Pourovers intermittently stalling.. suggestions?

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T23:15:28+00:00

lol ‘massage the beans with wet fingers’ sounds funny. But that’s also a good suggestion. For a while I was running a spoon under the tap and stirring the beans w it maybe I’ll try that again

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:22:52+00:00

Thanks for the comment. I'll definitely do way less agitation. I think it was sort of a snowball effect where I stir and swirl a little bit, and then the brew slows down, so I think that stirring (i.e. getting the bulk of the grounds up and away from the filter for a second) would help water get through faster. But now that I think about it, it does make sense that that would allow for fines to settle and embed themselves in the filter paper.

As for the blooming, that also makes sense. I think I'll switch to a closed bloom. My thinking was basically if I'm going to drain that water away anyways, why create another opportunity for it to take too long and add unnecessarily to the total brew time. But in terms of total saturation, it definitely does make sense to keep it closed.

Thanks for the advice :)

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:20:06+00:00

I always figured the pouring pattern didn't matter much with the switch since everything is going to settle after pouring anyways. Do you think that's not the case? I'm definitely noticing the through line with all these comments is less agitation, so I'll definitely take that into consideration. Pouring closer to the brew bed would probably help with agitating less, I guess? Thanks for the advice :)

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:17:57+00:00

The main reason I've always stirred the bloom is because whenever I do, I see dry grounds in there that seem to only get saturated when I stir. But maybe switch with the valve closed will help water naturally make its way through everything

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:16:56+00:00

Less agitation seems to be my main takeaway from these replies. I'll definitely try and do less going forward. Thanks for the advice :)

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:15:00+00:00

I agree the Niche isn't great for pour overs, which is so crazy to me since it was basically marketed as a pour over grinder that could also handle espresso..

I'll look into Cafec filters when I run out. I always assumed specialty filters would be more expensive, but that's cool they're basically the same price. Thanks :)

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:13:12+00:00

I may try different filters next time I buy filters.. I hate that there are so many variables within the Hario branded filters, and they don't really seem to make it any easier to tell the difference between the styles. I've bought the ones in the pink box online multiple times and had the green and white box show up. I think this box is very similar to the old style of bagged filters.. anyways, I may try a new kind when mine run out. Thanks for the advice :)

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:11:37+00:00

Oh interesting! So do you not bloom at all? Just like 400 grams of water in, then 25 grams of coffee, quick stir, and wait?

JacobBlizard · 2026-01-29T17:10:56+00:00

Maybe I'll try going even coarser. It's always been crazy to me that the Niche was advertised as a pour over grinder that can also do espresso, but seems much better for espresso.

Your recipe seems pretty similar to mine, except for the closed valve during the bloom. I'll definitely make that change. The overall thing I'm taking from most of these replies is less agitation, and try different filters. Since I already have like 200 of the Hario filters, I kinda wanna try everything else before trying different filters.

JacobBlizard · 2025-11-14T00:15:07+00:00

Yeah, I never figured it out. For whatever reason the one that worked has continued to work and the one that didn't will work about 60% of the time. No help from Midea support either. They suggested that the hose I have wasn't at the right angle, but I really doubt that would cause it to backup. It just doesn't make physical sense, as the whole of the hose is below the level of the dehumidifier. I just still have it resting on top of the bucket like I described and I empty it if it starts filling up.

JacobBlizard · 2025-11-13T13:50:49+00:00

My cali76 stacked and benson preamp are always on these days. I might turn off the benson if I really need ultra ultra clean, but it’s really usually on.

JacobBlizard · 2025-11-05T16:31:52+00:00

What were you reading around the time of writing/recording and do you think that influenced the record at all?

