What Does Coffee Brewed with Coconut Water Taste Like?

 The world of coffee never lacks innovation. We’re constantly seeing new and creative combinations made from familiar ingredients. Take coffee and coconut, for instance — this pairing alone can produce countless variations: coconut water + espresso becomes a refreshing coconut Americano; thick coconut milk + espresso makes a creamy coconut latte; and coconut + cold brew creates a tropical iced drink. All of these drinks take simple ingredients and layer them into something new and interesting.

But just yesterday, I stumbled upon another “experimental” crossover — brewing coffee with coconut water. And no, I don’t mean adding coconut water to already brewed coffee, nor using it to mix with instant or freeze-dried coffee. I mean replacing regular brewing water entirely with coconut water when making pour-over coffee.

At first, I frowned at the idea — it sounded a little crazy. But then I thought, if we can boil chicken in coconut water for soup, why not brew coffee with it? Plus, some experienced coffee lovers have given it surprisingly positive reviews. So today, I decided to test it myself.


Preparing the Ingredients

A cup of pour-over coffee is over 98% water, so the water you use plays a major role in determining its final flavor. The same goes for coconut water. I chose fresh young coconuts because their juice is abundant and naturally rich in amino acids, vitamins, and minerals — not to mention it has a sweet, fragrant aroma. Of course, if you want convenience, boxed coconut water will do just fine.

Since coconut water has a distinct sweetness and aroma, I think it pairs best with beans that aren’t roasted too dark or too light. Dark roasts would overpower the delicate coconut notes, while very light roasts tend to be too acidic and may clash with the coconut flavor.

From my bean collection, options like Sidamo Alo, Flower Queen, Strawberry Candy, Tarrazu, Diamond Mountain (Finca Esmeralda), or Geisha Village Chaka all fit the bill. For today’s test, I went with Sidamo Alo — a naturally processed, medium-light roast known for its notes of magnolia, mango, orange, and strawberry.

Ingredients:

  • 3 fresh coconuts

  • A heat source

  • 15g Sidamo Alo coffee beans

From past experience, if you want the fruitiness and coffee flavors to balance, you have to control the brew strength. Too concentrated, and the coffee overwhelms the coconut. So I set the coffee-to-water ratio to 1:16 and divided the total water volume into four pours to optimize flavor extraction.

Brew parameters:

  • Coffee: 15g

  • Ratio: 1:16

  • Water temperature: 91–92°C (195–198°F)

  • Grind size: EK43s – 10 clicks / C40 – 24 clicks (≈80% passing through a 20-mesh sieve)

  • Dripper: V60

  • Pouring method: four stages


Brewing Steps

  1. Open the coconuts and pour all the juice into a kettle. Heat until just below boiling, then let it cool to 91–92°C.

  2. Grind 15g of coffee to a fine sugar-like texture and pour it into a pre-wet filter, flattening the surface gently.

  • Bloom: Start with a 30g circular pour and let it bloom for 30 seconds. A faint coconut aroma will rise.

  • Second pour: Add 90g of hot coconut water in a larger circular motion, reaching 120g total on the scale.

  • Once the coconut water almost drains and the coffee bed is visible (around 55 seconds to 1:05), do the third pour with 60g using a gentle, smaller pour.

  • After that drains, finish with a final 60g pour directly in the center. The total brew time should be around 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

The coffee brewed with coconut water looked slightly cloudy. The aroma was a mix of coconut sugar and roasted coffee. The first sip didn’t taste like coffee at all — more like warm coconut broth with a hint of saltiness, likely from the minerals reacting to heat. After a few sips, the Sidamo Alo notes began to appear: orange, pineapple, peach — but all faint, blurred by the dominant coconut flavor. The result? A cup that tastes more like “coconut-flavored coffee” than coffee with a coconut twist.


Iced Coconut Water Pour-Over

Since I was already at it, I decided to try an iced version too. The parameters were similar to my usual café setup:

Ingredients:

  • 15g Sidamo Alo coffee beans

  • Ratio: 1:10

  • 75g ice cubes

  • Water temperature: 91–92°C (195–198°F)

  • Grind size: EK43s – 9.5 clicks / C40 – 22 clicks (≈82% passing through a 20-mesh sieve)

  • Dripper: V60

  • Pouring method: three stages

Steps:

  1. Put 75g of ice into the server.

  2. Add the ground coffee to the filter.

  3. Pour 30g of coconut water in small circles to bloom for 30 seconds.

  4. Add 60g more using the same gentle motion — don’t pour too hard or you’ll break the coffee bed.

  5. When the coffee almost finishes dripping, pour the remaining 60g of coconut water. Aim for a total brew time of about 1:50–2:00 minutes.

To be honest, the iced version didn’t have any significant flavor advantage either. It tasted mostly of young coconut, citrus sweetness, and a slight black-tea-like note. But thanks to the ice, it was crisp and refreshing — perfect for warm weather, like here in southern China where people are still wearing short sleeves.


Final Thoughts

After two rounds of testing, I’d say brewing coffee with coconut water is a fun experiment, but not something I’d make a habit of. The flavor is interesting but far from balanced. If you’re chasing novelty, it’s worth trying once or twice. But if you’re after pure coffee flavor, it’s really not worth buying coconuts or heating coconut water just to make pour-over coffee — especially since it doesn’t yield great results and cleaning your kettle afterward is a real pain.

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