Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of making a great cup of coffee is the quality of your water. Simply put, your coffee will only be as good as the water that you use.

Most people tend to easily overlook this critical aspect to making the perfect cup of coffee. It’s true: the quality of your coffee depends heavily on the quality of the water that you use.

Coffee is 99 percent water, so the quality of the water you use will have a significant impact on the taste of your brew. A good rule of thumb to remember is to only use water that tastes good enough to drink plain. If the water tastes bad by itself, it will taste bad when brewed, too.

Because of this, the best coffee is created using water that has been filtered or purified. While most of the coffee shops worth their weight will have a filtration system built into their facility, the average coffee drinker does not have access to such resources at home. (And if your coffee shop does not filter their water, stop going there immediately.)

However, there is an easy fix to this. Many refrigerators have built in filters now, so water from that source should be pretty good. The drawback to this is that many people don’t remember to change those filters. A better option, and a cheaper one, is to use a filter pitcher, such as the Brita or Pur. These easily and quickly filter enough water for your needs, and can provide cleaner water for drinking as well.

You should not use distilled water, though. This water has had most of the minerals stripped away, minerals that contribute to the water’s taste and aid in coffee extraction. Filtered water will result in a much better flavor than distilled water.

Also, begin with cold water, and not water that has been pre-heated. Hot water that has been heated and then cooled has lost much of the dissolved air that is an important part of the taste of your water. Begin with cold water; your coffee will be better as a result. The same is true for stale water that has been sitting for a while. Fresh is better.

One final aspect of water quality to consider is the temperature needed for proper extraction during the brewing process. The optimal range for the best flavor extraction from your coffee beans lies between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. Any higher, and your water will boil away much of the dissolved air, creating a flat taste. On the other hand, temperatures that are too low will result in an underextraction and will be sour to the taste.

It’s hard to understand how something as simple as water can make such a huge difference in your coffee, but it does. Using better quality water will result in a much tastier flavor, and you will be that much closer to finding the perfect cup of coffee.

Question: Have you considered the role quality water plays in your coffee brewing method? If so, what have you discovered? You can leave a comment by clicking here.