Espresso Machines and Hard Water

Many baristas have found themselves in a very frustrating position. They have bought new espresso machines. They have bought fresh roasted whole espresso beans. They have even gone gathered some know how on how to make espresso, often from a more experienced barista. But their shots still taste bad.

Why is that?

One main reason that shots often end up tasting bad is found in the most basic of espresso making components: the water.

That’s right, the water you use in your machine plays a large role in determining how your shots end up tasting. Whether you get your water from a city water reserve or from your own well, your water will impact taste. Because not all waters are equal.

In a series of blind taste test that have been conducted and repeated, water with a higher mineral content has been almost universally proven to taste better, especially in regards to espresso brewing. Taste may seem like a relative thing, but higher mineral content actually means that the ions in the water are interacting with your taste buds, enhancing certain flavors and suppressing tannins. What that means is that certain water can make better espresso than other water.

And the better water is called hard water. Hard water is essentially water with a high mineral content. It is often found in areas with large limestone deposits and it is the calcium and magnesium from these deposits that gets into the water and lends a unique taste to the espresso. The ions in the water also causes the flavor of the espresso to “stick” more to the tongue, whereas softer water causes it to “slide off’ faster.

If you want to make sure that your water isn’t too soft for making great espresso, the test to see if you have hard or soft water is quite simple. Take the water and add soap. Lather up the soap and if it lathers easily and doesn’t make soap scum, you have soft water. Alternatively, if the water doesn’t lather unless you add a lot of soap and the lather turns to scum relatively quickly, you have hard water.

Once you find out what kind of water you have, you can then adjust it to fit your preferences. To harden water there are numerous methods using all kinds of minerals. Just a warning, the harder your water, the faster you will have calcium or scale build up in your espresso machine. Descaling with an acid descaling solution should be done at least once a year. Scaling and the acid from the descaling process can cause your machine to break faster, so care should be taken when using hard water. However, these risks are relatively minor when one is in the pursuit of amazing espresso from your espresso machines.

Getting to Know Your Espresso Machine

Knowing how your espresso machine works is very important when purchasing an espresso machine. While every espresso machine is unique in its own way, all espresso machines are similar in how they essentially work. If you understand how your machine works, you can fix problems when they occur, as well as improve your barista qualities and make better coffee.

All espresso machines are composed of several different parts. These include the water tank or reservoir, the water pump, the heating chamber, and the grouper part. While some machines may have more elements to these, such as dual water tanks, or may lack some, such as the water pump, all are basic variations on this model.

The process to make espresso starts in the reservoir. Here water is stored before use. The water pump draws the water up and pressurizes it to about 22 atmospheres. Then it pushes the pressurized water into the heating chamber where it is heated to the exact temperature required to extract the best flavor from the coffee. Some older machines or cheaper models may not have a water pump, and will instead heat the water right in the reservoir, building pressure with the steam.

From here, the pressurized water is forced through the grouper head. The grouper head is the basket and metal sieve in which the espresso grounds sit. By forcing the pressurized water through the grouper head full of espresso, the heat and pressure forces the flavors and natural sugars in the beans out. This becomes the shot.

These components all work together to pull a shot. Usually the heating chamber or the reservoir will also be able to direct steam to a steaming wand. Usually the flow of the steam is controlled by a simple valve that either directs the steam to the grouper or the wand.

By understanding how all these parts work together you can, for example, understand that if all your shots keep tasting burnt, your machine may need to be serviced to make sure that the heating chamber isn’t heating the water too high. Understanding how your espresso machine makes espresso will also help you recognize problems before serious damage is done, saving you money.