Water Quality and Instant Coffee

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I used to be a fanatic about drinking "real" perked coffee. Grinding the beans, preparing the percolator, savouring the result. Wonderful. A weekend morning ritual.

Then, we shifted house and moved to an area where the people we socialised with actually preferred instant coffee. ANY instant coffee. None of that perked muck for them, thanks. Oh dear.

I've drunk most of the cheaper instant coffees at one time or another. You know the ones, "coffee dust". Granules so fine a sneeze at the wrong time can blow the contents of half a bag (jars are too posh) around your kitchen in a tic. Worse, they make me bleed out of my bum. Something about the colouring. "DB Double Brown" used to do the same.

You probably didn't want to know that, but these are things grown-ups should get out into the open in case we all secretly experience bleeding arses after cheap instant coffee, but were too afraid to discuss it......and the rivers and seas run red as a result of our silence on the matter.

To cut a long story short(er), I discovered "Nescafe Gold". It's more expensive than the usual instant coffees. It may well be the most expensive one of the all. I don't know. The point is, that of all the instants I've tried, I found I could make a "latte" with Nescafe Gold that was good enough and close enough to the real thing to satisfy me. It's a smooth instant that goes down very nicely all things considered....and rivers and seas remain their usual colour - an added bonus.

Then, in December, we shifted to Auckland. one of the first tasks one does in a new town is roll around to the local supermarket and stock up on supplies. These included included Nescafe Gold instant coffee. Immediately, from the first sip, I noticed my instant coffee tasted odd. Sort of a burnt taste. Not at all what I had come top expect after 4 years of drinking the same beverage. After several more cups, I decided it much be a bad batch or perhaps they had changed the way they made it, so I called Nestles 0800 consumer line (How often does anyone do that?!). They told me that they had not changed anything about the product and asked for the batch number so they could trace it back and record any other complaints that might arise. They sent me a cheque for $10 to cover the cost of the jar of coffee that had not lived up to my expectations. That was very decent of them. I was impressed. But my coffee still tasted like crap.

I cashed the cheque and bought another jar. Same result. Coffee tastes bitter and "burnt".

At about this time, I was standing in the shower (hours later....not really at the same time) and noticed the fairly strong smell of chlorine. Like in a swimming pool. I wasn't used to this as our previous house had used water from a domestic bore which we then filtered several times and radiated to kill bugs until it was crystal clear and tasted very nice. No chlorine, nothing....just water and any very tiny sediment that managed to get through the carbon filter.

I checked the Internet for information about chlorine levels in Auckland and other major cities. Auckland stacks up well. Enough to keep the water lurg-free, but not anywhere near the level thought of as risky. The issue of chlorine affecting water taste had been widely discussed and there were several solutions offered ranging from refrigerating the water for drinking to reduce the prominence of the taste, through to filtration systems of various types, complexity and cost.

OK...I had learned enough.



Maybe the chlorine in Auckland tap water was affecting the taste of instant coffee? Checking the web, I found that I could buy a "Brita" jug with a small carbon filter for $39 from Farmers or Countdown that would let me remove almost all the chlorine from about 1.5 litres of water at a time.

I tried it and it worked. The drinking water tastes much better and the Nescafe Gold Instant Coffee has been restored to its usual taste.

Feeling guilty about the $10 Nestles had sent me, I called them back and told them what i had found. I suggested that this might have a marketing impact for them in cities with chlorinated water supplies as their product did not taste as good as it should if there was much chlorine around. The woman I was speaking to seemed genuinely interested and thanked me for going to the trouble to find all this out and reporting it back. She said I could keep the $10. Whew!

Enough typing. Time for a cuppa.