Third Way Water: Transforming Your Home Coffee Game

In this enlightening episode, I dive into a conversation with the founder of Third Way Water at the Houston Coffee Expo. We explore how water quality dramatically impacts coffee taste and equipment longevity. I reconnect with Third Way Water after previously experiencing their products, discussing how their mineral packets transform distilled water into ideal brewing water for different coffee styles.

The founder shares insights from his specialty coffee background dating back to 2008, explaining how his expensive café water filtration systems inspired a more accessible home solution. We discuss how Third Way Water's products help coffee enthusiasts replicate café-quality coffee at home, protect expensive equipment from scaling, and customize flavors based on roast preferences. Listeners will learn how water chemistry can elevate their home brewing experience and extend the life of their coffee equipment, all while gaining a deeper appreciation for the subtle nuances in their favorite brew.

For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:31 Café Quality Water at Home
• 3:46 Equipment Protection and Consistency
• 6:16 Manipulating Coffee Flavor Profiles
• 9:31 Finding Your Perfect Water Profile
• 12:00 Value and Longevity of Third Way Water
• 15:01 Coffee Trends and Evolving Tastes
• 18:16 Taking Pride in Your Coffee Equipment

Transcript

[0:00] We're here at the Houston Coffee Expo, and we're doing something a little different. We're doing an interview with Third Way Water. I recently talked to them about their packages. Came back to be rekindled with them.

[0:22] And when you reached out to me, I was like, this is a great opportunity to just let my audience know the greatness of Third Way Water.

[0:30] I appreciate it. I was in specialty coffee since 2008. Had a cafe roastery, and spent a lot of money to make real elaborate water filtration since most cafes do. It's like $5,000.

[0:51] But what I found is that didn't scale down to home use. So when you recommend someone to home, you don't say, go buy this $5,000 system.

[1:00] So we tried to make basically all the minerals that you want. And if you start at a base of zero, distilled water, reverse osmosis, add it, you'll get that cafe quality experience.

[1:12] I think you've probably gone to a cafe, you drink coffee, and you're like, this is great. You take it home, and then you're like, they switched coffees.

[1:20] But what if this is not the same thing? It turned out a lot of people have been struggling at home, getting their coffee, and people drink great coffee at home so much more than they did 10 years ago.

[1:38] So we've had success with that. And we have thousands of stories like yours where you go away from it, and then come back, and you're like, wow, that's like a different coffee.

[1:48] It really is. And I think that's one of the biggest things that I try to tell people, trying to get them really back into it.

[1:55] Sometimes a disconnect for some people because they don't realize that they have these good beans, and they don't realize that the coffee can be even better.

[2:04] And even to the extent to where, let's just say it doesn't do as much as they thought it would do. At least let you know that it's not so much of you. It's probably just that coffee, that style, and everything.

[2:16] You don't need to spend a ton of money. You want to have a decent grinder, nothing like a blade grinder. And have an okay coffee maker.

[2:24] Some places have good water, and it might work well. But a lot of other places, they don't know. You travel. You have your setup at home, and it tastes perfect. When you go to family at Christmas, Thanksgiving, you're like, the coffee is terrible.

[2:37] What am I doing wrong? So it's just another one of those tools for people to get what they like and looking for. And as expensive as coffee is nowadays, we don't be wasting.

[2:48] One less thing to really worry about. And I guess one of my things, because I'm a coffee snob. Everybody here is a coffee snob. And we don't have an issue with paying for this stuff.

[2:58] How do you go about it? Or how is it a challenge to get to other coffee people who probably don't even know?

[3:05] It's a great question. So one of the benefits, it costs a couple cents for it. Some of the other stuff, we have maybe it's less specialty and more mainstream.

[3:13] We have some profiles that are for low acid. So I made it for my dad. He would have heartburn and couldn't drink much coffee. And so this lowers the acidity four times so he can drink five, six cups without having any heartburn issues.

[3:25] So what I would say is less specialty. It also helps protect your equipment. So you are going to say you're like, I just got this $700 espresso machine. That's a lot of money.

[3:35] And with our minerals, you don't have to scale it. You won't scale up. And so we've all had a coffee maker and it's just slow and slow and slow. It builds up scale.

[3:45] Just like your shower head does. And so with our water, it helps kind of protect that. So you get some benefit of the coffee tasting better. But you're not ruining your equipment.

[3:55] You bring up a really good point there because it's one of those things where people have our logs, we jot down what we're tasting in the coffee and everything, but nobody really takes into consideration like the build up, the scale.

[4:07] And they're not realizing that that also takes effect of how the coffee is actually brewed.

[4:12] Absolutely. And it's a little less consistency if you don't have the water. It'll slowly change over time and you may not notice it and you're like, I used to brew this fast. Now it's taking a minute longer and you're wondering why.

[4:24] So if you're doing a coffee maker and that nozzle is just narrowed down. It's taking a bunch, a lot longer time like a washing machine. Your washing machine said, oh, it's 15 minutes left. No, this is 45 minutes. Because the filter is clogged up and it's not draining as fast.

