Bill Walsh checks out the Pur Water Pitcher to see if it helps him brew a better cup of joe.
By Bill Walsh
Does Filtered Water Make Coffee Better? The short answer is usually. But no one puts stock in the short answer.
Ask any coffee enthusiast if the type of water matters in their coffee and everyone of them will (read: should) say yes. The three types of water available to the average household are usually filtered, tap and bottled water. To quickly rule out one option, I would agree with the growing number of people that bottled water is a waste of money and resources as well as practically the same as tap water in numerous cases as far as health and taste benefits.
That leaves the duel between tap and filtered water, with the two issues being health effects and taste. Depending on where you are, your tap water can contain harmful agents that you might not want in your body. But at the same time, there are some regions of the country with exceptional tap water. So, it really comes down to your specific geographical source and hygenic philosophy as to whether filtering offers any real benefits for your health.
And then there was taste. Since coffee is mostly water, clearly the water you use to brew your coffee will make a severe impact on the taste of your coffee. Thus, while I know some cities boast amazing tap water, we’re all not so lucky. Thus, I took up an offer from Pur to test out a Pur Water Pitcher to see if it made a difference in the taste of my coffee versus coffee brewed with my tap water.
While I do not have the specific information on the health qualities of my local water system, I would say that it ranks fairly high in taste comparatively to other taps I’ve tapped. As for my methods of testing, I compared my tap water versus the filtered water in both glasses of water and in cups of coffee.
Drinking the water straight up, my tap water produced an alkali-esque quality in the aftertaste compared to the Pur water which had a much brighter and sweeter flavor to it. This held true through multiple trials and even when my wife produced for me a blind taste test, I was able to differentiate the tap and the filtered.
As for my coffee, the results were similar. The coffee brewed via the filtered water was a little sweeter and acidic in taste while the tap water produced coffee slightly more basic with a metallic aftertaste.
Thus, I can vouch that the Pur Water Pitcher did make a noticeable difference in the taste of my water and coffee, though a subtle one at that. If you’re looking to get better tasting water from your tap, a water filter could do it for you though there’s no guarantee. And if you like being uber careful about possible threats in your water, then filtration will definitely help you sleep better (whether it really does the job, only time will tell).
So if you have less-then-stellar tap water and/or you want to take a step in the direction of water safety, then try out a Pur Water Pitcher.
note: pitcher was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.
Hi there, you are wrong on one of your points, I love cooking with filtered water, and do drink filtered water, but I find bottled water (naturally from the springs) much better in taste, if you ever look at a good quality bottle water lets say “nestle” hold it up and you can see how pure it is! Spring water is bottled water, it is from the springs, or under the earth, this water has never been used or contaminated yet by chemicals the plastic bottles do not contain any BPA if you go buy a good quality brand, well in canada they have higher standards; i have done my research to know the difference, i have also noticed filtered water after some time ends up tasting a little like tap water, and thats when you know it needs to be changed, i change it every 2 to 3 months..i cook with filtered water and you can tell the difference for sure!
Filtered water definitely make coffee taste better, but just a water filter like the pitcher above only removes chlorine, everything else remains.
And to comment on Sonia’s comment. If you do a little research, you will find that bottled water isn’t actually form spring water, this is a ploy to sell more water. It’s usually filtered tap water. And the reason for your water tasting like tap water after being filtered is because you are using a water filter which only removes chlorine.
If you are concerned about the quality of water you are drinking, or want to make your coffee taste the best it ever could be, you need a water filtration or purification system as these system remove most or all contaminants. A water purification system such as reverse osmosis will remove everything from the water, providing water at it’s purest form, H2O, the way it should be, and is what I use for cooking, drinking, and for my coffee. A few of my friends have also purchased a reverse osmosis system, as they have never had coffee taste as good as mine, although now they do.
Thanks, I too almost purchased it since its now only $33 x 3 payments plus shipping.
With a friend who has cancer the juicer is all the craze now.
Hopefully since it says 30 day money back you can use a stop payment with
your credit card. Do a dispute with your credit card company and let them fight it out.
If your in the right your credit card co. will reverse the charge
I know it for a fact that a filtered water will make your coffe, tea, taste much better because a water filter will remove all those bad agents such as lead, chlorine, odor, cysts from the tap water and resulting a healthy and safe drinking water.
So I would recommend everyone to use a water filter, it’s better be safe than sorry.
“note: pitcher was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.”
Wrong. Your review/feedback is subjective, not objective.
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Right. I always use a PUR basic filter pitcher as water source for my OXO ON Barista Brain 9-Cup Coffee Maker. Big thumbs up!
It seems like it would only make sense that it would make better tasting coffee… if the water tastes bad, how could it not also transfer that bad taste to the coffee you make with it? I know you heat/boil the water first, but still.