意式濃縮咖啡是復雜的,。為了做好一杯濃縮咖啡,，需要付出很多努力，并且每一杯完美的濃縮咖啡都需要相同的努力。首先，你需要從優(yōu)秀的種植者和烘焙商手中買到好的咖啡豆,；然后，你需要好的設備,；最終,，你需要懂得如何把精華萃取出來。不過,，濃縮咖啡最基本的還是它的兩樣原料：咖啡豆和水,。

Espresso is complex. A lot goes into making it, and the pursuit of pulling a good shot starts anew with each and every coffee. It starts with great coffee sourced from excellent producers and roasters, continues with practice on good equipment, and culminates in an understanding of how to get the best out of a coffee. At its most basic, though, espresso consists of just two ingredients: coffee & water.

大部分的時候我們把注意力都放在了咖啡豆上。畢竟，它富含各種固體,、油脂以及芬芳物 － 我們最愛的風味和芬香都來自于它們,。但是，水呢,？水值得我們關心嗎,？它顯然是很重要的一部分，但是我們需要付出多少注意力呢,？

Much of the focus is often on coffee. After all, it's full of solids, oils, and aromatics - everything necessary to produce the flavors and aromas we love so much. But what about water? Is it worth focusing on? It's obviously a necessary part of the equation, but just how much attention needs paid to it?

在開始之前,，我們想強調一點：你加入到意式咖啡機里的水極為重要,，不僅僅是為了萃取一杯好的咖啡,。使用好的、干凈的水不但會延長你的咖啡機的壽命,，同時還能幫助它保持良好的運轉狀態(tài),。

Before we start, we want to be clear: the water you put into your espresso machine is incredibly important, and goes far beyond brewing good coffee. Putting good, clean water into your espresso machine will extend the life of your investment, and can help your machine continue to run well.

這篇文章只涉及到了水問題的冰山一角，可以把它當作深入研究水世界的一個入門,。水是如何影響你的咖啡,，它為什么會影響咖啡機工作，以及你應該對應做些什么,。

This post is the tip of the iceberg, as it were, and its meant to be a simple introduction to the world of water. How it affects your coffee, why it matters for your machine, and what you should do about it.

水是什么,？｜WHAT IS WATER?

通常我們會認為水就如一紙空白。干凈無味,、由氫和氧構成的水（H20）則為風味多樣的咖啡提供了創(chuàng)作的畫布,。為了更全面地了解水，我們首先需要聊聊萃取,。Barista Hustle 博主 Matt Perger 總結如下：

We typically think of water as a blank canvas. A clear, somewhat tasteless liquid composed of hydrogen and oxygen molecules - H20 - that the delicious, colorful flavors of coffee are painted on. But to fully understand water, first we need to talk extraction. Matt Perger of Barista Hustle sums it up nicely:

“以下是我的超簡潔,、非百分百準確的定義：

萃取就是水從咖啡中帶走的所有的東西。

當你把水和咖啡混在一起時,，會發(fā)生很多事情,。這其中最相關且最容易理解的就是水會溶解咖啡中的很多風味。這些溶解在水中的風味構成了咖啡中你能嘗到的（絕大部分）味道,。剩余的那些則是些不能溶解的物質,。主要就是一些影響口感、非常細微的咖啡粉,，但是不能算是萃取,，畢竟他們只是浮在水中而已?！?/span>

'Here's my super simple and not 100% accurate definition:

Extraction is everything that the water takes from the coffee.

When you mix coffee and water, a lot of things happen. The most relevant and easy to understand of all these things is that water dissolves a lot of coffee's flavours. These dissolved flavours make up (almost) everything you taste when you drink a cup of coffee. The rest is undissolved stuff. This is mostly very very small coffee grinds that affect mouthfeel, but can't be included in extraction because they're just floating around in the water.'

所以,，當我們說到咖啡萃取的時候，水可不僅僅是一種干凈無味的液體。它實質上是風味的媒介,。在沖煮時,，水從咖啡粉中提取 － 或萃取 － 出固體和油脂，給予曾經清澈的水更多實質的物質,。最終結果就是一杯咖啡,。

So, when we talk about extraction in coffee, water is so much more than a clear, somewhat tasteless liquid. It actually serves as the medium for flavor. While brewing, water takes in - or extracts - solids & oils that coffee holds, giving that once clear water some real substance. The final result is coffee.

水提取物質的能力也是建立在它是空白畫布、有空間接納這些物質的假設之上的,。其實并不然,。水中含有各種微量元素，使得水本身也有風味,，并且提供了萃取的能力,。

The ability for water to take things in is also predicated on the idea that it actually is a blank canvas, and that it has room to take those things in - only it isn't. Not exactly. Water has all sorts of trace amounts of other minerals in it, giving both flavor and extracting ability.

理想的水質｜THE IDEAL WATER

在沖煮咖啡時，你需要認識到很重要的一點,，通常情況下,，水中的礦物含量越高，水能從咖啡中萃取的物質就更少,。一定量的礦物質成分是有益的,，過多則不好。水中的礦物質含量用溶解性固體總量（TDS）來表示,，測量單位是百萬分率（ppm）,。通常，（美國）城市自來水的 TDS 值會在十幾到一百多,，取決于地理位置和水處理方式,。

When it comes to brewing coffee, it's important to understand that the more mineral content water has, the less it can take in from coffee, typically. Some minerality is good, too much is bad. The mineral content of water is expressed as the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), and measured in Parts Per Million (ppm). The TDS range of a particular city's tap water can range anywhere from the 10's to 100's, depending on the location and water treatment process.

