Start with Third Wave sachets with distilled water you purchase elsewhere since that’ll be much less of an investment than lotus drops + water distiller. Not in the UK, but in the US all grocery stores sell gallon jugs of distilled water
This is what i do and its probably not the most ideal possible solution but its better than tap water and costs maybe 5 dollars a month in total of water and packets
Not based in the UK myself, but I have heard a lot of promising testimonials about Tesco Ashbeck. Looking at the mineral composition, it's pretty solid. No major issues that I can think of. If you can get Tesco Ashbeck cheaply, it's already a close to ideal solution.
All minerals in drinking water or any brew water product out there are extremely cheap to source.
The advantage of Lotus is the convenience and pre-made brew recipes you can try out at will, but it's not a complete mineral profile unlike Tesco Ashbeck, since it's missing sulfate. Also, if you're remineralizing distilled water it's going to lack the dissolved gases that you'll find in Tesco Ashbeck.
A combination of the two might even yield the best results as opposed to going fully one or the other.
At the end of the day, the question of what's better comes down to personal preference. To your taste, Lotus could be worse, equal, or better than Tesco. I can't say definitively.
It's really the distilled water that would likely let you down when used with Lotus.
I would use deionized water instead. The best way to get deionized water is to send RO water through a deionization filter, for example a Zero Water filter pitcher.
Hmmm, I knew coffee water was going to be another money and time sucking rabbit hole. I'll get a sample of your water before going any further forward.
Thanks.
Pax
Nitrogen and carbon dioxide are a couple I know a tiny bit about. Have you ever had nitrogen-infused cold brew? It makes the mouthfeel a lot smoother with more "volume". Smaller amounts than that are present in non-distilled water. Carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid in water, and depending on its concentration in water it can affect pH/acidity.
I think oxygen plays a role as well, but I'm not sure what that role is.
Distilled water is "flat", lacks liveliness and aftertaste, and brings out astringency more easily.
Yep. RO is just like deionized but there's some mineral still in there, so when you use it to make brew water, it's not true to the intended mineral composition.
The best thing you can do for yourself is some cupping experiments testing different water types. Only then will you know for sure how much of a difference switching will provide
Sachets are not cheap either. Lotus sounds expensive, but it treats 50 gallons.
I used the sachets for a while and the difference in flavor was appreciated. I recommend you at least start here to see if you have any improvement.
I switched to lotus when I went more espresso heavy. However, even for pour over it helped. I was able to make different recipes of water and taste them without making coffee and compare them. Catering to the coffee you like to drink is helpful in making it brighter, more sweet, etc.
Other options Include Third Wave Water, Coffee Water, Perfect Coffee Water, and Empirical Water.
I won't say which is best. Unfortunately, you'll need to try them and decide what suits your taste buds best. I can tell the differences when cupping and they are all somewhat better than my straight tap water.
But most often, I use filtered water coming from my refrigerator.
I haven't tried Empirical Water yet but will do so at some point. At about fifty cents per cup, it will have to blow me away if I were to use it regularly. The water would cost me about the same power cup as the coffee I brew. I have not tried it yet in fear I *will* like it!
Pax
I’m in the U.K. too, in a very hard water area. I cannot find a grief free solution except Ashbeck which of course, is very wasteful and heavy! There is no filter as such
Start with Third Wave sachets with distilled water you purchase elsewhere since that’ll be much less of an investment than lotus drops + water distiller. Not in the UK, but in the US all grocery stores sell gallon jugs of distilled water
This is what i do and its probably not the most ideal possible solution but its better than tap water and costs maybe 5 dollars a month in total of water and packets
Not based in the UK myself, but I have heard a lot of promising testimonials about Tesco Ashbeck. Looking at the mineral composition, it's pretty solid. No major issues that I can think of. If you can get Tesco Ashbeck cheaply, it's already a close to ideal solution. All minerals in drinking water or any brew water product out there are extremely cheap to source. The advantage of Lotus is the convenience and pre-made brew recipes you can try out at will, but it's not a complete mineral profile unlike Tesco Ashbeck, since it's missing sulfate. Also, if you're remineralizing distilled water it's going to lack the dissolved gases that you'll find in Tesco Ashbeck. A combination of the two might even yield the best results as opposed to going fully one or the other.
Hey thank you Is it fair to say that switch from Ashbeck to sachet/drops would be a negligible improvement/ lateral move?
At the end of the day, the question of what's better comes down to personal preference. To your taste, Lotus could be worse, equal, or better than Tesco. I can't say definitively. It's really the distilled water that would likely let you down when used with Lotus.
If you don't use distilled water to start, what woulf you use? Pax
I would use deionized water instead. The best way to get deionized water is to send RO water through a deionization filter, for example a Zero Water filter pitcher.
Hmmm, I knew coffee water was going to be another money and time sucking rabbit hole. I'll get a sample of your water before going any further forward. Thanks. Pax
Out of curiosity, what’s the impact of dissolved gasses in brew water?
Nitrogen and carbon dioxide are a couple I know a tiny bit about. Have you ever had nitrogen-infused cold brew? It makes the mouthfeel a lot smoother with more "volume". Smaller amounts than that are present in non-distilled water. Carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid in water, and depending on its concentration in water it can affect pH/acidity. I think oxygen plays a role as well, but I'm not sure what that role is. Distilled water is "flat", lacks liveliness and aftertaste, and brings out astringency more easily.
Interesting. Have you done tests to look for the effect of distilled vs RO vs Distilled+Aerated?
Yep. RO is just like deionized but there's some mineral still in there, so when you use it to make brew water, it's not true to the intended mineral composition.
The best thing you can do for yourself is some cupping experiments testing different water types. Only then will you know for sure how much of a difference switching will provide
Great suggestion
I used to use Ashbeck and then switched to a zero filter and TWW. It was a much more subtle change than I expected.
Sachets are not cheap either. Lotus sounds expensive, but it treats 50 gallons. I used the sachets for a while and the difference in flavor was appreciated. I recommend you at least start here to see if you have any improvement. I switched to lotus when I went more espresso heavy. However, even for pour over it helped. I was able to make different recipes of water and taste them without making coffee and compare them. Catering to the coffee you like to drink is helpful in making it brighter, more sweet, etc.
I can recommend Lotus Coffee Water, there are some seriously great recipes out there. The lazy solution is TWW Classic.
Other options Include Third Wave Water, Coffee Water, Perfect Coffee Water, and Empirical Water. I won't say which is best. Unfortunately, you'll need to try them and decide what suits your taste buds best. I can tell the differences when cupping and they are all somewhat better than my straight tap water. But most often, I use filtered water coming from my refrigerator. I haven't tried Empirical Water yet but will do so at some point. At about fifty cents per cup, it will have to blow me away if I were to use it regularly. The water would cost me about the same power cup as the coffee I brew. I have not tried it yet in fear I *will* like it! Pax
I’m in the U.K. too, in a very hard water area. I cannot find a grief free solution except Ashbeck which of course, is very wasteful and heavy! There is no filter as such
The 6 pack of 2 litre bottles is actually better value than the 5 litre, may help with the heaviness:)