Water for coffee, like the coffee itself, is a seemingly simple thing filled with immense complexity. For some, using any old water to brew any old coffee is fine (and spoiler alert: it is fine), but for other willing to dive down the rabbit hole, things get a little more complicated. Regular old tap water can have any number of minerals at unknown levels. On the other hand, Purified water, while good, is devoid of all mineral content and thus not optimal either. The answer is somewhere in the middle.
For the home user, who is generally unwilling to spend a few thousand on a reverse osmosis water system, the options are somewhat limited. There are books, mineral tablets, and purification systems, all designed to allow users to get the most out of their water with varying level of success. Enter Skuma (stylized Sküma), the countertop reverse osmosis and remineralization system seeking to deliver optimized water for coffee brewing at a fraction of the cost of a traditional RO system. And it’s live on Indiegogo now!
Per the campaign, Skuma works like traditional reverse osmosis system. Water is passed through a sediment filter, a carbon filter, and a reverse osmosis membrane, which Skuma has combined into one single, multi-stage filter instead of the three normally used by RO systems. After the water has been purified, it then gets remineralized to 150ppm—the ideal mineral content per the SCA—using a magnesium and potassium concentrate derived from the Great Salt Lake. And voila, you’ve got brew-ready water at the touch of a button.
Skuma also touts a highly efficient reverse osmosis process. Per the campaign, whereas traditional systems produce four liters of waste water for every one liter of RO water, the Skuma turns that equation on its head, creating only one liter of waste water for every four liters of RO water, which is “suitable for your plants and garden.” Filters have a life expectancy of 10-12 months, with the mineral bottles creating 250L of optimal brewing water.
The countertop system allows users to dispense both reverse osmosis and remineralized water at one of four temperatures: 50°C (122°F), 75°C (167°F), 85°C (185°F), and 95°C (203°F).
Going live today on Indiegogo, the campaign has already achieved over half of its $20,400 flex goal (meaning it’ll get funded regardless of where or not it makes it fully). The first 50 would-be backers are able to get a Skuma water system of their own—with filter and mineral concentrate—for just £179 ($245) as part of the Super Early Bird special, 40% off the $408 MSRP. After that, go up to £199 ($270) for the next 150 and then to £229 ($315). For more information, visit Skuma’s official website, and to back the campaign, visit their Indiegogo page.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
