LOTUS WATER Complete Set

If you are someone or know someone who is really into coffee, this is perfect. Allowing for the ability to play around with different water chemistry is a lot of fun. Especially when paired with a cupping kit.

If you already are purchasing good beans, and have a decent grinder, this is definitely the next step. Water chemistry has a lot of impact on the cup and this the most accessible way to do it.

Lotus water makes it so easy

Coffee is 98% water, yet is a variable that tends to be overlooked in the brewing process, compared to equipment (e.g., grinders, burrs, flat vs. conical drippers, etc.). This kit is a fun and accessible way for people to start playing around with water chemistry without buying minerals in bulk and weighing things out to the milligram. The online recipes are straightforward to follow and easy to scale depending on the volume of water you want (0.45 L, 1 L, or 1 gallon) so you can experiment to your heart's content. Scott Rao even shared how adding minerals *after* brewing can affect taste. Distilled, RO, or ZeroWater would all work fine, as long as you start with 0 TDS.

As for the quality of the materials, the kit is really nice and would make a great gift. The dropper bottles and mixing bottle are both made of out glass that feels sturdy and thick. My only complaint is that the mixing bottle doesn't have a fill line, so you'll still have to measure out 450 mL of water.

The kit isn't cheap, but you're paying for the convenience of having premade concentrates in a compact form, as opposed to having your coffee counter looking even more like a chemistry lab. Although you can buy individual bottles of solution, I wish Lotus sold "refill packs" of solution so you're not accumulating a bunch of dropper bottles.

My only complaint is that the lid for the glass water bottle is rather cheap feeling. I am worried the metal and plastic will separate over time, as they seem glued together with a prominent seam. However, the main attraction is the concentrate used to make water. It works as advertised, and I am very satisfied with the taste of the water it can produce. The concentrate bottles feel nice and seem durable. I was planning to buy this, and I prefer to buy through Eight Ounce for easier Canadian shipping.