Stopped at a little diner in Nebraska and their drip coffee made me rethink everything

Went to this tiny place off I-80 last week, they had a beat up Bunn machine and the coffee tasted like actual chocolate and nuts, no fancy gear at all. I've been chasing espresso setups for 8 years and their $2 cup humbled me, how do places like that pull it off while my $400 grinder can't get close?

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1 Comment

theajohnson22h ago

My brother ran the water line for a diner outside Omaha for years, and he always said the tap water there was the real secret. Most of us use filtered or bottled water that's stripped clean, but that place had hard well water with minerals that pulled different flavors out of the beans. Your $400 grinder does a great job, but it can't fix what the water chemistry is doing to the extraction. Maybe try mixing a pinch of baking soda into your brew water and see if that gets you closer to that chocolate and nut taste.