[4:43] So I like that. So it's almost like getting them because I did another experiment about a week ago and I use the exact same coffee and I used all the packages, not all at the same time.

[4:55] And it was really, even though it was more so like a subtle type of difference, I did notice how much it really affected or changed the coffee.

[5:07] And I think that's something that people don't realize is that they can kind of beyond the grind size, beyond different temperatures and everything, they can actually manipulate the coffee in that way to where they can tailor it a little bit more.

[5:19] Absolutely. It's that little, it's like that adding salt on your dish after you make it. It's that little that, okay, it was good, but now it's great.

[5:28] And so like we have a dark roast profile. My parents would use like a low acid or dark roast. They use k-cups. But with the dark roast, they don't want acidity. They want chocolate.

[5:38] It's just like, hey, how can we help move that flavor profile a little to what they think is good. We try not to tell people that, oh, you're wrong. This is not good coffee.

[5:47] We want them to be able to enjoy coffee how they like to enjoy it and try to make products for all those different palettes.

[5:55] That's a big difference. Because I am more of a medium to dark roast person. Sometimes I'll delve into the light roast from time to time. But like you said, it gives you that opportunity to manipulate your coffee a little bit more to your liking.

[6:07] And so we'll find it on a dark roast. If you use our light roast, you might taste a little ashy. And you're like, that's not good. But all of a sudden, the dark roast, it's like it goes away.

[6:19] And it's just so much more pleasant. And what you're used to it, it's like, this is my coffee taste.

[6:26] So what do you say? I'm trying to kind of get to the everyday type of coffee drinker. And again, I'm not even my market. However, I have four jugs of still water, they have their own different things.

[6:38] How would you tell somebody to approach third wave water? Do they just need to go ahead and buy all the packages?

[6:44] So we do have on our website, I think a light medium dark three pack that you can just buy. But also, I would say, if you want the coffee to have fruit flavors, and you usually do lighter, do light roast.

[6:57] If you like and use the words bold, use the words dark, I would try that dark roast. And then if you find that, and on that dark roast, and it's just maybe a little too bold, and you want to dial it down, maybe the medium.

[7:10] Or if you have the light roast, you're like, it's a little too sour, the medium might just be enough to up.

[7:16] So it's more so like, even I think that's what I'll also start doing, especially on my channel is like, letting people know like, Hey, you can play around with it. You don't have to be so tailored to the situation. If you like light roast, go with the light roast.

[7:29] And we find we do tests all the time where it's like, this coffee tastes better with medium. Coffee tastes better with light. And it might be marginally. And it's not always a consensus of everybody. Taste is really personal.

[7:41] And so it's like, once you find your jam, don't be embarrassed about it.

[7:46] I think I was telling some people about that too. At the expo, they were asking me some opinions about just the journey in general. I was like, you like what you like. I'm not telling you, don't try other things, but it's okay to tell people what you like.

[7:59] Well, I mean, you think about it, if everyone liked what I liked, it would make it a lot more expensive. So there wouldn't be a whole lot of good light roast coffees left. So I'm glad that there's a spectrum of coffee drinkers.

[8:11] So if I'm somewhere and there's a darker roast coffee that I can get, I enjoy putting a little cream in it. This cream works really well with dark roast coffee. It doesn't work well with light roast coffee. You can get some of it even curdle the cream.

[8:28] And I also think it's fun to try coffees that other people enjoy. If somebody else really enjoys something, there's something about the hospitality and being around people. I want to drink it. And even I don't prefer it, but I can experience that with them and appreciate it.

[8:42] So not so dogmatically where I only drink this or I don't drink anything.

[8:47] You can enjoy it with them while you guys are doing something totally different.

[8:51] Absolutely. And then you go back to what you like or are comfortable with. And what I found is sometimes you forget how good your coffee is until you drink coffee that you think is bad.

[9:00] So you almost get spoiled. So true. So it's like getting used to the air conditioning. You're like, I got soft.

[9:10] That's what I was thinking for the longest. I felt something was wrong with my coffee until I rekindled back again with Third Way Water. And I'm like, wow, I'm tasting things that I haven't tasted in a very long time.

[9:21] And I think that's the beauty of having, because there are other companies also out that have like this, this, that, that. And I think that's good, but sometimes it overcomplicates things.

[9:32] And our product is $17. So if you're experimenting, there's some coffee grinders that cost hundreds of dollars. If you think you're like, Oh, I got to go spend $500, like try something cheaper first as a change.

[9:46] And if you still want to start to keep experimenting, keep going, but you can spend a lot of money real quick.

[9:52] I think the best part about understanding Third Way Water even more so is that how much it does give you more of appreciation for the coffee that you're drinking, experienced it for what it is.

[10:03] And then it gives you that opportunity to keep going down that rabbit hole, but in a nice, gentler way, because for instance, I bought the four packages. I bought the low acid, bought the light, medium and dark.

[10:15] I don't really do much cold brew. I'm sure it does probably makes it even more mellow and chocolatey and all that stuff.

