The two ingredients in water that ruin your coffee, and the ancient story behind them

The two ingredients in water that ruin your coffee, and the ancient story behind them

550 million years ago, earth was perfect. We had perfect water for coffee AND we were living in a vegetarian paradise!

But then Earth changed—violently. The planet shifted from a peaceful, plant-eating paradise to a darker, more brutal world. And in this new world, the chemistry of water was forever altered.

This is the wild story of how earth-shaking forces and the spirits of long-dead critters ruin your coffees today.

This story will help you remember the two invisible ingredients in your water that have a huge impact on coffee flavour and your brewing equipment: calcium and hydrogen carbonate.

Read Marcia Bjonerud’s amazing book, Reading the Rocks

Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts

Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter

Season 3 of The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:

The Coffee Quest | BWT | TODDY | Algrano | Probat

Note: this is a reworked version of my 2022 episode Water for Brewing Coffee.

Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

Jaksot(76)

Organic Coffee, Part 2: Why don’t we see more organic coffee farms?

Organic Coffee, Part 2: Why don’t we see more organic coffee farms?

Farming coffee organically is amazing because soils are more alive, birds and insects are more plentiful, farmers avoid getting sick with agrochemicals. But, if it’s so great, why is less than 10% o...

13 Maalis 202441min

Organic Coffee, Part 1: The magic of soil

Organic Coffee, Part 1: The magic of soil

The world’s farming soils are deteriorating quickly. Conventional coffee farming where plants are grown using agrochemicals allowed farmers to reap huge harvests these last 70 years. But these agroch...

26 Helmi 202438min

Coffee Roasting, Part 2: Roasting made easy

Coffee Roasting, Part 2: Roasting made easy

Roasting coffee can be maddening. Just 4° Celsius is enough to make the same green beans taste distinctly different! And there are so many things roasters can play around with: temperature, time, fan ...

12 Helmi 202446min

Coffee Roasting, Part 1: How heat transforms coffee beans

Coffee Roasting, Part 1: How heat transforms coffee beans

What flavours do you want from your coffee? Every coffee bean begins its life green. And if you brewed it up without first roasting it, you’d get a yellow-green cup of grass-flavoured water. But, as...

29 Tammi 202437min

Smell and Taste, Part 2: Are you and me tasting the same flavours?

Smell and Taste, Part 2: Are you and me tasting the same flavours?

Ever wonder why you and your friends can taste the same coffee, but you can’t agree on the flavour notes? Join me as I explore this metaphysical mystery! I speak with leading scientists and ask: are...

15 Tammi 202439min

Smell and Taste, Part 1: How to be a better coffee taster

Smell and Taste, Part 1: How to be a better coffee taster

So you’ve just taken a sip of a very rare coffee, and flavours of passion fruit explode in your mouth. But here’s the thing: that flavour of passion fruit is not coming from your mouth. It’s not even...

8 Tammi 202444min

Introducing: Season 2 of The Science of Coffee

Introducing: Season 2 of The Science of Coffee

We're back with another series of The Science of Coffee! Across 10 science stories, narrative audio producer and coffee professional James Harper takes you on a journey into coffee's hidden microscop...

2 Tammi 20242min

4) Just Friends? America’s love affair with coffee

4) Just Friends? America’s love affair with coffee

America is coffee-obsessed. From Central Perk’s red couch being the centre of major plot twists in Friends to the fact the average American drank more than two cups a day. And the conventional explan...

29 Touko 202344min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-poliisin-mieli
utelias-mieli
mielipaivakirja
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
radio-antro
menologeja-tutkimusmatka-vaihdevuosiin
rss-metsa
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa
rss-ylistys-elaimille
rss-sosiopodi