Why Use Cold Water When Brewing Coffee?

I’m sure you’ve seen it, at the bottom of some packages of coffee or on directions of coffee makers… “Use cold water when brewing your coffee”. But, why would it matter if you use warm or cold water when brewing, if the water will get hot anyway?

When you see the disclaimer advising you to use cold water, it’s under the assumption that you are using tap water, from the sink – and if you use tap water, then you should use the cold water side of the tap. The reason is, cold water from the tap is fresh. Water from the hot side of the tap has likely been sitting around in your water heater for hours (or even days!) and is probably not fresh. Hot water heaters can have minerals and scale at the bottom of the tank that negatively impact the final taste of your coffee (and often the scale from the tank can greatly accelerate the buildup of limescale in your drip-brew coffee maker). To make great-tasting coffee, you have to use fresh water… so don’t use hot water from the tap!

What about filtered water from a pitcher, or bottled water? This water does not need to be cold to brew… so no need to use cold bottles of water or keep your pitcher in the refrigerator. This water is perfectly fine to use at room temperature.

As a side note, I have noticed an improvement in taste when using cold (not room temperature) water while brewing in a drip-brew coffee maker. Although I’m more of a french press, AeroPress or cone dripper kind of guy, occasionally I will break out our regular old drip-brewer to brew some coffee for family and friends. When using cold bottled water (as opposed to room temperature bottled water), the brewing time seems to be extended a good 45-60 seconds… which may not sound like much, but when brewing coffee, it can make a big difference as one drawback with drip-brewing is the length of time the coffee grinds steep with hot water being cut short. If you use a drip-brewer, try using very cold water the next time you make coffee and see if you notice a difference.

Please leave a comment below to continue the discussion and share this post with someone who enjoys good coffee. Ken