Brewing Water Recipe Calculator (SCA + DIY)
Build coffee water from distilled or RO water plus Epsom salt and baking soda to hit the SCA hardness targets.
Calculator
On target
GH 68 ppm and KH 40 ppm both sit inside the SCA windows (GH 17–175, KH 30–70). This is a balanced, extraction-friendly brewing water.
Easier: make a concentrate
Direct doses are sub-gram and hard to weigh. Instead, dissolve 8.37 g Epsom salt + 3.36 g baking soda in 1 L of distilled water (a stock concentrate). Then add 20 mL of concentrate per litre of brew water — one litre of concentrate treats about 50 L.
All-baking-soda water adds sodium: about 0.46 mg/L of Na per ppm of KH (≈ 18.4 mg/L here). For low-sodium water, use potassium bicarbonate instead.
GH targets are indicative — two SCA tables exist (the 2009 standard centres near 68 ppm; later charts span 50–175 ppm). Dial to taste.
About this calculator
Water is most of what is in your cup, and its mineral content changes how coffee extracts and tastes. This calculator builds brewing water from a clean base — distilled or reverse-osmosis (RO) water, which is almost mineral-free — by adding two cheap minerals: Epsom salt for general hardness (GH) and baking soda for alkalinity (KH). Set your batch size and your GH and KH targets and it returns the grams to add, plus an easier make-ahead concentrate, and tells you whether you have hit the SCA water windows.
How to read your results
GH (general hardness) is the magnesium and calcium that drive extraction; KH (alkalinity, also called carbonate hardness) is the buffering that tames acidity. The SCA targets are GH ≈ 68 ppm and KH ≈ 40 ppm (both as CaCO₃), with a total dissolved solids (TDS) target around 150 ppm and pH near 7.0. Because the direct doses for a 1 L brew are well under a gram, weighing them is fiddly — so the calculator also gives a stock concentrate you dissolve once and then dose by the millilitre.
How it's calculated
Epsom salt (MgSO₄·7H₂O) raises GH by 406 ppm per gram per litre; baking soda (NaHCO₃) raises KH by 596 ppm per gram per litre, both expressed as CaCO₃. So grams = target ppm × litres ÷ factor. The concentrate scales the per-litre dose up by a fixed factor so it is weighable, and the dose-per-litre is the inverse of that factor. Baking soda also adds sodium — roughly 0.46 mg/L of Na for every ppm of KH.
Worked example
1 litre of distilled water, targeting the SCA defaults: GH 68 ppm and KH 40 ppm.
Add about 0.17 g of Epsom salt and 0.07 g of baking soda (≈ 0.23 g total). Easier: dissolve 8.4 g Epsom + 3.4 g soda in 1 L of distilled water as a concentrate, then add 20 mL per litre of brew water (one litre of concentrate treats ~50 L).
Frequently asked questions
Why start from distilled or RO water?
Distilled and RO water are almost mineral-free, so the minerals you add are the entire recipe and the result is repeatable. Tap water already contains varying minerals, so adding more on top is guesswork unless you have a water report.
Why a concentrate instead of dosing the dry powders?
For a single litre the doses are a fraction of a gram, which most kitchen scales cannot weigh accurately. Dissolving a larger amount once in a stock concentrate lets you dose precisely by the millilitre for every future batch.
Is baking soda the best source of alkalinity?
It is the cheapest and most available, but it adds sodium — about 0.46 mg/L of Na per ppm of KH. If you want to avoid sodium, potassium bicarbonate raises KH the same way without it.
My GH target looks off compared to another chart — why?
There are two SCA reference tables. The 2009 standard centres GH near 68 ppm; later charts allow a wider 50–175 ppm band. Both are acceptable starting points — treat GH as indicative and dial it to taste.
Sources
Reviewed by the YouCalc Team · Last reviewed
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