weeks tasting the finest roasts known to humanity. And you've put your team through barista boot camp - there's no danger of crusty steam wands or lacklustre portafilter technique.

You'd be forgiven for thinking everything's just peachy, right? Wrong. Water quality is one of the hottest topics around- hardly surprising given the wet stuff accounts for around 98.5 percent of your cup's contents.

What can go wrong? Well, the minerals in water can play havoc with extraction - too many and the coffee grounds won't dissolve properly. Too few, and the water won't easily penetrate the grounds - and that means under-extraction.

Your water's alkalinity is also a big determining factor. Too high, and you risk getting a gummy layer on top of the coffee grounds. This tastes as good as it sounds, and causes under-extraction. Water pH level should be between 6.8 and 7.3. Then there's chlorination - or to put it another way, latte with a splash of bleach.

So what to do? Don't jump in and buy the latest whiz-bang carbon filtration or reverse-osmosis system without doing some homework. It can be an expensive venture - and it's easy to get it wrong. The best bet? Get advice from your Matthew Algie Account Manager and their portable water quality testing kit.

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