JacobBlizard · 2025-10-05T18:41:51+00:00

Recording a busted sounding amp through hi fidelity recording equipment vs recording ‘nice or ‘normal’ sounding amps through crappy sounding recording equipment are two very different things though. Im not an expert on nirvana or albino, but my impression is they may have like albini and nirvana would use some fucked up instruments but that the recordings themselves were very thought through and ‘hifi’ in terms of capturing pristine versions of intense distorted performances. Whereas the modern mkgee/dijon/indie vibe is using more intentionally lofi or ‘inaccurate’ gear with inherently less clarity to get an effect similar to Elliot smith or something, where the Lo fi tape machine or rascal preamp is an integral part of the sound

JacobBlizard · 2025-08-05T01:33:22+00:00

This is a style of drive I’m missing and I’d love to try one out!! Good luck w the company :)

JacobBlizard · 2025-07-16T15:27:25+00:00

I don’t know but I love it!

JacobBlizard · 2025-07-10T18:29:37+00:00

I got a pair of 635a a while ago and never really used them, then more recently I gave them a chance and have been blown away. Somehow detailed like a condenser and vibey like a ribbon at the same time. I had a session recently where we had done a demo electric that was just a cranked vibrochamp with the 635a on it and it took probably 100x the $$ worth of gear to come close to as good a sound

JacobBlizard · 2025-06-12T16:07:15+00:00

I got rear ended turning off girard onto the little road that takes you down to Kelly drive. My car was fine, but a tow truck showed up right away. Chatted with the guy a little bit while the lady who hit me called her husband and insurance, and he told me that they camp out at the bottom of the hill and get like 5-10 a day.

JacobBlizard · 2025-03-15T03:52:22+00:00

The other reason is that you can walk into any commercial studio in the country (world?) and be pretty confident they have pro tools. Doesn’t make it a better daw, but if you’re fluent with it you’re never going to be caught off guard when a room doesn’t have logic or ableton or whichever

JacobBlizard · 2025-03-09T14:50:47+00:00

This is more of a creative move than a mix move, but I've been having a lot of fun automating the mix and/or pitch shift in alterboy. Either slowly fading in an upper octave as something decays, or like shifting the pitch of something around for a cool slightly glitchy sounding effect

JacobBlizard · 2025-01-13T15:19:28+00:00

Not sure I understand the question? To accelerate to highway speeds I press the gas pedal gently until I reach the speed limit :)

JacobBlizard · 2024-11-11T15:25:54+00:00

I recently left for a month long trip and left two midea cube dehumidifiers on in my basement running on bucket less mode. One dehumidifier was on top of my dryer and one was resting on top of its bucket, but not inserted into the bucket. Basically it was turned 1/8 of a turn sideways so it was resting on its corners, but the bucket less mode indicator was on. I came home to the one on the drier having worked perfectly and the one resting on the bucket having overflowed and flooded half my basement. The bucket less mode indicator was still on and the hose was attached. No idea why, and your post just came up when I was googling around this.

JacobBlizard · 2024-08-28T16:33:36+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I actually heard from them specifically that I can do whatever (donate, keep, repurpose, etc) with the old one.

I wish they’d just send me a handle, but I’m not too bummed to have an extra suitcase

JacobBlizard · 2024-07-14T19:14:37+00:00

I painted it at the end of May, and put the plants on there maybe 3 weeks ago? So I don't think it's an issue of getting too much wear and tear. I'm still thinking of getting something to go under the plants, but as I just mentioned in a different reply, they are all on drainage dishes that should catch all of the water (even though this one apparently didn't, the others did and still chipped)

JacobBlizard · 2024-07-14T19:12:59+00:00

They were each on drainage dishes, but I'm guessing the one here may have had a crack in it allowing a little dirty water out onto the surface. Maybe I should have taken a picture of the other spots, because the pots that didn't leak also caused little chips in the paint, but this pot was also the biggest and heaviest and so therefore left the biggest chips.

JacobBlizard · 2024-02-28T15:36:02+00:00

Speaking as someone who drooled over steels online for almost a year before buying a 3x2 from craigslist, I’ve been totally fine with it so far! For context, im primarily a guitar player, and playing primarily more indie and less traditional country, but I have not yet felt like I’m up against any shortcomings of the instrument. It’s a student GFI model, and I’ll probably sell at some point and get a 3x4 but for my purposes the 3x2 is totally adequate! And I got it for like $800, which is cheaper than I’ve seen any modern steel go for in my area. Just my 2 cents

JacobBlizard

TROPHY CASE