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needed. This doesn't just explain hard water, it also explains why very soft water can result in empty, slightly sour brews. It turns out that we actually need some buffer to balance the acidity. Very soft waters or medium TDS (a certain TDS doesn't equal a cer - tain bicarbonate content) waters with low buffer can result in quite sour and sharp brews. There are then all sorts of water make-ups that will result in dif - ferent results. You can pair magnesium and calcium (which are often measured as a combined total called "general hardness") against the buffer (often referred to as alkalinity or "temporary hardness") and ascertain the likely result. There is of course then a recommended sweet spot. It's exciting to test these theories out and find them ring - ing true in the cup. Still much more to learn. Chris and I are close to completing a water and coffee guidebook that chronicles our findings and acts as a user's manual. This book also includes a graph that charts these two numbers and the likely results in the hope of making the information as useful and acces - sible as possible. In the book, we also look at filtration systems and how they affect our water, moving beyond the simple goal of con - trolling TDS. Other questions begin to arise in light of this knowledge. Are coffees being roasted to water? That is, in a soft water area will a coffee be roasted and brewed to tame the acidity that the water is unbalancing? The questions and the potential answers are so fundamental to coffee and particularly pertinent for the world of speciality coffee. We are excited by what we have been able to learn through the application of science to coffee, but feel there is so much more to ex - plore. For water, we aim to tackle the same questions from different scientific angles. Our tests so far have revolved around the realm of theoretical chemistry. This means the creation of theories and models that are tested and validated with high-powered computers. Next is varied physical analysis to assess the compounds that are in the different coffees brewed with different waters. An understanding of water's impact on coffee is vital to achieving consistently great coffee, and we hope this research can improve the dialogue within the specialty-coffee industry. Science, though, has a much more varied applicability to coffee. Scientific approach has been and is used in the coffee world, but the high costs and lack of accessibility mean that it's often employed in the more commod - itized aspects of the coffee market, such as how to most efficient- ly extract 100 percent from the bean rather than 20. This research has traditionally been undertaken by big companies in the search to make the best margin from instant coffee. It is exciting that the work we have done has attracted the interest of other scientists from different fields. Discussing the questions that we in the specialty-coffee industry have can often surprise the listener with the realization that specialty coffee is complex and that there is a lot to explore. This dawning realization of coffee's depth is common - place for specialty coffee though, and not just within its scientific arm. Upcoming projects include the separation of proteins in coffees using gels, followed by an assessment of protein breakdown in each. Hopefully there can be a correlation found between protein break - down and desired roast levels. This technology originates from the study of disease and protein damage in our bodies, which we don't want. We do, however, need a certain amount of this degradation to occur in roasting, as many of the by-products are tasty. There also seems to be a fair bit of interest in grinding, with lessons from the pharmaceutical industry proving likely. Such experiments include air grinding and the assessment of something called surface disrup - tion, where the surface of the coffee is altered when it's ground, but reverts to its original state due to the presence of humidity. Who knows what the future holds for our understanding of coffee? Science in coffee can seem aloof and exclusive, and it has often been suggested that coffee becomes too scientific. These, however, are broad brushstrokes of reason. Science is so varied; really it's about our application and use of it. It's about asking good questions, and for specialty coffee, it's about using science to increase our under - standing of why and how coffee tastes the way it does so that we can more consistently make coffee that tastes great. With specialty-cof - fee science, it's all about flavor. "An understanding of water's impact on coffee is vital to achieving consistently great coffee." 78 barista magazine