nathanscupofcoffee Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2012 Posts: 6 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Fri Jun 22, 2012, 6:13pm Subject: Help me fix my cup of coffee :( - IT'S FIXED!! :D
What's up guys? First time poster (hopefully I'm posting this in the right section - and hopefully this question isn't overly redundant!)
Lately, my coffee just sucks...
I've been making coffee at home for a while using a Melitta and a regular electric kettle. I was getting a "good" cup of coffee but I wanted to step it up a bit and see if I could do a little better. I got a Hario V60 dripper (size 2) and a Hario Kettle. I'm using a Kyocera manual burr grinder. Something changed though... because all of the sudden, I'm unable to get even a decent cup out of this. In fact, it's so bad that I can't drink it :( It has a weird sort of bitter ash-like taste. Right now I'm trying to brew a cup of coffee that's about 12 to 14oz. I'm using ~22 grams of coffee ground to about medium or medium-fine. The beans are fresh from a local place. Water is filtered and brought to about 200-205 degrees. I rinse the paper filter first, and then I'll usually poke a small divot into the grounds with my finger. I start blooming the coffee by covering the grounds with a layer of water and letting it sit and bloom for 30 to 40 seconds. Then I'll go in there and make a clock-wise pour slowly from the center, stop, and repeat a couple times until the cup is about 12oz full or so. Every time the coffee is freaking nasty. I've been trying for over a week. Tried different ground settings (from coarse down to as fine as possible), and I've tried different amounts. Right now, I'm just using some recommended setting but I'm still not getting it... so, is there something that I'm neglecting? I doubt that it's something small, because the results are too horrible. :/ The grinder is my most likely suspect but only by process of elimination. The grind seems to look pretty uniform and fine.
Any tips or insight? Pleeaase - I want to have a good cup of coffee again in the morning. :)
Posted Fri Jun 22, 2012, 9:23pm Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
The bitters make me think that you're letting the coffee overextract, but if you've already tried to grind a bit coarser, then I dont know what to tell you. It sounds like you're doing it all pretty by the book. The only thing you didn't mention is how long your brew time is. It should be around 2-2:30min, adjusted to taste. Maybe try a slow consistent pour, without stopping, aiming for that brew time.
nathanscupofcoffee Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2012 Posts: 6 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Fri Jun 22, 2012, 11:43pm Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
Thanks for the replies. I feel like I was getting a better cup with the Melitta when I used less coffee and a finer grind - but I was also using a blade grinder then, and I wanted to do better. Inadvertently I've been doing much worse. I think the taste I'm getting might be more like "flat" than it is bitter... it's hard to describe, but it has this really ashy, lifeless taste, and the body feels a tad heavy. Hmmm I think I'll try a finer grind again. Maybe my technique wasn't right last time. I'm using two level Hario scoops, which are supposed to be approx 10 grams each. Most people I've talked to see to recommend between 20 and 25 grams for a 12 oz serving. I'll try timing my brew tomorrow and report back.
Posted Sat Jun 23, 2012, 4:51am Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
If I were you I'd switch back to the Melitta and see how you go. The Hario V60s are very popular though I'm not convinced they are the most consistent or easiest to use especially for single cup. Too easy to go wrong with only a small variation in technique.
I like the idea of ceramic more than the idea of the Hario cones. Single hole Bonmac might be worth considering assuming the Melitta produces a good cup using your current grinder etc.
If the Melitta makes a better cup for you I don't see the point of using the Hario, nor do I think the Hario is inherently capable of making a better cup than the Melitta.
nathanscupofcoffee Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2012 Posts: 6 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Sat Jun 23, 2012, 9:38am Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
I tried again twice this morning -- going to try once more. 20 grams both times, tried a finer grind and timed it. Should the brew time include the pre-infusion and blooming? or am I supposed to start timing it after the 30-45 second bloom is done? I timed the whole thing and got about 2 min and 30 seconds including the bloom period. The grind was about "table salt" fine, but not near espresso fine. I did a slow continuous pour. Not really that bitter this time, but again zero flavor and hard to drink. :/ I'm going to switch back to the Melitta soon if I can't get this right. I've always gotten my coffee from Cafecito Organico in Los Angeles, and it has always been amazing - so I can't imagine that it's the coffee... ugh, this is getting frustrating.
Posted Sat Jun 23, 2012, 11:17am Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
could be the coffee.
the last bag of beans that i got from intelligentsia were terrible. ugh.
see what the same coffee tastes like out of the melitta using the same technique you were using before.
also a tip about the v60 that really helped me was to make sure to use enough water during the preinfusion. after i started weighing my water(during brewing), my cup improved noticeably. intelligentsia has a good starting guide for v60 http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/brewing-guides
nathanscupofcoffee Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2012 Posts: 6 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Sat Jun 23, 2012, 3:02pm Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
I tried the Melitta again this morning - crap. Undrinkable. Just to be sure I bought a small bag of Stumptown beans (Costa Rican) from a place downtown. Ground them at home and got the same results... really acrid tasting, flat, and sort of stale. The roasting date is about 4 days old, so this shouldn't be happening. I inspected the grounds carefully and noticed a lot of inconsistency. Lots of powder, along with the larger chunks. I took the remaining whole beans that I got from Cafecito back and had them grind it for pour-over. Brought them back and went through the process again. The grounds were much more consistent from the coffee shop's burr grinder. This seems to have improved my cup of coffee, but just marginally so. The same taste still lingers in the cup. Honestly, it's still not satisfying. At this point I am stumped. (??) But I guess my grinder is borked anyways...
The guys who sold me the Stumptown beans recommended 28 grams of coffee for my 12 oz cup... sounds like a lot - I'm still using around 22.
I tried timing it as well - about 2 minutes from the start of the pre-infusion to the end of the brew. Seems too fast, and am I shooting for around 3 minutes total? or 3 minutes after bloom?
Posted Sat Jun 23, 2012, 6:04pm Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
I'm using about 25-28g, about a 45s pre-infusion and a 2-2:30 brew after the pre-infusion. I "stop the time" once the drips slow to about 1 every 2s or so. But it sounds like it's the coffee. A couple grams or a few seconds of brew or a few clicks in the grind isn't going to be the difference between awesome and undrinkable. If it's undrinkable, and you're doing it mostly right, it's probably just the coffee.
Posted Sat Jun 23, 2012, 6:08pm Subject: Re: Help me fix my cup of coffee :(
im guessing that the shop updoses and grinds accordingly(coarser) to get a properly extracted and faster cup of coffee.
if you want to use less coffee, just grind finer and let it extract longer. ultimately it'll be up to you to dial in what you prefer.
if you had cafecito grind all your beans for you, you can expect your coffee to start going stale very quickly. That first cup after they ground the beans will probably be the best from those beans.
personally, i start my timer from when water first hits the grinds. Some bean newer beans i let bloom/preinfuse longer and i'll keep that in mind when i observe the final time.
try grinding finer, those hand grinders usually do a much better job at the finer settings than coarse.
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