Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood — Water chemistry and its impact on coffee flavour

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A brief introduction to water chemistry and its impact on coffee flavour
Presented by Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
At BGE Barista Camp 2015
©Barista Guild of Europe | Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood

Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood can mostly be found making and talking about coffee at Colonna and Small’s in Bath, U.K. He is a three-time U.K. Barista champion and three-time world Barista Championship finalist. Maxwell enjoys exploring many of the avenues coffee has to offer. He is co-author of “Water For Coffee” and has co-authored a couple of scientific papers on coffee. Maxwell is currently embracing the opportunity to open Colonna Roastery whilst taking part in some exciting equipment development.

Synopsis:
Water is not an ingredient, but rather it is a solvent. Thus, it is not surprising the water exists with many other species dissolved in its naturally occurring form. The most pertinent being calcium, magnesium and sodium positively charged ions, and chloride, bicarbonate and sulphate negatively charged species. It is these dissolved ions that determine the flavour of brewed coffee. This talk aims to provide a brief introduction to water chemistry and details how a gained understanding of the water will benefit the barista.