Don’t Forget the Water When Choosing Your Business Coffee Service

When choosing your business coffee service provider, your first and foremost consideration will be the quality of the coffee beans provided with each cup of coffee. Your obvious choice will be Arabica coffee beans because of its superior flavors coupled with good acidity compared to Robusta coffee beans. You may, however, choose a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans for cost-benefit purposes.

Regardless of which type of coffee beans you choose, you should not forget about the water used in brewing the beans. This is because water can either bring out the best flavors in second-rate coffee beans or ruin high-quality coffee beans depending on its mineral content, hardness/softness, and boiling temperature, among other factors.

Keep in mind that the final flavors in brewed coffee are mostly contained in the essential oils of the coffee beans. Brewing experts extract and then mix these oils with water to achieve maximum permeation levels. The general rule then is that the more that the essential oils and water mix, the more flavorful the coffee can be.
Thus, the water used in brewing coffee should have the right mineral content to bring out the best flavors from the coffee grounds. Experts suggest using filtered or bottled water for maximum flavor, not distilled, softened and tap water lest you end up with relatively flavorless coffee. Ask your business coffee service provider for these types of water to be used on your coffee dispensing machine.

Just make sure, however, that the mineral content is within the recommended range of 150-200 parts per million. Too much and too little mineral content will adversely affect the coffee’s final flavors, textures and notes.

It is also important to take note of the ratio of coffee to water used by the service provider. The ideal ratio is 1 to 2 tablespoons of good-quality ground coffee for every 6 ounces of water for general usage. This can be adjusted based on individual preferences, thus, the choices like “light” and “dark” in a coffee dispensing machine.

Aside from the type of water used, you should also ask potential business coffee service providers about the water temperature and brewing time used on their machines. These also affect the quality of the final beverage, thus, their importance in choosing the best service provider for your business coffee needs.

The final test: Take a few cups of coffee provided by the business coffee service provider and base your final decision on the taste, texture and appearance of the brew.