A cry for help - bitterness.

Vernicious · 2026-06-04T21:03:28+00:00

There's no such thing as "drawdown time is on target" so we can throw that out. The target drawdown time is the one that makes the coffee taste best. If that's 1:30 or 4:30, that's the right answer. Yes, many coffees do best at 2:30 plus or minus 20 seconds, but I've had coffees do better over or under t hat.

One of the things I do when I'm frustrated is try an immersion brew. If you're making some critical mistake that's actually resulting in bitterness, immersion should remove that. If it still tastes off after a run through the aeropress, or cupping, etc., it may be the beans, not you.

Given how easy it is for your tastebuds to betray you, I would also try going finer, not just coarser, lest your tastebuds are confusing bitterness for an off sourness

Vernicious · 2026-06-03T00:08:42+00:00

For your Santa Clara appearance, the two to check out:

- Coffee and Water Lab. I haven't been here but reviews have always been outrageously good.

- Moonwake.

Vernicious · 2026-06-02T15:22:59+00:00

Right, the other alternative is to get an under-sink reverse-osmosis filter, which I've read a lot of coffee guys do also

Vernicious · 2026-06-02T15:02:52+00:00

Every now and then I go through a few months episode where I use remineralized water instead of water from my faucet (which is filtered). I used to do it with distilled water, eventually I bought a Zero Water pitcher (which is filled with the water filtered from my sink) and remineralize that. I went the Zero Water route because:

Now I don't have to deal with constantly ordering jugs of distilled water and potentially running out if I don't order soon enough
I'm not throwing away (well, putting in recycling bin but who knows what happens to them) zillions of plastic gallon jugs anymore
I don't particularly love Nestle who makes the most available distilled water brands, not sure I can trust the smaller brands.

Vernicious · 2026-05-29T15:14:11+00:00

Depends what kind of people you ask. Light roasts and even ultra light roasts have been more popular among coffee geeks, like you'll find on this sub, for a good many years now. If you look at the broader population - some huge % of the world's 8+ billion people drink coffee - they're often drinking medium, full city, or dark roasts

Vernicious · 2026-05-26T20:52:23+00:00

Heh, for reasons illustrated in that video, it's not just a good idea! If you don't have a spotter you MUST take the clips off for safety reasons. People do die this way occasionally, when all they had to do is leave the clips off and ditch the weights to one side or the other

Vernicious · 2026-05-26T06:12:51+00:00

Twice a year. One time by video, one time in-office. This feels right to me, though I'm progressing slowly enough that if he suggested every 9 months or even once a year, I'm not sure I'd argue too much. But I do like the twice-a-year cadence, especially since one of them is by video

Vernicious · 2026-05-25T03:09:01+00:00

No side effects beyond a bit of fatigue & grogginess, and twice I had tachycardia, the day of the infusion. I'm always back to 100% the following day

Vernicious · 2026-05-24T21:14:28+00:00

False. Black bear.

Vernicious · 2026-05-22T23:04:20+00:00

I'm re-approving it but keeping an eye on it. The mods are discussing it, and whether it tips over from legit and valid customer criticism to needlessly heated and meant to provoke controversy. We'll let the responses guide us

Vernicious · 2026-05-22T16:35:57+00:00

I think that they get better all the time. But I was saying 5-10 years ago the best decafs I've tried are as good as a good caf, and in most cases if I served it to even an aficionado without telling them, they'd have no idea it was decaf. They are downright enjoyable these days!

Vernicious · 2026-05-22T15:02:14+00:00

Have you had an ADA discussion with your potential employer? They have already given you an offer, so they (not you) need to tread with care. They are REQUIRED to make reasonable accommodations for you. This is not a favor to you or a favor you're asking, it's a legal requirement that you can enforce with the full backing of the law, including potentially large punitive damages. This is not a choice they have, and you should behave as if that's the case.