那么怎樣才是理想的？理想的咖啡用水的 TDS 值應該在 90－150 ppm 之間,，沒有異味,，但是有足夠的礦物質以確保萃取的完成。如果想要了解更多詳細參數(shù),，La Marzocco 為你準備了一份咖啡機用水指南,。

So what's ideal? Ideal water for coffee has a TDS of 90 - 150 ppm, with no extraneous odors or flavors that would interfere with taste, but still has enough TDS that the minerals in the coffee are able to help do the work of extraction. If you want to get a lot more specific, La Marzocco has put together these water guidelines here.

水中礦物質的種類和含量在不同地區(qū)、不同季節(jié)都是不一樣的,。測量并處理水質以達到平衡點并不容易,，有些咖啡館因此投入了不少的成本在反滲透或者其它類型的水處理系統(tǒng)上。

The type and amount minerals found in water varies across the country and throughout the year. Measuring and properly conditioning water to get the ideal balance can be quite a challenge, and good cafes in some parts of the country end up spending small fortunes on Reverse Osmosis and other water conditioning systems.

弄清楚水的狀況是擁有一臺咖啡機相當重要的一個問題,，但是它常常被忽略,。處理好這個問題需要花些時間研究一番，同時你需要重視并理解好的水質對于沖煮好的咖啡以及維護咖啡機是必不可少的,。

Figuring out your own water situation is one of the most important aspects of owning a home espresso machine, but is often the most ignored. Getting a good handle on it requires a bit of research, as well as a re-prioritization and understanding that good water is essential for both brewing good coffee as well as taking care of your machine.

下一步｜WHAT TO DO NEXT

以下有幾個幫助你提升水質的方案供你參考：

Here are a couple solutions to improve the water you put into your machine:

1. 過濾水｜Filter Your Water

記住一直使用過濾器,。即使你家的水質不錯,，至少還是需要過濾掉一些異味。像 Soma 這樣使用活性碳的過濾器是個不錯的開始,。避免使用像 ZeroWater 這樣的軟水器 － 它們會帶走過多的礦物質,，然后導致萃取問題甚至咖啡機損傷 － 所有的意式咖啡機都需要水中含有一定量的礦物質才能正常運作，才能做出好的咖啡,。

Always use a filtration pitcher. Even if your water is good, having something that filters odors is a minimum. Something like the Soma Filter, which uses activated carbon to filter out tastes and odors is a great start. Avoid using water softening pitchers like the ZeroWater - there filters can actually take too many minerals out of the water, leading to extraction problems and even potential machine damage - all espresso machines require some amount of dissolved minerals to function, and to make coffee taste great.

2. 瓶裝水｜Buy Bottled Water

還有一個捷徑就是買高品質的瓶裝水,。特別是，如果你家的水很硬 － 例如你家的淋浴頭和水壺里有很多水垢 － 買瓶裝水會是個不錯的主意,?？Х葯C內累積的水垢最終會有損機器。

Another shortcut to better brewing water is to buy good bottled water. In particular, if your water is quite hard - often expressed in homes by scale build-up on showerheads and in kettles - it's a good idea to buy bottled water for your machine. Scale buildup in an espresso machine can quickly lead to a damaged machine.

Crystal Geyser 和 Poland Springs 都是不錯的瓶裝水,，我們的解決方案部門經常會推薦它們,。另一個更完美,、更均衡的選項則是普納水（Acqua Panna）,，它的罐裝地正好離 La Marzocco 在意大利佛羅倫薩 Scarperia 的工廠不遠,。

Both Crystal Geyser and Poland Springs are great bottled water options, and we often recommend them in our Solutions Department. For a fancier alternative, and for a near-perfect balance of minerals for brewing, Acqua Panna is a delicious water that is bottled not far from the La Marzocco manufacturing plant in Scarperia, Italy.

3. 繼續(xù)教育｜Further Your Education

如果這篇文章已經勾起了你的好奇心，還有不少有關咖啡與水的內容可以參考學習,。例如我們的 Scott Guglielmino 在 Nordic Barista Cup 上做的演講,，以及最新發(fā)布的一本新書《Water For Coffee》,。

If all this water talk has you curious, there are loads of resources out there on water in coffee, including our own Scott Guglielmino's Nordic Barista Cup presentation on the subject, as well as the recently released book Water For Coffee.

附：Scott 的演講視頻鏈接：http:///2013/09/water-the-main-ingredient-in-coffee-by-scott-guglielmino-la-marzocco-usa/

La Marzocco Home | 圖／文

Samuel Gui | 譯

本文有刪減,，原文參見 La Marzocco Home 2016年2月3日博客“Water for Home Espresso”

La Marzocco 于1927年創(chuàng)立于意大利佛羅倫薩 - 歐洲文藝復興運動的發(fā)祥地。我們堅持在佛羅倫薩手工打造商用及家用咖啡機,，致力于為尊重傳統(tǒng)和手工技藝的咖啡師以及個人提供優(yōu)雅且耐用的專業(yè)設備,。