InstructionsPowering up your first coffee
Purchased a packet of magical minerals and ready to make your first potion?
Let's get you brewing! But first, there's a few key things to note:
- You need to use pure water as a base. Water from reverse osmosis (RO) systems is the most common and affordable water to use. Do not use tap water.
- Our potion colouring is safe and just for looks, it won't affect taste.
- For more detailed instructions and Potion Lab info, see our knowledgebase.
Right! Let's make some magic!
Where can I get suitable water?
As we mentioned above, it's important that you use pure water for making magic potions. So, where can you get it? Thankfully there's many sources in Thailand.
- Use a home reverse osmosis (RO) system. Arguably the easiest and most convenient, but you need such a filter system. You can get affordable systems from distributors like SafetyDrink.
- Sprinkle — this well-known delivery service is actually selling you RO water.
- Bottled water from Crystal or the 7-11 green brand. It's all RO!
Mixing potion powders
There are two approaches to making potion mixes:
- Dissolve all the powder in a 5 litre container
- Make a 1 litre master potion , then use that to make other 1 litre potions
Not everyone has a convenient 5 litre container sitting around, and the 1 litre bottles can be more convenient to pour from.
Using a 5 litre container
Pour the packet of powder into 5 litres of RO water. If you bought a 7-11 6 L bottle, you could use this (just be sure to weigh out only 5 kg).
Get all the powder out of the packet - you can rinse it with a little bit of RO water to assist. Shake it every few minutes to help dissolve the powder.
Check it visually. Can you see floating flakes of powder? If so, leave it longer.
As our powders age, less soluble compounds can form in the packet and these take longer to dissolve. After an hour or so it should be fine.
Using two 1 litre containers
This approach is more practical for many people.
Zero a set of scales with your bottle on top, then add a little bit of RO water. Add the powder to it, and rinse any remaining powder out of the packet.
Now fill the bottle up to 1000 g / 1 litre and mix thoroughly. Check visually that there is no floating powder particles. If there are, shake it every 5 min or so until it looks clear. It will take a bit longer to fully dissolve vs a 5 L mix.
It's very important to wait until everything is completely dissolved.
This is now your master potion.
Now, accurately weigh 200 g of this potion into another bottle, then fill that up to 1000 g, making a 1-in-5 dilution.
The second bottle is now your brew potion and is ready to go, with no need to wait!
Brewing coffee with potions
We're not here to teach you the ins-and-outs of brewing coffee, but there's certainly some things to be aware of as a newly adorned water wizard.
- When first using a potion, try to keep all other variables constant. The water can have a big effect, so try not to vary other parts of your brewing. Once you find the potion variety you like for a particular situation, you can tweak other things.
- If you drink coffee black, we would recommend our Bloom, Silk and Amber mixes. Other mixes will likely be too intense. Amber will reduce acidity a lot compared to Bloom and Silk.
- If you drink coffee with milk, we would recommend our Amber, Intensity and Dark Elixir mixes. These make a more intense brew (which counters the dilution by milk), and have higher acid buffer. Milk + acidity don't work so well.
- Ignore things you have read about TDS and "goal ranges" or "don't go above X TDS". Just focus on taste and the results you want. If you use a TDS pen, use it to check potion consistency over time. Note these measuring devices are sensitive to temperature, so don't compare the TDS of water out of your fridge vs room temperature water from an RO filter.
If you'd like to learn more about the science behind our potions and what we have learned along the way, check out our knowledgebase.
Frequently asked questions
Questioning the magic? See our FAQs below. If you have further questions, reach out via our Facebook chat.
How does Magic Potion work?
Our core product is mineral mixes. These contain magnesium, calcium and sodium salts that when mixed with pure water, provide an ideal balance of mineral content and acid buffer for brewing coffee.
What do I need to use these powders?
Simple – you just need reverse osmosis (RO) water. You must use pure water as a base. Many people have RO systems at home and several water suppliers actually sell you RO water (Sprinkle, Crystal, 7-11 brand water). Besides this, you will need either a 5 litre container, or two 1 litre containers for doing mixing.
How long will the powders last?
Because of the salts involved, powders will often get a bit clumpy over time. When older, it will take a bit more time and vigorous shaking to dissolve fully. So, we recommend ordering no more than a month worth and getting fresh powders regularly. Not much we can do about this, the chemistry is what it is.
What kind of coffee can I brew with this water?
Anything! All coffee benefits from good water. However, it will generally be easier with immersion and filter brew methods where its easy to use different water (i.e. you boil a kettle). For espresso machines, you would need to use their internal reservoir and manually fill it – which can be a hassle.
I notice the potions are coloured – what is in them and is it safe?
To make things more exciting, we add a dash of colouring. We only use very safe colouring agents and add a tiny amount – a fraction of what you would find in a simple sports drink. It is such a small amount that it has no impact on taste or brewing.
I do not have RO water – can you deliver pre-mixed solutions?
We are working on this – the challenge is its quite expensive to ship 5-10 kg containers and we would need to charge shipping (e.g. GrabExpress) and for a plastic container. But yes, we can probably do this, and hopefully you'd be able to return the containers too.
How exactly does Potion Lab work?
Potion Lab is a patent-pending design created to allow mixing bespoke solutions from stock mineral sources. It's simple to use and with our calculator tools, allows you to create different mixtures in seconds for your own testing. It's a lot more accurate and consistent than dissolving powders and gives you flexibility. However, it's a much larger investment and they are currently in development, so we have limited availability.
What minerals do I need for the Potion Lab?
We provide everything including the bottles. When you run low on stock solutions, you can purchase refills of each mineral from us – we pre-weigh the exact amount you need to add to a full bottle to give the expected concentration. We ensure the salts we sources are of high purity, safety, and from reliable suppliers.
How can I better understand the chemistry behind all this?
Visit our docs page to learn more. Our founder has a PhD in chemistry and has gone to great lengths to experiment, learn and articulate how the mineral chemistry affects coffee brewing (which can be very hard to understand without the right background). We are also considering future seminars and workshops dedicated to using Potion Lab and mastering water chemistry for coffee.