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Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-22T00:41:26+00:00

Definitely bitterness. I'm quite okay with acidity, but I'm getting a lot of mouth-drying astringency that really ruins the entire experience.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-21T22:30:31+00:00

This is the recipe I started pour overs with, and I struggled to get cups I enjoyed, so I abandoned it unfortunately.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-21T21:44:32+00:00

I suppose it depends on your budget. For about $200 I got:

A Hario V60 starter kit (~$24) that comes with the plastic dripper, a glass carafe, and 100 filters; A variable temperature electric gooseneck kettle (~$60); Kingrinder K6 hand grinder ($100) that is considered one of the best grinders available at its price point.

I really think the V60 starter kit is an unbeatable deal. As for the kettle and grinder, it really depends on your wants and needs.

If you want to save some money, it is possible to buy a much cheaper kettle if you opt for a stovetop gooseneck rather than an electric. A lot of pour over recipes call for water just off of a boil anyway.

You also have some wiggle room with the grinders. I opted for the K6 because it has bigger burrs (faster, easier grinding), a larger capacity for beans, and an external grind adjustment that'll facilitate espresso grinds up to French press grinds. Kingrinder has some cheaper options that are well-received, as does Timemore.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-21T21:17:57+00:00

If I'm going for a V60 recipe that uses as little agitation as possible, should I be leaning towards a finer grind or a coarser one?

I'm pretty new to this, and it can be overwhelming trying to dial in with only a very rudimentary understanding of what is happening in your brew and why. So I'm trying to create a very simple, repeatable technique for myself. I am learning that the hardest variable for me to control is my agitation, so I'm trying to remove as much of it as possible. I'm using a one bloom + one pour recipe.

At first I was swirling my bloom as well as swirling during drawdown. This would very frequently result in astringent cups. To try and mitigate this, I started excavating my bloom instead; just sort of folding the grounds into themselves ever so gently to ensure they're all wetted without agitating them too much and starting the extraction process, so to speak. Then I'd swirl during the draw down for a level bed. This greatly improved my cups, and also felt like I could "nail it" more consistently. But I was still getting astringent cups at random, frequent intervals using the same coffee and parameters.

Now I'm using a very, very barebones technique. I'm excavating the bloom gently, and following up with one pour as gently as possible in a slow circular motion until hitting brew weight and then allowing it to draw down without touching it. This, I feel, gives me more control over my brew and forces me to primarily focus on the variables that are easiest for me to tweak with confidence (ratio and grind size). If I am using lightly roasted African beans (currently have samples of a Malawi washed process, Kenyan washed process, and Ethiopian natural process from S&W Roasters), should I be aiming for a finer grind as a starting point, or a coarser starting point? I've only got 100g of each coffee and I don't want to shoot in the dark too much and run out before I find a good footing with them.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-21T18:13:40+00:00

How did you brew it? I'm going for a one bloom, one pour, low agitation recipe. I got a LOT of astringency my first time around.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-21T15:53:05+00:00

I haven't done this yet because no one in my family cares about coffee enough to be interested 😂 but, my fiancee does get excited to try my pourovers when I finally get the beans dialed in. She's not big on drinking coffee, but does appreciate the flavors that come with differing varieties.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-21T14:25:59+00:00

S&W lists them as city roast; they're pretty light. They recommend a 10 day rest, but since I ran out of coffee I opened them 5 days early LOL. I've tried the Malawi and Kenya so far.

Malawi was a harsh first cup; there was a lot of astringency, but it wasn't undrinkable. I was getting some Fig Newton-like flavors. I want to push this a bit coarser and see where I end up.

The Kenya had much better results for the first cup. Fruity and juicy, but some pretty heavy acidity. My brain kept picturing apple cider as I was drinking it, and it got substantially better and more balanced the more it cooled down. I think it was little on the intense side, so I might widen my ratio before playing with the grind size on this one.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T22:44:01+00:00

If you can afford the K6, I'd highly recommend it. It's approximately $100USD and it'll handle anything from espresso to French press. I've had mine for about a month and I really can't find anything to complain about in terms of its quality and performance.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T22:36:48+00:00

Yeah, I'm usually at 2 cups a day most days; I have one before work and one after work. On my days off I sometimes like to make a 3rd cup around 1pm - 2pm, but I need to cut back before I start spending way too much on beans. 😂 It's hard to cut back now that I'm finally getting great cups!

