RO Water and a Keurig!

Thanks for taking the time to fill out our Better Coffee questionnaire.

First off, I’m glad you’re using our coffee and filtered water to make coffee. That’s a great start. 

Here are my suggestions for changes you can make over time.

If you’re using pure RO water, it will work, but adding back some minerals will get you a better extraction. We add back calcium carbonate just to around 50-60 ppm. So not much. This should make a tiny bit of an improvement in the taste of your coffee without causing lime scale buildup. I know there’s a packet of “Third Wave Water” that you can add, but it sort of seems like “instant water, just add water,” so I’m guessing there’s a much cheaper option out there (like adding .5g calcium carbonate powder per gallon).

One of the best investments I made early on in my coffee learnings was upgrading from a blade grinder to a burr grinder. I was really surprised at the difference it made, and it opened up possibilities for me to precisely grind for different brewing methods. So that would be my initial recommendation for upgrading your gear. (Surprised I didn’t say to get rid of the Keurig, aren’t you?) We sell a couple different burr grinders from Baratza. 

My second gear change suggestion is inexpensive. I think you should get an aeropress  It’s only $30, and will make coffee similar to an americano. It’s also a great travel brewer because it’s lightweight, small, and easy to clean up. Surprisingly makes good coffee. It’s well suited to our Ambergris too. 

Let us know if you have questions. Or if you want to see any of the gear in action, I’m sure one of my team could get you on a video chat and walk through it. Thanks for your support, Ross!