[10:23] But I guess the biggest thing right now is that I bought these packages back in January. I probably still have about four to five packages in each of them. So as much as it seemed that it does go quickly. It really doesn't, it really gives you that opportunity.

[10:37] It doesn't expire. That's great. So I mean, you got old minerals in it and they're gonna last a while.

[10:43] And the only way to know if it's worth it is to try it. And then if you go back to your old stuff and you're like, you know what, I like it just as much or it's not worth it. And then you know.

[10:54] But sometimes what I found too is if say you're using your tap water, it'll change during the year. So you get more rain. Sometimes they put a lot more chemicals in, or if you move obviously are traveling.

[11:05] So it's just one thing always keeping the back of your mind of like, well, maybe let's check the water again.

[11:12] But I guess in this case we don't really have to.

[11:15] And you know, it's good to get distilled water and then, you know, you get groceries delivered or you pick stuff up, you're already picking up some laundry detergent and some other jugs of milk and you grab a jug of water and then you kind of have your routine to your set. You're good to go.

[11:31] So I have a kind of interesting question. So your name is Third Way Water. And we were in 2025.

[11:41] And I guess what I'm about to ask is like, where do you think the state of, I guess, coffee, but also water in general, because at the end of the day, it's one of those things to where now we have different processes of the way farmers and what we get as a coffee roasters coming in, we get different types of profiles of those coffees and the way we roasted and then brew it.

[12:00] And now do you feel that is still third wave or where is third wave water going with all the different changes?

[12:06] We're always trying to make products that people want and meet customers where they are. I think coffee is cyclical. It's like a few years ago, specialty coffee was all light roast, light roast, light roast. Some of them were way too light.

[12:19] But 30 years ago, it was dark roast. It was kidney double A, it was some matra. But what I see is a lot of that's coming back.

[12:26] And people are appreciating. So I think as we age, our palate changes. When you're little, you're like Skittles, Sour Patch Kids. And still like those, but not as much. And you kind of like some bitter flavors.

[12:38] So I think as we age, kind of like our tastes change. And so you have the specialty crowd that might go from light medium there now as they age, doing more dark roast.

[12:47] I think you'll have, it would be interesting if the young kids are they only doing Dunkin sugar bombs.

[12:53] But I think people are, with coffee getting more expensive, and coffee is almost, it's something you need like gas. So like if it is getting more expensive, you'll end up going to some cheaper options. And if you can get a cheaper option that tastes almost just as good, then it might be worth it.

[13:13] So if we can make people's coffee a little bit better, make it so you're not throwing out as much, make it so you're not throwing out your equipment as much. Then it's almost like they're saving money.

[13:25] And depending on how expensive your equipment is, we have some customers with $5,000 home espresso machines. That's a lot of money. That's how much my car costs.

[13:36] So if you have really bad water, it can break it in a year. So those cases, but it is for just doing drip coffee definitely an expense. I would say it saves you money.

[13:47] But if you like it, we have stuff that we like. If you like something like washing detergent, like the name brand stuff just washes better. And you're like, I just like the smell and it just I feel like my clothes are cleaner.

[14:01] Then like the cheap powder, like you're willing on those things to get something like to treat yourself.

[14:07] I will say that because I will eventually do a post about that. But the whole thing about having nice stuff and people don't realize, especially with the way that you guys have created the formula and everything, how it doesn't scale or anything, it gives you more so like a pride.

[14:22] In your equipment and that you know, that's going to last a lot longer compared to not giving a shit.

[14:28] I grew up like many other people with not much. You grow poor, you learn being good at being poor. And if you want nice things, you might have to fix it yourself or take care of it.

[14:38] And yes, there is some pride about having a washing machine at home, I've kept going for 15 years. And I'm like, I fix it myself and you can't keep it going. And you know, you do that.

[14:48] You take a little pride in it and a little more thoughtfulness into it. And I think it's an enjoyable way to live life.

[14:55] So with that being said, I don't want to keep you too long. I appreciate this. It's a podcast, but it's a talk.

[15:01] No, it's fun meeting new people and seeing with air on coffee. Coffee is a real small world.

[15:08] It's almost interesting because like coming to this event, you realize that and this is not everybody who cares about coffee, but seeing all these people here is like, wow, this is something that will go on as long as we can make it go on.

[15:19] We've been drinking coffee for hundreds of years and I think it brings people together. It wakes you up. I think people will keep being social. Drinking coffee and enjoying coffee at the homes.

[15:32] Cool. Thank you so much. We've had a great time in Houston. I went to the pit room twice for barbecue.

[15:41] Real good. Do you do barbecue too sometimes? Same here. And I'm glad you guys have sauce too. I'm not a dry barbecue. It's the same thing with coffee, right? Just give people what they want. It's all about people.

[15:57] I truly appreciate this interview and this talk and I'm looking forward to what comes next. If anyone has questions on water, they can reach out to Third Way Water. And we can try to answer them.

[16:11] And I'll put some links in the bio and everything. Appreciate it. Thank you.