Collection: Brita Filters - Water Types and Their Effect on Coffee

Water composition

Better crema, finer aroma, improved taste – with the right water

Although invisible to the naked eye, certain elements in mains water influence the taste, consistency and appearance of coffee. The results can interfere with a barista’s art – and customers’ satisfaction. To ensure café and restaurant guests enjoy the best possible quality, it makes sense to tailor the water to the task at hand. If the coffee tastes bitter, overly soft water can be the culprit. But excessively hard water prevents the aroma from developing, resulting in blandness.

Keep your equipment in great condition

Using unfiltered water not only impacts what you brew – over the long term, it can potentially damage valuable coffee-making machinery. Water with high carbonate hardness can result in limescale build-up, while high permanent hardness can lead to gypsum deposits. In addition, high levels of chlorides and sulphates increase the risk of corrosion. 

	Carbonate hardness or lime
	Permanent hardness or gypsum
	Permanent hardness or gypsum
	Permanent hardness or gypsum
	Coarse and fine particles

The four water types

Water types	Scale Water	Gypsum Water	Soft Water	Salty Water
Description	Scale water contains high levels of calcium, magnesium and hydrogen carbonate.	Gypsum water contains high levels of calcium, magnesium and sulphate.	Soft water contains only small amounts of calcium, magnesium and gypsum.	Salty water, e.g. containing high levels of chlorides and sulphates can corrode equipment.
Effect on coffee and your machine	A full flavour/aroma cannot develop and limescale deposits emerge in machinery.	Gypsum water can negatively affect the flavour of coffee. Additionally, chalky deposits emerge in machinery	Despite the mineral level being ideal, odour, off taste like chlorine and particles negatively affect the aroma. Moreover, high particle density can damage coffee machines	Water with a high salt level not only negatively affects taste. When it comes into contact with machinery the risk of corrosion becomes very high.
BRITA’s solution	BRITA PURITY C Quell ST	BRITA PURITY C Finest	BRITA PURITY C Fresh / BRITA PURITY C MinUp	BRITA PURITY C XtraSafe / BRITA PROGUARD Coffee