Every coffee beverage is a combination of water and coffee. In fact, water makes up 90–99% of the most important components in every espresso or filter coffee. Now BWT and the coffee makers are entering into a partnership as two major players in the water and coffee sector.
"Water offensive" is what Benjamin Hohlmann calls it, coffee expert and Brewers Cup Swiss Champion 2014. "Coffee offensive" is what Otto Wyss calls it, engineer and water expert at BWT. Both are experts in their field and know well: when water and coffee meet, things get interesting. Because in coffee, the quality of water shows. And only through water does coffee become a beverage.
Good water is a prerequisite
Basically, every coffee beverage consists largely of water. An espresso is essentially a solution of 10% coffee particles and 90% water. A filter coffee, on the other hand, comes to just 1.35% particles and accordingly just over 98.5% water. These figures alone illustrate how large the role of water in coffee is.
"The importance of water for coffee is often underestimated," says Philipp Meier, judge at international coffee championships and sensory training instructor at the coffee makers. "Water itself adds its own flavor to the coffee beverage on one hand. On the other hand, the mineral and organic composition of water also strongly influences the extraction capacity."
And by this point it becomes clear that making coffee is essentially a chemical process that depends on numerous factors. If water is very mineral-rich, there is not only the risk that coffee machines will scale up, but that the water is already too saturated to absorb coffee particles.
Coffee water partnership
"This is exactly where we will focus our partnership," interjected Werner Salzmann, Division Manager water+more at BWT. Joint training sessions are intended to show private individuals, restaurateurs, and coffee technicians what impact water has on coffee extraction. "We are very pleased about the partnership with the coffee makers," says Werner Salzmann. "With their coffee academy, their numerous coffee training courses, and their sensory training, they are the perfect partner for us to demonstrate the importance of water."
Coffee maker Benjamin Hohlmann also looks forward to the collaboration with optimism. "BWT offers various filter systems for every type of water—the right tool to create perfect water. The partnership represents an absolute win-win situation. We can learn more about water and advance our coffee knowledge. BWT learns from us about coffee—a perfect medium to test water quality."
The first training sessions of the alliance have already been announced. Three intensive six-hour training sessions as well as several 1.5-hour evening sessions are being planned. More information about the course can be found href="/en/wasser-kaffee" here.
Water and coffee in the media
- Beobachter Natur: Water as important as coffee
- Coffee water – results and recommendations
