Look, I love a good shortcut as much as the next person. I’ve told myself that leaving the milk out is “pre-warming” it. But boiling tap water to get distilled water is like taking a shower in the rain and calling yourself a deep-sea diver. Same element, wildly different process. Sarah eventually bought a gallon of distilled water for her machine, and her espresso now tastes like victory.
So next time someone tells you they “make distilled water by boiling,” you can smile politely and know the truth. Boiling = sanitizing. Distilling = purifying. They’re not the same, even if your kettle does a good impression. And please, for the love of all that is caffeinated, don’t put boiled tap water in your espresso machine. Your machine—and your taste buds—will thank you later.
(Also, if you see limescale in your kettle, that’s your water’s mineral footprint. It’s not a ghost. It’s just calcium showing off.)
