When the Coffee Isn’t the Problem
Have you ever taken that first sip of coffee from a coffee machine and thought…
“That doesn’t taste like coffee.”
I have.
I’m a water snob — and a coffee snob.
Years ago, when I was disappointed with coffee from Perth cafés, I blamed the coffee beans.
I thought it was the brand. Or perhaps the barista.
Eventually, I was put off buying coffee whenever I was out.
What I have found since then is that there is another ingredient we often overlook.
The Water.
After all, most of what is in your cup of coffee is water.
Today, water filtration is commonly used with coffee machines in restaurants for two very good reasons.
The first is taste — reducing chlorine taste in the water.
The second is helping to reduce scale build-up in some very expensive equipment.
Research has shown that when hard water is heated inside an expresso coffee machine, mineral scale can build up on its internal heating surfaces. This can affect how efficiently the machine operates.
And that second reason became very personal for us.
I remember the date: 30 October 2015 – my birthday.
Rob and I bought our first expresso coffee machine.
We were so excited. Suddenly, at the press of a button, we could make cappuccinos, long blacks, espressos, lattes, and more!
When family and friends came over, everyone could choose their favourite coffee.
We bought specialty coffee beans.
We used filtered water with the chlorine taste removed.
And we felt quite chuffed with our fancy new coffee machine.
We looked after it, too.
Faithfully, every three months, we descaled it.
Then, in 2020, it broke down.
We paid about $500 to have it repaired.
We brought it home… and on the second use… it broke down again.
That was the end of our beloved coffee machine. Regrettably, it went to landfill.
At around the same time, however, we began noticing something else in our home.
White marks.
On the kettle.
Around the taps.
On the glass shower screen.
That hard, white coating that you can scrub and scrub – and it just won’t come off.
It was then we realised the hardness of the water supplying our home over the past five years had increased so much, we were now seeing scale.
Now we can’t say for certain that scale caused our first machine to fail. However, when we began seeing increasing scale around our home, it made us look differently at the water we had been putting through our coffee machine.
We realised that whilst we had been filtering the water for chlorine taste, we hadn’t been addressing the hardness responsible for scale formation.
Fast-forward to 2024.
We had missed our expresso coffee machine so much…
That we finally bit the bullet and bought another one.
I remember the date: this time it was Rob’s birthday – 3rd July 2024.
The same brand.
Only this time, there was one important difference.
Our new coffee machine was fed with filtered and softened water.
What a remarkable difference!
The coffee has a lovely clarity of taste.
The texture is smooth.
And instead of descaling the machine every three months, we only need to do it once a year.
Bonus!
For me, our coffee-machine journey is a simple example of something we regularly see at WestOz Water Filters.
Water filtration isn’t about choosing one filter and putting it into every home.
Different households have different water.
And different people have different priorities.
Some simply want to reduce the chlorine taste in their drinking water.
Others are frustrated by the white scale they see building up on their kettles, taps and shower screens.
And some want to address both.
That’s why, at WestOz Water Filters, we start with a conversation.
We ask about your water supply.
We ask about your household.
And, most importantly, we ask what you really don’t like about your water.
Only then do we recommend a filtration system.
So, if you’re reading this thinking…
“I’ve got those white marks all over my shower screen…”
or…
“I didn’t realise chlorine in the water can affect the taste of my coffee…”
come and have a conversation with us.
Because when it comes to water filtration, it’s not about having the biggest system.
It’s about having the system that suits your water, your home and what you want to achieve.
My name is Mavis Carruthers – WestOz Water Filters
Water Filtration Tailored to Your Needs.
References – hard water and expresso coffee machines
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814609004725
Navarini & Rivetti (2010), Water Quality for Espresso Coffee, Food Chemistry
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8713702/
Devine, Wang & Edwards (2021), A Standardized Test Protocol for Evaluation of Scale Reduction Technologies
Wellinger, Marco Water and Coffee Acidity: How to Adapt Your Water For Different Extraction Methods Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)
