Making Coffee with Alkaline Water

[john_pifer]

Originally Posted by buster
For those that have GERD/LPR or any reflux issues, have you considered making coffee with Alkaline water to reduce the acidity? I just did a quick google search and it seems to be quite common, not only to reduce the acid levels, but also improve taste.

I ordered some Black Rifle Coffee. I like it, but it's pricey and don't think it lives up to the hype.


I agree with you on the Black Rifle Coffee. I really like their mission of helping vets (and their worldview). But the coffee I've had from them, that I've received as gifts, has been a disappointment. But, then, I prefer light to medium-roasted coffee (my go-to is Eight 'O Clock 100% Colombian).

I do have one of their hooded, zippered sweatshirts that I also received as a gift, and I love it.

 

[kschachn]

Don't lighter roasts have the most caffeine and the most acid?

 

[buster]

Originally Posted by kschachn
Don't lighter roasts have the most caffeine and the most acid?


I believe so, yeah....

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted by buster
Originally Posted by kschachn
Don't lighter roasts have the most caffeine and the most acid?


I believe so, yeah....


This is correct.

The darker the roast, the less caffeine and acid the beans have. If anyone is suffering from heart burn/acid reflux I'd recommend the switch to cold brew. It has a significant reduction in the amount of acidity when compared to hot brewed coffee.

In theory, alkaline water should reduce the acidity of hot brewed coffee. Alkaline water is essentially just purified water with more amounts of calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and magnesium sulfate than regular purified water. You could technically add a pinch of baking soda to your normal water and obtain similar results.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by john_pifer
Originally Posted by buster
For those that have GERD/LPR or any reflux issues, have you considered making coffee with Alkaline water to reduce the acidity? I just did a quick google search and it seems to be quite common, not only to reduce the acid levels, but also improve taste.

I ordered some Black Rifle Coffee. I like it, but it's pricey and don't think it lives up to the hype.


I agree with you on the Black Rifle Coffee. I really like their mission of helping vets (and their worldview). But the coffee I've had from them, that I've received as gifts, has been a disappointment. But, then, I prefer light to medium-roasted coffee (my go-to is Eight 'O Clock 100% Colombian).

I do have one of their hooded, zippered sweatshirts that I also received as a gift, and I love it.


Somewhat OT, but one of the best things about BRCC is Heather Lynn and her Bitter Barista routines. She's quite amusing. Definitely not BITOG-safe though.

 

[xBa380]

I brew beer, which is not far off from the same water sciences as coffee. The pH of the starting (brewing) water means almost nothing… Instead, it's the alkalinity / hardness that is important (waters buffering ability against acids/bases). So the more alkalinity, the more stable the pH with the same amounts of acid/base added to the water.

Distilled/RO water can be very easily altered by acids/bases. There isn't much to resist pH change. So brewing coffee with distilled/RO water isn't ideal, as the acidic beans will likely drop the pH too low and make the coffee more sour.

If you use too hard of water, pH may be too high outside of the ideal range and come across more ‘muddled' in flavor. Same with beer… Often I am tweaking water pH at various parts of the process with acids and bases to keep ideal pH ranges for conversion, flavor ‘crispness' and the minerality of the water desired for a particular beer style.

I don't know the intricate details of coffee brewing, in terms of ideal pH for various types of beans and such, but water is significant none-the-less. For example, if you use city supplied water, you may have chlorine and/or chlorimine in the water used to keep it microbe free. Using a carbon-water filter will remove chlorine, but do nothing for chlorimine. Using an adder (tiny pinch of) sodium metasulfate will instantly react with chlorimine to remove both chlorine and chlorimates. Easy to use and may significantly help the flavor of the coffee, perhaps.

Well water can be great, or terrible, depending on he composition of it. But simply talking about the acidity:

Cold brew (supposedly lower pH drop when brewed) or add a buffer to the water, such as baking soda (will add a little sodium, as well, which usually pairs nicely with dark, roasty flavors to an extent). Those are the easiest options. Also, if using distilled/RO water to brew coffee, try using city/well water for the mineral content which will raise the pH. Also, some milk or half and half will work, as well.