I've always heard the golden rule for making coffee is to use cold water instead of hot, but I can't seem to find anywhere that explains why. Anyone here know what the reason is for this?

 

You are also supposed to begin cooking with cold water as well. When you have preheated water coming out of the sink, it has run through something (hot water heater, furnace, etc) that may leak small contaminants into the water. These are not harmful or toxic by any means, but they may affect the taste of the food or drink.

 

I've been told that cold water is supposed to produce better tasting coffee. It supposedly extracts more of the flavors and avoids a flat taste.

Personally, though, I drink a lot of coffee daily (both the cheap and pricey stuff), and I've never noticed a difference.

 

That is a good question!
You should ask The Monk.

 

I think its not so much that the hot water goes thru the heater but that cold water will have less dissolved solids to start with. Hot water allows chemicals to dissolve better. Better taste and , if you use a coffee maker, will prevent sediment buildup. I am partly a coffee nerd; Ilike to use a cone. But I do ground my coffee when I buy it.

 

In general you should always use cold water for cooking due to the aforementioned reason that minute amounts of contaminants, usually lead from brass plumbing castings and solder, can leach into warmer water faster than cool water.

In a drip coffee maker the quality of the coffee is not affected by the water temp you start with. The water is always

 

[QUOTE=Hustn,Jan 6 2005, 03:41 PM] In general you should always use cold water for cooking due to the aforementioned reason that minute amounts of contaminants, usually lead from brass plumbing castings and solder, can leach into warmer water faster than cool water.

In a drip coffee maker the quality of the coffee is not affected by the water temp you start with. The water is always

 

[QUOTE=Hustn,Jan 6 2005, 04:41 PM] In general you should always use cold water for cooking due to the aforementioned reason that minute amounts of contaminants, usually lead from brass plumbing castings and solder, can leach into warmer water faster than cool water.

In a drip coffee maker the quality of the coffee is not affected by the water temp you start with. The water is always

 

And get PEET's

 

just use filtered water. get a Brita filter, or equivalent. the water is room temperature-- thus taking less time to boil-- but is filtered of 99% of contaminants.

problem solved.