why I've never seen porn.



(if anybody believes that last statement, just... get out of here)

Coffee is better than porn Muff.

[Bucky]

Well, unless its french vanilla or some crap like that.

[pacino]

Whatever happend to WATER?

[Bucky]

turns out water is REALLY important to good coffee.

[bedir than average]

considering that its 98% of the beverage it is very important.

[Bucky]

which is why I never use tap water. Lots of people do, though.

[bedir than average]

Filtered or bottled is the way to go. It really depends on the quality of the tap and the quality of the filter. I am more than satisfied with the filtered water I used.

Which brings up a funny side note. I always wonder about people who buy the bottled water at a coffeehouse, including my own. We triple filter all of the water in the Seattle market, and yet they don't think our "tap" water is good enough? Why do they like the coffee?

[dlb]

The quality of tap water depends a lot on where you live. Surprisingly, New York City has excellent water. In Washington, DC, it's awful.

I used to work with a guy who had a master's in environmental science. His thesis was a comparison of bottled and tap water. What he discovered was that in about 96% of American cities, the water that comes out of the tap is better (meaning freer of impurities) than most anything that comes from a bottle.

[Bucky]

I would love to see those studies cause it sure don't taste like it. Actually, I'd call a bs flag on that one dlb...

[dlb]

Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe. It's also a matter of some contention. This site - http://www.communitywater.com/core/c...pvsbottled.htm has a comparison of regulatory standards for bottled and tap water. The standards for tap water are higher.

Here's an very brief excerpt from a very long NRDC report:

No one should assume that just because water comes from a bottle that it is necessarily any purer or safer than most tap water. Testing commissioned by NRDC and studies by previous investigators[3] show that bottled water is sometimes contaminated. NRDC contracted with three leading independent laboratories to do "snapshot" testing (testing one to three times for a subset of contaminants of concern) of bottled water.

We found after testing more than 1,000 bottles that about one fourth of the bottled water brands (23 of 103 waters, or 22 percent) were contaminated at levels violating strict enforceable state (California) limits for the state in which they were purchased, in at least one sample. We also found that almost one fifth of the waters we tested (18 of 103, or 17 percent) exceeded unenforceable sanitary guidelines for microbiological purity (heterotrophic-plate-count [HPC] bacteria guidelines, adopted in some states, the European Union (EU), and recommended by the bottled water industry) in at least one test. While HPC bacteria may be harmless themselves, they may mask the presence of pathogens; some states, the EU and the bottled water industry have adopted HPC guidelines to help ensure sanitary source water, processing, and bottling practices. In all, at least one sample of one third of the waters we tested (34 of 103, or 33 percent) exceeded a state enforceable standard for bacterial or chemical contamination, a nonenforceable microbiological-purity (HPC) guideline, or both.

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp

[Bucky]

hmmm... your link is to a community water company (for whom bottled water steals their business) and they're linking to an environmentalist sight (no doubt don't like all the plastic bottles going into dump sights.

I'm still very curious. Again, just on the taste test (and, I travel most weeks and stay in a lot of hotels around the country) there's no way. BUt I guess tap water can taste bad but still be pure?

[dlb]

Yes, there is a difference between "impurity" and "unpleasant taste." Apparently, most of the worst things that can be in water are tasteless.

As for my source - I just grabbed a couple from a quick Google search - but all I wanted to do was show that there is a controversy. I don't think municipal water authorities are worried about bottled water stealing their business. There's still plenty of washing to be done and water shortages are a far greater problem than oversupply.

To get most of the off flavors out of your tap water, put it in a bottle and let it sit in the fridge for about 8 hours. Many of the additives will escape.

Maybe the way to get the best possible water is to filter what comes out of your tap. If you really want to be fanatic about it, just distill it.

Finally, concerning tap water in hotels, you have to remember that it sits in interior pipes for a long time. Try letting it run for a few minutes and see if the taste doesn't improve.

[pacino]

For tap water you have to let it run for 15 seconds...I do it every time and every time it comes out tasting good. If you dive right in, you're bound to get some taste from the pipes.

[RTT]

Originally Posted by Bucky

Well, unless its french vanilla or some crap like that.

Yeah that's true.

[D55]

Similar to the topic but kinda not.

My Lady and I are soon to be in the market once again for a decent pot. It seems all of them only last a year or two at most. What we are looking for is a system that will brew like a normal Braun or Mr. Coffee but will also have the options built in to brew from beans. Now we have a grinder but would prefer it built in. Yeah, the canned coffee is the quickie norm in our house. It would be nice to get away from that but for the quantities we drink, maybe it is the least costly over the long term.

We have a separate expresso machine so that isn't necessary. And we drink far more than the cup at a time types.
Any suggesstions?