So I noticed that coffee i make at home in japan taste like shit compared to where im from. First i thought it was something wrong with the coffee itself, but when i brought coffee from my home country, it still tasted bad, so im assuming the problem is the water. What can i do about it? Does a tap filter solve the problem? Are there coffee machines that purifies the water somehow? anyone solved this problem?
8 comments
hard water, soft water, chlorine etc.
let water sit x hours, chlorine evaporates
plenty of inexpensive water filters whether on tap or as a jug or whatever. they make the water taste better, so I imagine coffee made with better tasting water would taste better. ymmv
I’ve definitely noticed a difference in taste in my cold brew before and after using filtered water. I just have a Brita filter pitcher and that does the trick. Cheap too
I have to say I’m spoiled on the other end.
I have been hand grinding my morning pour over using my born and raised NYC tap water.
It was fair game and sometimes a bit more acidic or hard water prone than my personal liking but it was the best I could get at home.
Around 10 years ago, I invested in a really nice under the counter, charcoal water filtration system that really improve the quality of the tap I was getting.
Now I’m living three weeks into my new life in Kumamoto Prefecture and gushing over the quality of the water that comes directly out of my tap for everything.
My morning pour over using the same coffee beans in fact that I took from New York, are drastically different due to the water quality of what I’m getting here in Kumamoto.
Just to check, is the brewing method exactly the same between brewing it at your home country and in Japan?
I have no experience with filtering water, and I’m too afraid to open that rabbit hole, but I’ve been brewing great cups using tap water.
water used in coffee is quite important if you like good coffee. Best is to check what kind of water makes coffee you like, and find a way to tweak yours that way.
Hard/soft water is important.
Chlorine also, especially after heavy rain and stuff, it’s full of it.
Having water sit for too long in open air will have the water taste change (usually not in a good way)
Yes. Water with minerals in it gets very bitter when boiled. Filtered water makes better coffee.
One of our kids went off to uni (osaka). Couldn’t get the rice to taste good, so we sent them some from home.
Turned out to be the water there.
As with things like brewing beer, the water used makes a difference. Some supermarkets have water dispensers (bring your own container), or yeah, try one or another filter system.
Tap water in most of Japan is awful. Period. Yes, the tap water about which you get rave reviews from clueless Japanese who think that nowhere else tap water is safe. It will not make you sick, but it tastes awful.
Tap filter improves it a little, but does not resolve the problem, been there.
Buy bottled water, that’s the only practically viable solution.