Barista Magazine

DEC 2014 - JAN 2015

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COFFEE IS AT ONCE both incredibly simple and intensely complex. On the one hand, it's a solution of water and a ground roasted seed. On the other hand, it is also varieties, processing, extraction percentages, moisture content, particle distribu - tion, dense amounts of aromatic compounds, and so much more. This is a fitting parallel for water. Water is a trans - parent, simple thirst-quencher. But it is also a com- plex solvent with buffering systems, a home to vari- ous compounds and all sorts of abilities which are at the core of our existence. The importance of water in coffee has been well documented, but its particular and varied impact on the flavor of coffee has been less explicitly under - stood. Just over a year-and-a-half ago, I was dialing in an espresso, trying to get a good balance of flavor, body, balance, and acidity. I couldn't do it. I tried everything—ex - ploring extraction, brew strength, and all of the vari - ables within our remit, even different grinders. No luck. It tasted dull, heavy, sour, woody. It wasn't just a bit off; it was actively unpleasant. It's nev - er nice to phone up a roaster and tell them their coffee doesn't taste very good. This was a such a rare thing to happen, in fact, that before I phoned them up, I double checked to make sure there was nothing I had missed. The roaster was naturally concerned and had a sample of that roast to test. After going away and experimenting with the coffee, he came back to me with a surprising result: It tasted fine when they brewed it. Knowing each other's tasting background, it was safe to write off preference—this was something more fundamental. We chatted about each vari - able, referencing the grinder used, the recipe, and we touched briefly on water. We discussed TDS (to - tal dissolved solids) as I'm sure most baristas have, which is measured by using a small conductivity me - ter with room-temperature water. We were around the recommended TDS, if slightly high, at 170ppm. We briefly ticked water off of the list, as well. But after repeated pondering of the problem, it quickly became apparent that this measurement couldn't be telling us the whole truth. The other variables just couldn't make it taste this bad. Questions quickly arose, such as, 170 parts of what? Water was and is on the minds of many special - ity-coffee professionals throughout the industry. After all, it's the ingredient a roaster can't really control. Reading everything I could find on water and coffee didn't really give me the answers I was looking for. What to do? Luck would have it that the close prox- imity of the University of Bath to the U.K. shop I own and operate with my wife, Colonna & Smalls, means that a collection of ac - ademics and scientists from various fields pass through our doors daily. This not only provides for interesting chit - chat and a customer base with a natural inclination toward specialism, it also provides the opportunity to present questions that can draw on varied expertise, the potential being answers and inves - tigations that approach coffee problems from very different angles. Enter Christopher H. Hendon, a computation - al-theoretical scientist based in the chemistry de- partment at the university. Chris is an outgoing, enthusiastic chemist (something of a rarity). He enjoys teaching chemistry and helping those of us without a deep knowledge of that world to under - stand its impact. Not only does he love using sci- ence to solve complex problems, but he likes apply- ing that process to things we experience, especially food and drink. He seemed like the right guy to present this water problem to. "Hey, Chris," I asked him. "This TDS reading, what does it really tell us about the water?" "Not that much," Chris replied. "Why do you ask?" ag o, I n g r, t ev - nd tell Luck would L uc k wou l of imit y o U t he w i t w m a c a sp s p o op c a that e n t he pot e 75 www.baristamagazine.com

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