Can you make distilled water with a coffee maker?

Did you know that 75% of our body is just water and guess what we need good water to live.

Did you know that 97% of a cup of coffee is just water? So, to brew a top-quality cup of water you need good quality water purification that isn’t hard with many minerals. Can you make distilled water with a coffee maker?

Let’s examine if this idea is doable and how easy it is to go about it.

Can you really purify water by distilling it with a coffee maker? 

The short answer is no; coffee makers just heat water up to around 96 °C (205F) whereas water needs to be boiled (100°C or 212F) in order to be distilled. The good news is that you can purify water using a water distiller that’s specifically designed for this job. It’s easy to find them online, their price range is from $65 to $300, and although they seem to be pricey owning one of them is worth the investment if you want to drink nothing but top-quality coffee.

Interesting facts about distilled water

Let’s go over some interesting facts about distilled water:

• Distilled water is water in its purest form without any contaminants or minerals.
• Coffee makers are designed in a way that can’t distil water, since the water isn’t boiled.
• Distilled water is low in sodium and it’s ideal if you’re on a low-sodium diet.
• Distilled water is often used for ironing and lab experiments mainly for medical purposes.
• Some claim that drinking distilled water isn’t good for you as it doesn’t contain any minerals

Why do coffee makers just heat water and not boil it? 

The National Coffee Association (NCA) states that the ideal temperature to brew coffee is between 90.5 (195F) and 96.1 (205F), if brewing exceeds this temperature range, odds are your coffee will taste bitter. 

Plus, to create coffee makers that are safe to use and be certified with the SCA golden cup (confirms that a coffee maker meets all the requirements to safely be use and brew great coffee), manufacturers don’t exceed this limit.

Even espresso machines a Moka pots aren’t designed to boil water, but to heat it enough to make espresso. 

Do coffee makers distil water?

Because distilling water practically means boiling water, coffee makers can’t distil and purify water as they only heat it. 

As mentioned above water distillers are the best gadgets for that job, and they’re pretty handy to have; you need to drink more than 2 lt of water a day, so if you purchase one, you’re going to be using it quite often. 

Here are three great makes that are great performers and all three have some unique features: 

Mophorn Pure Water Distiller 750W

Mophorn is a powerful water distiller that purifies water and takes out all the excess of minerals in it, great if you live in an area where the water contains a lot of metals. It’s ideal for homes, dental clinics and offices. It’s simple to use and you can start it by pressing a button. When the temperature of the water in the container exceeds 115℃ (239℉), the machine automatically shuts down to ensure it’s not damaged due to high temperature. 

Features: 

• Make: Mophorn
• Container capacity:  4L/1.1 gallon
• Weight: 9.3 pounds (4.2kg)
• Colour: White
• Material: stainless steel
• Power source type: corded electric
• Wattage: 750
• Price: $64.98

To check it out click here

JOMWECL 1.1 Gallon Water Distiller Machine

JOMWECL is a top water distiller, holder of a number of international certification including FCC, PoHS CE that ensure that it’s efficient and safe to use. All the materials used for manufacturing it are FOOD-GRADE and all buttons are SPLASH PROOF. It’s easy to use and maintain it, cleaning the inside of the container after every use is going to prolong its lifespan. 

Features: 

• Make: JOMWECL
• Container capacity:  4L/1.1 gallon
• Colour: White
• Material: stainless steel and plastic
• Purification method: distilation
• Wattage: 750
• Price: $95.99

To check it out click here

Bluevua RO100ROPOT Reverse Osmosis System

Α great water distiller easy to use without needing to install it or plumbing. It’s eco-friendly since you it turns into power saving mode when not in use. The filter lasts between 12-24 months distilling excellent water so you won’t spend more on filter every other month. It comes with one-year warranty and on top of that technical support is also provided by Bluevua. It’s a portable device.

Features: 

• Make: Bluevua
• Container capacity:  1.7 L/0.45 gallon
• Colour: White
• Incuding components: User guide, RO water system with PP, PCF filters, CTO, High borosilicate glass carafe, RO, Cleaning brush, Power adapter.
• Stages of purification: 4
• Material: Borosilicate Glass
• Price: $299

To check it out click here

Two ways on how to purify water with a coffee maker

As already mentioned, you can’t distil water with a coffee maker, but you can make water purer with the use of a coffee maker. Let’s have a look at these two methods:

• If you own an Aeropress coffee brewer, you’ll find it easy to purify water. First, use a kettle to boil the water (it’s good to be aware of the right Aeropress water temperature), then pour it into the water container of your brewer, give it around 30 seconds to steep and you’re good to go.
• You can use a pour over coffee-maker to purify water; ideally you need to add a brown paper filter to your brewer for better results. Just pour your water over and let it work its magic for a couple of minutes.

How to stop bacteria from your coffee maker?

Let’s go over a bunch of tips and tricks on how to keep bacteria at bay. 

• I know it’s boring, but the most obvious way to keep your coffee maker clean is to give it a wash; ideally it’s good to get on with the cleaning (using espresso machine cleaning tablets) right after each brew, but well… who does that? I do it every third brew, so it’s not too much work and at the same time I manage to keep my brewer bacteria-free. I also give the inside a good clean now and again with water and vinegar because germs and coffee lipids build up in the coffee maker, forcing the machine to work harder to brew.
• Who wants to get a bacterial infection spending days in bed taking medication and feeling miserable? Using filtered or bottled water keeps you on the safe side. Plus, your coffee will taste just right, as water rich in too many minerals sometimes can give our cup of joe an unusual taste.
• It’s equally vital to keep your kitchen clean and tidy as much as possible; bacteria tend to spread rapidly around. I know, no one likes cleaning, but it’s a necessary evil to keep ensure your coffee maker is safe to use without causing you any infections.
• You’ve probably found out the importance of this tip during the pandemic, but it’s worth going through it. It’s wise to ‘wash your hands’, especially before brewing as you already know you pass on bacteria to anyone or any surface you touch. 

FAQs 

Let’s go over some burning questions on the topic. No suggestions on cleaning your brewer and kitchen are going to be discussed (I promise).

What can I replace distilled water with?

There are different alternatives to distilled water, it depends on the situation: 

For making coffee	Bottled or filtered coffee
For baby formula	Cooled water
For drinking	Tap water or bottled water
For ironing	Deminerilased

Why do coffee brewers heat water fast?

The reason the heat up so fast is to be able to brew coffee in a matter of seconds. In general, there are two different ways coffee manufacturers have figured out to  make their machine heat up water in no time: 

• The first is when a coffee machine heats the water right before the brewing starts; the water in the reservoir passes through the carafe, and because the amount of water is small each time, it’s heated quickly. 
• The second way that’s adopted by Nespresso is when the coffee machine keeps on heating up the water so you can have hot water ready for your coffee any time throughout the day. 

The duration also varies depending on the type of each coffee machine: 

Single serve coffee maker	30 sec – 5 min
Keurig machine	30 sec – 2 min
Drip coffee brewer	2-10 min
Espresso coffee machine	15 sec – 2 min
Nespresso	15 sec – 1min

Let’s Wrap it up

Water is essential for many things, you can purchase a distiller and drink great-quality water. It’s a worthwhile investment. But it doesn’t sound like a good idea to distil water to shower. Too much of a hassle, don’t you think? Do you know how to use a Haus Maid coffee maker? You can also read our guide on how to thoroughly clean an espresso brewer with vinegar.