Third Wave Water Is Here, So the End Must Be Nigh

With coffee’s third wave elevating slowed-down brewing methods like pour-over and siphon brewing within the commercial sphere, a new company has a plan for introducing a new element into the brewing process to further redefine what makes a good cup of coffee. Filtered and distilled waters just aren’t good enough anymore.

Going beyond the beans and the brewing equipment, a company called Third Wave Water is attempting to improve the H2O that makes your morning cup. Yes, we have reached water’s third wave, apparently. The company created soluble tablets designed to optimize water for brewing the best possible coffee, as Gear Patrol reports, rescuing those with super-refined palates for whom regular tap water just won’t cut it.

Coffee professionals Taylor Minor (Telemetry Coffee Roasters) and Charles Nick (The Wright Cup) developed the capsules to “remineralize” water with things like calcium and sodium, essentially grooming the liquid for brewing, like prep school for your coffee. It seems baristas and snobs everywhere now have yet another way to scoff at the inferior brewing habits of square laymen.

“The terroir of water is much like that of coffee,” the company’s website explains in all seriousness. “Where the soil type, rainfall, and solar intensity effect the flavor of coffee; the flavor of water comes from subterranean minerals like dolomite, halite and limestone.” Using this logic, Minor and Nick referenced the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s standards for water quality and developed these $1-a-pop capsules that bring those necessary elements to water. In theory, this will allow users to brew the most flavorful cup of coffee possible.

Starting with a gallon of either distilled water or water from a reverse osmosis system and dropping in a Third Wave Water capsule will bring in “the perfect amount of calcium, magnesium, and sodium,” that will reportedly produce the best taste profile possible for coffee. Pre-production versions of the capsules cost $10 per pouch, which contains 10 capsules, and the company plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign later this month. It remains to be seen whether caffeine addicts believe they are actually missing out by not optimally conditioning their water before brewing coffee.

With retailers around the country embracing coffee’s third wave, this corresponding attention to water is not entirely surprising. Though, the idea of “artisanal water” remains ripe for ridicule. But with brands such as Peet’s Coffee & Tea introducing slowed-down barista service and with Starbucks rolling out its Reserve bars that showcase complex brewing methods, Third Wave Water just might have a chance to ride the trend. If nothing else, it may spark growth in a burgeoning market for water sommeliers.

• Third Wave Water Is Here to Improve Your Morning Coffee [GP]
• What Is Third Wave Coffee and How Did We Get Here? [E]
• Meet the Water Brothers: Artisanal Water Is Finally Here [E]
• How America's Only Water Sommelier Is Changing the Way People Taste H20 [E]