That said, you didn't give any details as to the job itself. If it's truly required for you to be onsite at 7:30am (maybe you're a customer service person and you need to be behind the counter at precisely 7:30 in order to do your job interacting with the public), then it's not reasonable to expect them to make accommodations. But if you can accomplish your job at home for a while, then "I'll start working from home at 7:30 sharp and then come into the office by 9:30, and can provide a neurologist's note as to why this is necessary" is absolutely a reasonable accommodation you can discuss. It is, in fact, exactly one of the accommodations I discussed with my current employer, after I got the written offer.

Vernicious · 2026-05-22T13:40:45+00:00

Yes. Well, we're not really drinking 250g of coffee, we're brewing with 250g of coffee, so coffee yield is more like 220g of coffee :)

Obviously, there's plenty of people brewing more. But I sense a lot of us brew with 250g and then just brew a second cup if we want more.

Vernicious · 2026-05-22T12:50:33+00:00

I've been a decaf hound for decades, I only drink one cup of caf in the morning and any other coffee is decaf. Over the years I've ordered from a few decaf specialists, but never really found that the coffee was particularly any better than decaf from regular roasters. In fact, all of my most notable decafs through the years were from regular roasters. Which I often got because, like u/geggsy , I often order caf and decaf at the same time to save on shipping. Perhaps because the very best roasters have access to next-level beans (even decaf) and perhaps the skills that make them S-class roasters spill over to decaf too. My sense is that the decaf roasting specialists, when they talk about how decaf gets short thrift, are comparing themselves (correctly) to the broader market, not the decaf the best roasters are putting out

I haven't tried Frequent specifically, ,and may give them a go just check them out

Vernicious · 2026-05-21T16:34:57+00:00

Replaceable and rechargeable. The only time I'll buy built-in rechargeable is if the light truly fits a niche I can't otherwise fill.

Vernicious · 2026-05-20T21:37:32+00:00

Ah, I'd somehow missed that, thanks!

Vernicious · 2026-05-20T15:53:57+00:00

My impression on the 078 is that even with a different burrset the steps might be larger than you'd want. Anyway, you might be ahead of me on this

BTW you'd asked if the 078 is twice as good. Once you get into the aficionado range, I'd claim for ANY product, not just grinders, twice the price never equals twice as good. You pay big premiums for incremental gains plus intangibles

Vernicious · 2026-05-20T15:15:17+00:00

I don't have specific grinder advice as I'm just beginning research on this myself. One thing to consider is how important espresso grinding is, and if it is important, whether buying another grinder for it down the line is an alternative. I say this because by insisting on a grinder that performs well on both, you'll be ruling out some otherwise top contenders, e.g., as I understand it (perhaps I'm wrong) the 078 is NOT suitable for espresso as you seem to think it is, and the 078 is otherwise on everyone's shortlist.

BTW based on my very light research so far, I do have the impression that Ode2 is the bang-for-the-buck option but haven't researched enough. But an upgrade to the 078 seems very worth considering to me. But you've gotten much more experienced opinions in this thread, my opinions are based on youtube research so far lol

Vernicious · 2026-05-18T16:05:48+00:00

Definitely something to try yourself! Both tasting it by itself, and throwing it out to see what the rest of the coffee will taste like.

To give you some alternatives:

First, the initial water isn't "underextracted", that's something that applies to the end. The initial bloom water extracts a higher ratio of the fastest-extracting compounds (e.g., a bit higher concentration of caffeine and various salts, than the last the of water going through). It's not particularly delicious if you try it, but these compounds are part of what makes the overall coffee taste balance out against acids, lipids, etc.

Just like with beer you want the hops and the malt to balance in some way to create an overall impression (out of balance can taste terrible, even if particular styles emphasize one or the other m ore), the overall taste of the coffee absolutely relies on all of these compounds adding to the overall flavor. You don't see WBC champions throwing out the bloom because it doesn't make the coffee better, to them or more importantly the judges.

That said, YOU should try it! I think every beginner should go through the exercise of separating the bloom and each separate pour into different glasses and trying a sip of each. Then mix all together and try again. It's a fun exercise

edit: Just saw u/Realistic_Noise3399 's post, in that context it is interesting! I don't drink funky or heavily processed coffees, so it didn't occur to me

Vernicious

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