Coffee
Testing
In coffee shops and cafés, maintaining high-quality water is essential for brewing great-tasting coffee.
Because water makes up the majority of every cup, its mineral balance and purity have a direct impact on flavor, consistency, and equipment performance. Regular water testing helps ensure optimal brewing conditions.
Water Quality
Testing
In coffee shops and cafés, water quality isn’t just important, it’s essential for brewing consistently great coffee and protecting expensive equipment.
Our Smart Brew® Kits are specifically designed to help baristas and coffee professionals easily test their water to achieve the ideal balance for brewing.
Why Testing Matters
- Ensure flavor and extraction
- Fix inconsistency between batches
- Prevent scale backup and equipment damage
Measure What Matters. Improve Every Cup.
Control these parameters to improve flavor, ensure consistency, and protect your equipment.
Proper mineral balance helps coffee extract correctly, allowing the natural sweetness, acidity, and body of the beans to shine...
Digital Tests
Ask Us About Custom Branding Options!
Smart Brew® Professional Kit
(Premium Digital Test Kit)
$549.99
Includes
- One (1) eXact iDip® Photometer
- (1) eXact® pH+ meter
- Cleaning brush
- Quick Start Guide
- 25 each iDip® reagent tests: Total Alkalinity, Total Clorine, Chloride, Calcium, Total Hardness, THL, Sulfate, Iron, Manganese, pH, TDS, Temperature, Conductivity, Salinity, Residual Alkalinity, Magnesium, Sodium
Our latest offering, the Smart Brew® Professional Coffee Kit, is the first test kit to feature Bluetooth® connectivity with both a photometer and multi-probe meter, giving you a complete, precise analysis of your water for optimal coffee brewing.
Smart Brew® Starter Kit
(Digital Test Kit)
$399.99
Features
- (One (1) eXact iDip® Photometer
- Cleaning brush
- Quick StartGuide
- 25 each iDip® reagent tests: Total Alkalinity, Total Chlorine, Chloride, Calcium, Total Hardness, pH (Reagent), Sulfate, Residual Alkalinity, Magnesium, Sodium
Purpose: New low range detection levels detect levels that can impact taste and cause equipment corrosion Packaging: Bottle of 50 test strips Notes: New! Detects under 30ppm of chloride (as CL-) for 1/8 the cost of competing strips.
Visual Tests
Ask Us About Custom Branding Options!
Economy Coffee 50-Strip Kit
(2 Bottles of 50 Strips)
$29.99
Includes
- Bottle of (50) 5-in-1 multiparameter strips | Tests For: Free & Total Chlorine, pH, Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness
- Bottle of (50) chloride test strips | Range: 0, 15, 30, 60, 100 ppm (as Cl-)
This kit is a practical, budget-friendly option with an easy strip format makes routine testing fast and easy, without requiring specialized equipment or training.
WaterWorks™ Chloride Low Range
(1 Bottles of 50 Tests)
$18.49
Features
- (50) NEW WaterWorks Chloride Low Range | Range: 0, 15, 30, 60, 100 ppm (as Cl-)
Purpose: New low range detection levels detect levels that can impact taste and cause equipment corrosion Packaging: Bottle of 50 test strips Notes: New! Detects under 30ppm of chloride (as CL-) for 1/8 the cost of competing strips.
Digital Testers
Find a Meter that Suits Your Needs!
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Tests Available | 40+ | 40 | 5 | 5 |
| Mememory Per Test | Unlimited | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Wavelength | 525 nm | Dual 525 nm/637 nm | 525 nm | 476 nm |
| Sample Size | 4ml | 4ml | 4ml | 4ml |
| Uses eXact Strips / Reagents | ||||
| EPA Compliant for Chlorine | ||||
| Health Department Compliant | ||||
| Energy Saver | ||||
| Waterproof | ||||
| Hand-held Unit | ||||
| Sample text | ||||
| Patented / Patent Pending | ||||
| CE Certificate | ||||
| EZ 3-Step Test Procedure | ||||
| Bluetooth | ||||
| Integrated eXact iDip App | ||||
| Multilingual | ||||
| FCC Certificate | ||||
| Ability to Email Results | ||||
| Date, Time, GPS | ||||
| 2 Way Communication w/ Smart Device | ||||
| EZ 4-Step Procedure | ||||
| Ability to Add More Tests | ||||
| Continuous Updates | ||||
| NSF - 50 Certified | ||||
| Warranty / Customer Satisfaction | 30 Day Guarantee / 2 Years | 30 Day Guarantee / 2 Years | 30 Day Guarantee / 2 Years | 30 Day Guarantee / 2 Years |
Why Water Testing
Water makes up over 98% of a cup of coffee, meaning the minerals and chemistry in your water directly affect flavor, aroma, and consistency.
Proper mineral balance helps coffee extract correctly, allowing the natural sweetness, acidity, and body of the beans to shine. At the same time, maintaining the right water chemistry protects expensive brewing equipment from scale buildup, corrosion, and premature failure.
Testing your water regularly ensures that your brewing process stays consistent, your equipment lasts longer, and every cup meets the high standards expected by specialty coffee professionals.
Key Water Parameters
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) recommends monitoring several key water parameters to maintain optimal brewing conditions.
Minerals like calcium and magnesium contribute to flavor extraction and body, while alkalinity and pH stabilize the brewing process and prevent overly sour or muted flavors. Excess minerals such as chloride or sulfate can introduce bitterness or corrosion, while contaminants like chlorine, iron, or manganese create unpleasant off-flavors.
Measuring total hardness, alkalinity, pH, TDS, chloride, and chlorine provides a clear picture of your water chemistry and helps ensure it falls within the recommended ranges for specialty coffee brewing.
Simple Testing
Coffee water testing doesn’t need to be complicated. From quick test strips to advanced digital photometers, there are solutions designed for everyone from home baristas to professional roasteries.
Test strips offer fast, affordable screening of key parameters, making them ideal for daily café checks or espresso machine maintenance. More advanced digital systems provide high-accuracy measurements, automatic calculations, and app-based data tracking for full water profiling.
With the right testing tools, coffee professionals can verify water quality, troubleshoot flavor issues, protect equipment, and maintain the perfect brewing environment every day.
