Coffee lovers care a lot about brewing that excellent cup of coffee which tastes just as good as it smells. If achieving the perfect cup matters to you, it’s important to understand that the kind of water you use can actually make or break the flavor. After all, 98% of what’s in that cup is water.

So, what are your options? You can use water that’s been distilled, filtered, bottled, from the tap, or been through reverse osmosis. It’s a little overwhelming, but the rule of thumb is to use whatever you typically like to drink.

If you simply use the good old tap, good news: Scientifically speaking, tap water is the best option. To craft the tastiest cup, you don’t have to worry about using pure or distilled water, since tap water is typically “hard” (filled with minerals). Hard water can “stick” to many of the compounds in coffee, and bring out that full, bitter flavor.

Now that you know how water can transform the character of a coffee, take the next step with high quality, gourmet whole beans from Le Petit Cafe, which includes three samples of roasted coffees complete with a delicious baby loaf cake. It’s perfect for coffee lovers, especially if you’d like to experiment with water and taste.