Third Wave Water ESPRESSO PROFILE

#1: Post by **Kpurpose10** » May 20th, 2022, 5:52 pm

Is the TWW Espresso profile fine for stainless steel boilers?

I am not asking about the Classic Profile ... only the espresso profile. The espresso profile does not state that it includes chlorine. Ingredients are as follows: Magnesium Sulfate, Calcium Citrate, Potassium Bicarbonate

#2: Post by **thecoffeefield** » May 20th, 2022, 7:00 pm

I'm not aware of any issues TWW espresso profile and stainless steel boilers. Also, I'm wondering what are the percentages of the ingredients above

#3: Post by **homeburrero** » May 21st, 2022, 1:21 am

Kpurpose10 wrote:The espresso profile does not state that it includes chlorine.

Neither formula contains chlorine. The classic does contain some chloride (about 16 mg/L Cl⁻ ion) and the espresso formula does not. The espresso formula also contains that bicarbonate which should make it better from a corrosion risk perspective.

thecoffeefield wrote:... I'm wondering what are the percentages of the ingredients above

Per Taylor Minor of TWW:
Third Wave Water capsules - add to water for better tasting coffee

Classic 1500mg
Magnesium Sulfate 1100mg
Calcium Citrate 300mg
Sodium Chloride 100mg

Espresso 1500mg
Magnesium Sulfate 1050mg
Calcium Citrate 300mg
Potassium Bicarbonate 150mg

(This is for the 1 gallon packets, and the magnesium sulfate is ground Epsom, i.e., magnesium sulfate heptahydrate.)

#4: Post by **thecoffeefield** » May 21st, 2022, 8:15 am

Thank you. Calcium appears to be reasonably low so hopefully no issues to the machine

#5: Post by **homeburrero** » May 21st, 2022, 1:41 pm

thecoffeefield wrote:Calcium appears to be reasonably low so hopefully no issues to the machine

Yes, assuming anhydrous calcium citrate it comes out to 48 mg/L calcium hardness as CaCO3, then considering that you have only 20 mg/L as CaCO3 of carbonate you should not expect calcium carbonate (limescale) deposits to be a problem.

That level of calcium combined with the high sulfate could theoretically put you at risk of calcium sulfate (gypsum) deposits if you use the steam wand but fail to periodically purge or drain the steam boiler.

Because calcium citrate is an acid buffer, your actual alkalinity, which is a measure of acid buffering capacity down to the bicarbonate endpoint, would be more than 20 mg/L -- about 40 - 50 mg/L by my rough estimate. (For chemistry nerds, see the last part of my earlier post here: Third Wave Water Espresso Blend - Missing Alkalinity related to that.)