Classic Light Roast Profile

We recommend using only the Espresso Machine Profile for your espresso machine, as it will not cause corrosion from chlorides, which can take many forms.

Chlorides and your machine:
NOTE: In your espresso machine, be sure to avoid water profiles that utilize chlorides. Chlorides will cause corrosion on metal surfaces.

While all Third Wave Water minerals utilize permanent hardness vs. temporary hardness, our Classic Light Roast Profile contains a small amount of chlorides. This is perfectly fine for non-pressurized brewers, but not espresso machines. Scale leaves something behind (from temporary hardness) while corrosion is the erosion, removal, or breakdown of the metal itself.

Yes!

We get this question a lot and are proud of our many partners using Classic Light Roast Profile to brew their cold brew: Verve Coffee, Bru Brothers, and many more!

Other Cold Brew Options:
We also have a special profile just for cold brew: The Cold Brew Profile. This profile will help you create smooth, less bitter cold brew coffee and add to any cold brew concentrate. Cold Brew Profile will also help reduce the acidity of your brews up to 3x.

Each profile consists of only three minerals:

• Magnesium Sulfate
• Calcium Citrate
• Sodium Chloride

There are no chemicals used! The mineral amounts vary depending on the profile. We are unable to provide the exact amounts of each mineral in each profile to help protect our recipes.

For a more detailed breakdown on each profile, check our help center article here.

Third Wave Water minerals should be added to any kind of "empty water." Empty water is any water with no minerals, chemicals, organic matter, etc. Typically, empty water has a total dissolved solids (TDS) measurement of 0-9TDS. Some great forms of empty water include the below options:

- Distilled Water
- Reverse Osmosis (RO)
- Water from a Zero Water™ Filter
- Deionized Water

Some filtered waters may be labeled "filtered by reverse osmosis" on the back label. If this is the case, then it is perfectly fine to use as reverse osmosis filtration removes all contents (or enough) which is what is necessary for Third Wave Water minerals.

Why empty water?
When you add minerals to any of these "empty waters" (water with little to no TDS), you are creating a unique, mineralized water. Some coffee makers actually recommend using distilled water to protect their machinery, but this will flatten your coffee.

For more information about why you should use empty water with Third Wave Water, check out the blog we wrote by clicking here!

Why not other waters?
Using generic spring water, bottled water, or tap water is a gamble because you do not know what minerals at what ratios and quantities exist in the water. This is why we created Third Wave Water, to give you the exact minerals with the right ratios and quantities according to the industry standards. Adding Third Wave Water minerals to water with an unknown TDS content might inhibit the minerals from fully absorbing since our formula is based on being added to 1 gallon of empty water.

Where to find empty water:
Empty water can sometimes be found in the United States at the following locations:

- Grocery stores (Kroger, HEB, Whole Foods, etc.)
- Convenience stores (Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc.)
- Supermarkets (Target, Walmart, etc.)

Absolutely! 

All of our profiles are completely safe to drink. In fact, we have many customers around the world that drink the Medium Roast Profile as a form of an electrolyte beverage.

No. Our mineral profiles are completely safe for your equipment.

Not all calcium is "bad" calcium.

Bad Calcium: CaCO3
CaCO3, Calcium Carbonate, is bad calcium. It is formed from the reaction of calcium cations and carbonate ions that are commonly found in many natural waters as well as treated waters. Calcium Carbonate is what causes limescale to form because it is temporary hardness. Its solubility decreases when temperature increases.

When CaCO3 is present in your water in your coffee maker, for example, when the water heats up to brewing temperature, it then precipitates out of solution in the water and adheres to the surface of the container it is in, causing scale because it is not soluble once the water evaporates. Over time, that layer of minerals builds up and can cause overheating, bad tasting coffee, and a decreased lifespan for your equipment.

The Good Stuff: Third Wave Water
All Third Wave Water minerals, which are permanent hardness, will not cause that same type of scale to build up. Like Calcium Carbonate, when the water evaporates, the mineral residue will be left inside. However, Third Wave Water minerals are still soluble after that evaporation, so any new water introduced will re-dissolve them. This means that there is no need to descale your equipment.

All Third Wave Water profiles contain only permanent hardness. None of our profiles will cause any scale!

One of TWW's founders, Taylor, made a short video to illustrate this difference between temporary and permanent hardness.

Yes, the Dark Roast Profile works the same for tea as it does for coffee! 

Some tea blogs typically recommend 80 - 150 TDS (total dissolved solids). Our formula is 150 TDS high in magnesium helping provide natural sweetness in the flavor profiles. 

Brew times will need to be adjusted when you change waters when brewing tea (or coffee), as this is also true when you change any water type.

We recently did an experiment tasting different tea varieties with all of our mineral profiles, and across the board among our team, the Dark Roast Profile was the preferred winner for all tea types!