Coffee Data Science
Cupping Different Water for Espresso
Third Wave Water Tasting
Third Wave Water sent me some water packets for testing, so I started with a coffee tasting. I wanted to know if different concentrations change taste. I normally need more salt added to my food, so I thought maybe more concentrated water solution could be more appealing. However, I didn’t notice any different from a cupping.
I started with a single coffee I knew well, and I set up four concentrations. I used 2x, 1.5x, 1x, and 0.75x of the packet for espresso water. I mostly followed the SCA cupping with 8.25g of coffee and 150ml of hot water.
I then brought the water to a boil in a microwave at the same to to help reduce variable of how long each coffee steeped when compared to each other.
Then I poured the water.
I didn’t see any visual differences as the coffee cooled.
After I pulled off the crust, I didn’t smell or see any differences.
I tasted the coffees multiple times as it cooled, and I could not find a difference in texture, sweetness, sourness, or bitterness. I haven’t been trained in cupping, and it is possible that an experienced taster could find a difference.
I was hopeful that this tasting would have given me a guidepost before a larger experiment with espresso, but this experiment still gives interesting information in the difficulty of tasting the differences in water concentrations.
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