In this episode, I open up about one of the most humbling realizations in my coffee journey: the coffees I've lost along the way. I'm talking about those bags where I knew something special was hiding, but I just couldn't crack the code to unlock it. The culprit? Water chemistry—and more broadly, ignorance about the variables that truly matter in brewing. I've been experimenting intensively with water over the past week, using a TDS meter and testing different mineral profiles, and I'm blown away by how simple tweaks can completely transform what you taste in your cup. It's made me rethink every coffee I dismissed as "not working" when the truth was that I simply didn't have the right knowledge to bring out its potential.
What you'll learn by listening to this episode: I share why understanding water chemistry might be the single most impactful variable you can control in coffee brewing—potentially more important than your grinder or brewer. You'll hear about my journey from relying on bottled water solutions to taking control of my brewing water, and how this knowledge gap affected my relationship with light roast coffees. I'll encourage you to push past the things that seem hard or mysterious, to question recipes and advice (even mine), and to understand the context behind what you're doing. Most importantly, you'll walk away understanding that we don't need to know everything about coffee—we just need to know the right things.
For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com
For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans
