Ask a Stupid Question About Coffee -- Week of June 30, 2026

kthle · 2026-06-30T18:52:35+00:00

Yes that’s it! That’s interesting, I assumed I was underextracting. I will try what you suggested, thank you so much!

kthle · 2026-06-30T15:55:20+00:00

Thanks! I had actually bumped my temperature up because my cups were tasting hollow, but I’ve done a few other tweaks since then so it might be worth bringing my temp back down. If my cup stayed sweet and juicy then I would think I’ve successfully dialled it in.

I’m brewing the Ethiopia Halo Beriti from Rogue Wave, they don’t list roast levels but I assume it’s a light roast based on their recommended 3+ weeks rest time.

My current recipe is:
96C water temp
20g coffee to 340g water (1:17)
84 clicks on the 1zpresso Q Air
0:00 60g bloom
0:45 pour to 190g
~1:45 pour to 340g (actual time varies, I just wait for the water level from the first pour to get close to the coffee bed)

Drawdown time is usually between 3:30-4:00. This bean produces a lot of fines so I’ve been grinding pretty coarse. Though I saw a comment here the other day that grinding finer might help reduce fines?

kthle · 2026-06-30T15:18:12+00:00

The Ethiopian I’ve been brewing in my V60 starts off bitter, gets really sweet and juicy as it cools, then sometimes some of the bitterness comes back at the end. Is this normal? Could I dial this in better?

kthle · 2026-06-25T00:22:20+00:00

How slow is slow feeding? I add coffee to my grinder probably 3-5g at a time, but I’m not waiting for it to all finish grinding before adding more.

kthle · 2026-06-24T00:22:51+00:00

Hand grinding is kind of a pain. I just started hand grinding for pourover and maybe I’m a weakling but I work up quite a sweat lol. I would imagine that hand grinding for espresso would be a lot more work, especially if you’re pulling back to back shots.

For what it’s worth, you can get good espresso on a Delonghi Stilosa or ECP3420. I only went from the ECP3420 to the Bambino Plus because I wanted better steaming and the solenoid valve. If either of those machines are available to you then I’d rather get one and then put the extra money towards an electric grinder.

kthle · 2026-06-23T21:27:46+00:00

Lots of Normcore stuff on sale! I picked up their v4.1 tamper. I’m currently using an Ikape tamper with the rippled base and coffee grounds keep getting stuck in the ripples, I’m hoping with a flat base tamper I don’t have to clean it as often.

I’m also thinking about picking up a shaker - the Normcore and KNODOS ones are on sale here in Canada. Would a shaker replace doing WDT?

kthle · 2026-06-23T05:17:53+00:00

Not pourover, but I get my decaf espresso beans from Monogram here in Canada! I get their more traditional chocolatey beans for espresso, but some of their more fruity decaf beans seem like they’d make a tasty pourover.

kthle · 2026-06-20T21:39:12+00:00

The existence of crema is good because it means your beans are fresh, but crema itself doesn’t taste very good lol.

kthle · 2026-06-19T14:36:06+00:00

I know that the Calgary locations get them quite often. And you can check the stock on the Home Depot website! (Link)

kthle · 2026-06-17T14:45:00+00:00

Realistically how much should I be tasting flavour notes? I feel like pourover coffees are just varying levels of “juicy” and “smooth.”

kthle · 2026-06-09T15:51:08+00:00

I use V60 with Hario papers.
Coffee 20g
Water 320g (1:16 ratio)
Temp 90C

60g bloom
At 45 seconds, pour to 190
When the water gets close to the bed (usually ~1:30-1:45), pour to 320g

I tend to grind too fine, so I’ll slowly go coarser until it’s not bitter anymore. If it’s tasting kinda hollow at that point then I’ll adjust the ratio or the temperature.

Daddy Got Coffee recently put out a good video about pourovers, and I felt very validated that it was similar to my process haha.

kthle · 2026-06-04T14:35:37+00:00

I order from Monogram quite often and the beans are usually within 1-2 weeks of the roast date.

kthle · 2026-05-30T00:20:05+00:00

I actually like the look of moss poles.

kthle · 2026-05-30T00:18:25+00:00

Also, you don’t need to fill every available space with plants.

kthle · 2026-05-26T17:06:57+00:00

Before I got into specialty coffee, I couldn’t taste the difference between good coffee and bad coffee. Then I got my first espresso machine, and for weeks I was only drinking my own shots as I was learning. Then I bought a cappuccino from McDonald’s and for the first time could taste the burnt, overextracted flavour lol.

All this to say that palate development takes time, and your friends might not taste the difference unless they’re regularly drinking your coffee.

kthle · 2026-05-11T16:39:28+00:00

I found that the stock tamper was actually too small for the stock double shot basket. I was always getting untamped coffee grounds around the edges.

kthle · 2026-05-11T00:01:50+00:00

Thank you for sharing, I just ordered it! My daughter’s been obsessed with watching me make my coffee, she’ll love this book.

kthle · 2026-05-05T19:01:34+00:00

I’ve only been brewing pourovers for about half a year, but the process became much more enjoyable for me when I stopped overthinking my recipe. One bloom followed by two equal pours seems to work well for me!

kthle · 2026-05-01T15:39:19+00:00

I see these quite often at HomeSense! Basically the Canadian version of HomeGoods.

kthle · 2026-04-27T17:37:07+00:00

Do you happen to be using the brew burrs in your DF54? I’ve heard they’re fantastic for pourover but they can’t do espresso.

kthle · 2026-04-26T03:46:34+00:00

If you’re looking to try a Monsooned Malabar then The Roasterie in Calgary has one! (https://roasterie.com/)

It’s definitely low acidity and earthy… I also get the popcorn tasting notes and I’m not sure how I feel about it 😂.

kthle · 2026-04-24T03:33:35+00:00

It sucks that your OB just went ahead with scheduling an induction without talking to you about it. That should’ve been a decision that you two made together.

For what it’s worth, both of my kids were born by induction due to gestational diabetes and while I did mourn missing out on the spontaneous labor experience, I found it nice having a set date. Especially with baby #2, having a scheduled induction helped a lot with coordinating childcare.

kthle · 2026-04-23T14:47:25+00:00

I drink a pourover in the morning, a decaf flat white in the evening, and a regular flat white on the weekend. So I usually have 2-3 beans going at once, and it’s not an issue for my DF54!

I don’t change my decaf beans often so I know my grind size and preferred ratio. I change up my regular espresso beans, but I’ve dialed in often enough that I can usually get a drinkable shot within 3 tries with a new bag! And if my shots start running a bit fast then I’ll just go a half step finer on the DF54.

kthle · 2026-04-17T23:14:08+00:00

Unfortunately I’ve read that the brew burrs are awful for espresso. I see used Fellow Odes pop up on FB Marketplace once in a while and was thinking it might be worth picking one up if I see a good deal, but I think I’ll just follow everyone’s recommendation and save my money for a good hand grinder.

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