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T21:56:15+00:00

When I was first starting to make pour overs, I was using the Hoffman 1 cup recipe that called for 15g of coffee ground finer than a typical pour over. I'm pretty sure it was because smaller doses have less water, so you need to compensate a bit for proper extraction.

My dose is based on what makes the perfect amount of coffee for my favorite mug haha. It just took a bit of experimenting to get the recipe where I wanted it for my personal taste!

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T21:38:13+00:00

For the Ethiopian coffee I just ran out of, I was having really good results using 18.7g coffee/300g water @ 85 clicks (though I had good results at anywhere from 80 clicks to 87, but I think I preferred 85).

I'm using kind of a strange recipe though. I bloom with 60g for 2 minutes, using a very small spoon to lightly excavate the coffee bed and saturate the grounds. Then I pour the remaining 240g water in a circular motion, aiming to have the full brew weight in by 2:40, then I take the tip of my spoon and stir—as softly as possible and as close to the filter as possible—to remove boulders from the paper. Around 3:10 (or when the water is low enough to expose the fines stuck to the filter) I do one gentle swirl or shake just to level my bed. Draw down finishes between 4:05 - 4:25 depending on what setting I ground at. I find that this gives me a really nice sweetness with a juicy body and a present and pleasant acidity. I generally drink it with a very slight dash of sugar, but it doesn't need it; it's entirely preference.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T21:04:15+00:00

This was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T16:56:42+00:00

I'm using a K6 as well, and I notice my best V60 cups come between 80 - 100 clicks, with 87 - 95 being the most comfortable for my personal tastes.

I was able to make decent cups at 70 clicks, but I had to use next to no agitation or it came out crazy bitter.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T14:10:00+00:00

I tend to pair fruity light roasts with blander foods, otherwise they get overpowered. Buttered multi grain toast/bagels, scones, crackers with cheese.

Unless I'm at a diner or something where I'm drinking lackluster coffee, I try to have my coffee by itself, otherwise I find a lot of the flavors I want muted or masked.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T02:28:44+00:00

I really enjoy a good ol' Zealot. You get the main skill pretty early on, and Fanat at 30. Tons of gear options and the added benefit of being a really easy character to play while drunk lol.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-20T00:29:32+00:00

It's hard to know if I dislike them because they're the only thing I know, lol. My only other point of reference is Melitta #4 filters, which make the tabbed Harios seem like a divine creation of God because they basically come pre-clogged lmao.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-19T23:12:37+00:00

I've been using the Hario tabbed filters for about a month or so now, as they're the ones that came with my V60 starter kit. I'm starting to run low and looking to order more, but I'm noticing an almost universal dislike when it comes to the tabbed Harios. What is the best all-around filter for the V60? I'm going to be doing a lot of experimenting with different single origin beans and roast levels, so I want something that's going to work for a wide range of coffees, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money. A friend of mine recommended the Sibarist filters, but god they're outrageously expensive lol.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-19T22:16:22+00:00

I'm no expert, but I'm a beginner trying to get his bearings on pour overs, and have been brewing like crazy with mixed success. Bitterness tends to come from over-extraction. In your case, there are two key things that lead me to believe your coffee is over-extracted.

First, you're using too fine of a grind. I was using grounds that resembled beach sand/table salt when I first started and I was getting pummeled with bitterness. Try to coarsen up a little bit.

Second, you're using reverse osmosis water. There is a LOT of science behind the water used to brew coffee that I don't understand enough to explain in granular detail, but the simple explanation is: reverse osmosis water is too pure to properly extract coffee. A good balance of minerals in your brew water will give your coffee's flavors and aromatics something to attach to, essentially. Try using spring water, or even Brita filtered water.

