We applaud all those who have decided to make their coffee at home. One of the popular methods of doing this is through a filtration system, which begs the question: what is the best water-to-coffee ratio?
Select the right water
Since the most abundant ingredient in coffee is water, you better be sure to use the best water possible.
Although tap water in Spain is generally drinkable and suitable for consumption, it can have an unpleasant taste. The main cause of bad taste in tap water is the chlorine added to disinfect it. This doesn't mean you can't use tap water to make your coffee. In fact, to get the best possible result, you should avoid using distilled or softened water. It is best to use filtered tap water.
Activated carbon filters such as EcoPro or EcoPro Compact are ideal: they eliminate more than 100 substances (lime, chlorine, heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics, etc.), in addition to bad taste. At the same time, unlike reverse osmosis, they preserve healthy minerals in the water such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.
The best water-coffee ratio
If you prepare filtered coffee, you know that there is a very simple generally accepted rule: the golden ratio. It is a reference to taste a coffee with a good proportion of water. When you have made your coffee following this proportion, you can modify it to adapt the result to your taste.
The golden ratio is 17.42 to 1. That is, 17.42 times the amount of water for each unit of coffee. Or put another way: 1 tablespoon of coffee beans for every 17.42 tablespoons of water. It can also be explained like this: if 17.42 tablespoons are equivalent to 1.0888 cups, the reference is 1 cup of water per tablespoon of coffee.
Modify the proportion of water and coffee
How do you know if you are using the right proportion of water and coffee for you?
- The coffee is not strong enough: add one more tablespoon of coffee.
- The coffee is too strong: add more filtered water or less coffee.
Summary
- Install a water filter: Brew your coffee with filtered water to enhance its flavors.
- Find the coffee beans and the degree of roasting that you like best: get advice from a specialized store. Try to buy fair trade coffee and, whenever possible, in bulk. This way you will avoid unnecessary plastic packaging.
- Base yourself on the golden ratio: that's the starting point. From there, evolve the coffee to your liking.
- Mix: add more or less coffee. Try a deeper roast or a more fragrant variety. The possibilities are endless!
