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I have been using distilled water from Canadian Springs for the past year or so in my Gaggia Classic espresso machine on the recommendation of the vendor where I purchased the machine.
I have been cleaning and descaling the machine every 4 months with the "puly" brand cleansers and descalers. The last time I was scheduled to do this maintenance, I was out of stock of the "puly" stuff, but I managed to get some "Saeco" descaler instead... Saeco's instructions explicitly stated to not use distilled H2O.
So, now I'm confused...
What's the general concensus on distilled water in espresso machines? Is it a waste of money?
Thanks in advance for your replies and opinions.
Wallace.
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colin
Admin Admin
Posts: 731
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Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/09 16:46Distilled water in an espresso machine?
Waste of time and money?
100% Yes!
Coffee and espresso made with distilled water is flat tasting. You NEED minerals!
Run out of the regular descale stuff?
Use powdered citric acid -- literally dried lemon juice... costs about 10$ a kilogram!
1 teaspoon per litre of water. Save your money.Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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Another question, if I may: Would you recommend filtered tap water?
I live in an urban area which chlorinates and adds flouride etc... to the municipal water supply as per the standards within most urban areas of North America, and we use a Brita to "filter" and store water in the refrigerator. How effective this filtering process is could be debated, I'm sure.
However, are there enough of the minerals which you speak of remaining in the water after filtering by this process, or would you recommend using plain, old tap water?
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dave
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Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/09 18:00Wallace,
You may wish to read Jim Schulman's Insanely Long Water FAQ and refer to his comments near the bottom about Gaggia boilers and Brita water filters.
Personally, I stopped keeping my water in the fridge, deciding that I would rather have room temperature water entering the boiler as I pull a shot, rather than fridge temperature water.
DaveDave is an Ottawa resident and Coffee Expert
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Wallace
Visitor
Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/09 18:13Whoa - that is indeed insane. Maybe I'll read it when my daughter has graduated from university, I'm retired, have learned to fly a plane, written that novel I keep putting off and finally climbed Mount Everest.
So, do you use Brita water at room temperature, or do you use straight tap water?
Thanks,
Wallace.
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colin
Admin Admin
Posts: 731
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Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/09 18:44Depending on the quality of your tap water -- pull out a jug. Fill it up... and let it sit in the open for 1/2 hour to "de-gas".
bye-bye Chlorine!
Don't worry about the Fluoride. I would be surprised if there was fluoride in your water -- really.
Use whatever water tasted good "straight"
If the water tasted like crap - then so to will the coffee!Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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tmplo
User Senior Barista
Posts: 34
Karma: 15
Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/11 15:34I just read the "Insanely Long Water FAQ". I didn't realize that reverse osmosis water doesn't make a good shot of espresso. I've been using RO water. I find that my lattes and americanos taste way better than Starbucks (I use fresh beans from JJ Bean). I guess I'll try Jim Shulman's suggestion of adding a pinch of baking soda per litre of RO water and see if that'll make a significant difference.
Can I use coffeemaker descaling solutions to descale my espresso machine? The solution contains citrus acid and aluminum sulfate.
Thanks.Tmplo is a Vancouver area resident and coffee expert
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Current Coffee
User Senior Barista
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Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/12 12:46sorry tmplo, but Starbucks isnt much of a metric to guage coffee quality. Thats kind of like using a Ford Taurus as a base comparison for cars... guess what, you have a great car! Compare your espresso to what you get at JJBean, especially since they are using the same beans.www.currentcoffee.ca
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tmplo
User Senior Barista
Posts: 34
Karma: 15
Re:Distilled Water? - 2007/04/13 12:55You are right Nigel. Next time I go to JJ Bean I'll try their Americano. Everytime I went there, I had latte. My own lattes are comparable to JJ's when the same beans are used. But I guess it'd be hard to really tell with a milk based drink.
I am not an espresso drinker. So hopefull an americano will tell me if my shots are really lacking flavour.
Thanks for the advise.Tmplo is a Vancouver area resident and coffee expert
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