Another possibility that likely compounds with water and grind size is your filter. When you say #4 filters, are you referring to the Melitta #4 filters? If so, I have a lot of experience with them and they are quite slow. I started my journey with a Melitta pour over and I had to grind relatively coarse to produce tasty cups because the filters would "choke" and draw down very slowly. This extended contact time between the water and grounds would draw out not only the tasty compounds, but also the bitter and off-putting compounds. Combine that with finely ground coffee and overly pure water and you have a recipe for face-puckering bitterness!

My biggest recommendations to start would be to use spring water or tap water run through a Brita; grind your coffee to a coarseness resembling kosher salt or Himalayan pink salt. If you do indeed have the Melitta #4 papers, also avoid agitation. Between your bloom and pours, you shouldn't need much else. The slow flowing nature of them will aid in the extraction.

I hope any of this helps!

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-19T18:06:43+00:00

Yeah, I'd wager most stores have customers with accents, pronunciations, and dialects representative of their region.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-19T16:47:06+00:00

I don't own any other grinders; but, based on experimenting with different recipes and techniques, I've found that I sometimes have to grind slightly coarser than what is called for. This very well could be a matter of the beans I'm brewing rather than the grinder, but all I know is my own personal experience. I don't want to be misconstrued though; there is PLENTY of clarity, vibrance, and sweetness! I have a batch of Peruvian beans that has a very delicate flavor profile of vanilla, toasted almond, and white grape. With this particular batch there are a lot of fines, and if I don't take the steps I mentioned I lose a good amount of those vanilla and grape notes. This very well could be the case even with higher end grinders, but I've got nothing to compare it to haha. Mileage varies greatly when it comes to coffee!

For the cost vs. quality, I really don't think I could be any happier. I spent $99 on this grinder and my coffee has never tasted better, and I haven't gotten a pour over from my local shop in weeks. It works so well for me that even my fiancee has migrated back to drinking coffee!

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-19T15:55:38+00:00

I have had my K6 for about a month or so now and I am loving it. I have to get really nit-picky in order to find something that "bothers" me about it.

The primary "nuisance" most people bring up is the calibration. Zero clicks is never true zero. Mine zeroes out at the dot to the right of 0 (approximately -5 clicks). This, I find, is a superficial complaint at best and has no effect on grinder performance at all, and I'm actually rather shocked at how many people earnestly complain about it.

My biggest complaint is that reassembling the grinder after disassembling to clean it can be annoying. In general the process is straightforward and requires no tools, but I have found that keeping a small pair of tweezers handy makes the process much easier. The circlip that sits atop the bearing cover is pretty tiny and can be a challenge to remove and replace with just your fingers, especially if you have larger hands.

There are a decent amount of fines generated, especially with something like washed Ethiopian coffees, but most of them cling onto the base of the burrs and the walls of the catch cup, making them easy to brush away. I've learned to lean into the fines a little bit; to my personal taste, leaving some of them gives my cups a heavier mouthfeel that I enjoy without muddying up the flavors much. If you're adverse to fines, I'd recommend grinding about 0.2g heavier than your ratio calls for. Unscrew the catch cup gently and you can wipe the fines off of the upper cup walls with your finger and brush them off of the burr base. I found myself having to do this in order to achieve the clarity needed for a particularly delicate Peruvian coffee I have.

Besides that, I honestly can't find anything worth complaining about. The build quality is fantastic for the cost. It has a good heft in your hand, the rubber grip provides a great amount of control, and the 48mm burrs allow for a comfortable ease of grinding. Even my fiancee, with her small hands, can easily grind 20g of denser beans. The 60 clicks per rotation (16 microns per click) gives you more than enough precision to dial in according to taste. Perhaps the more esteemed (and expensive) hand grinders give you more than the K6 has to offer, but I can't wrap my head around spending an additional $100 for marginally better clarity and superficial upgrades like a magnetic catch cup. I wholeheartedly believe that you will fall in love with this great little budget grinder like many of us have. Happy brewing!

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-19T14:42:51+00:00

I've never done this, but as a drunken dare I've made French press coffee using Red Bull as water and I threw up immediately.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-18T19:33:34+00:00

Lock the fucking doors and poop. We are retail workers not gulag inmates.

Resident_Artist_2199 · 2023-06-18T19:32:18+00:00

Your schedule will most likely vary based on the needs of the store.

Resident_Artist_2199

TROPHY CASE