@@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat Thanks! The water retained is referred to as Liquid Retained Ratio. Usually 2.2 x Dose is a good estimate for pour over. So 15 grams coffee will retain 33 grams of water.

One tip I've come up with to deal with this mistake is to create a bin for coffee stuff storage outside of your kitchen for brewers and coffee things that don't get used very often. I've... got a lot of coffee things.

My personal choices for pour over are the hario decanter, a relatively cheap timemore c3 grinder, any cheap scale but tbh an acaia if you can splurge and a fellow stag just to combine the water pouring and heating process

@@definiteIynotkenji I went through several scales. Standout cheap scales were the Eravsow and Rhino Coffee Gear scales. The Hario scale is very underwhelming for the money. The Brewista Ratio turned out to be amazing after finding one on clearance for $30.

@@BatPotatoes Hario, even with it's size is really slow with updates to their lineup... Good thing the brewers are so timeless cause their other products are just so outdated.(looking at you hario grinder)

No bypass is the best way

Great comment!

Now imagine if you used bottle water, I have water quality measuring tools and Britta doesn't filters much, it only removes odor and flavours and chloride, but the TDs and hardness of the water still remains really high...try using bottle water that goes around 50 to 100 ppm

I buy my bottle water in refillable 5 gallon bottles.

@@hebertandreeriosvarillas7800 cant confirm this. It kind of depends on the hardness of your tap water. If you have mid-hard water a water filter is perfectly fine and does a great job reducing the hardness. I just tested this in a titration experiment at university :)

@@karigrandii the funny part is the water is fine. The bad tasting water is all about socialism. When local government ties to provide their own water, they almost never get it right. Socialism always fails. All federal and state government does is throw money at the local government. A recipe for failure.

Dang! Must have been very soft. I wonder if they brewing beer there.

I've been using a Melitta cone and their filters for decades. I recently bought an inexpensive burr grinder and my son gifted me an impressive Fellow electric kettle. All used together, they make a good cup of coffee and I feel I've upped my coffee game. But I'm sticking with the Melitta! I enjoyed reading your comment!

Yep Melitta plastic cone number 2 is what I use. Works great. I gather the ceramic cones retain heat which is better?

Still not as good as remineralised imo

I don't mention water temperature because the roast level is so important in this regard. But almost everybody can benefit from using water in the TDS range you mention, no matter the roast level.

You're hitting my nail right on the head. I'm a beginner using a good scale, Chemex and Fellows kettle at 200F. I'm not as hard core as some of you as I like a dash or creamer in my coffee. I always try it black first, for about 6 months now, many different roast levels and brands. I can conclude that black coffee is probably not my bag. lol. I prefer the taste of a lighter roast coffee, even though I've learned the darker roasts might actually work better with a creamer. Really, I feel like a mad scientist with as many concoctions as there are to coffee. Still searching for my sweet spot though, hopefully I'll get there one day. 🤔

@@christga100 yeah it really gets into lots of subjective areas beyond that such as someone's preference for taste and the overall experience including temperature. I know quite a few people that really linger over their coffee for a long time, but I know that at the end they're drinking something that is a lot cooler than what I could handle. That's what they like though.

There's a considerable risk of brewing at too low temperatures with that approach, especially if you brew very light roasts. So definitely a good idea to have a hot kettle.

I find that too. I added water straight from boiling and measured the temperature in the grinds+water in the filter funnel. Temperature drops immediately to about 160 F.

Heat up the filter well before starting. And use a digital thermometer. It helps make sure the kettle is at the right temp.

Just get a bunch of Hario stuff. Just the basics. You can’t go wrong. Also get a baratza grinder. It’s like $150 but it’s worth it

If it works for you that’s great, but it really depends on your specific circumstances such as the coffee you use, your water and your grinder. I know the settings that work on my grinders and they would be considered relatively fine for filter brewing, but I use light roasts so it works. I also find that if I go courser I get a less consistent grind as I don’t have a super fancy grinder. The less consistent grind results in a really muddled cup as there are noticeably more fines.

@@leroythecoffeegeek4611 Of course it's not a one size fits all! Im mainly directing it to people who can't seem to find a good grind setting. 3 mins brew coming out bitter and sour? Hard to know where to go? Likely coarser is the answer. It's kinda easy to find out when you went too coarse, but kinda hard to know if you're too fine. Yes, if you are only a bit too fine it will be a wall of bitterness and longer drawdowns. But if you're finer than that you can just be in bypass town which for someone new to pour over it can be really puzzling. Most people just say slow and bitter = go coarser, the opposite, go finer. But there's heavy channeling also which can produce both sharp acidity and a fast draw down. I think that idea is better for espresso.

Finer is better, too for me, than courser. The first advice I was given, from coffee store owner was, use two tablespoons of coffee beans for one serving. Now I have been finding, I can use between two-thirds tablespoon andone tablespoon , but grind the beans finer; to brew about 6 to 7 fluid ounces of brew, and the results are very good.

@@10floz30minutes I highly recommend using a scale! I think you will like it, precise measurements for your coffee.

@@sebaba001 Not planning to but I have not progressed to that kind of accuracy yet.

It depends on the roasting style and your preference, but often less is more when it comes to alkalinity.

It's a good method. The agitation is kind of necessary since there are only two pours.

Realizing that (often) minimizing agitation gets me the best cups. I really prefer the simple pour over method from la cabra (they have 3 different brew guides depending on how long the beans have rested). No swirling or anything

Grinding coarser and lowering temperature from boiling to closer to 90. What Hoffman recepies suggest (boiling water, medium fine grind) results in bitter coffee for me. I use filtered water. But I guess I should experiment with ratio also.

Probably practice, when you are new getting your head around why something went wrong is hard but with all the variables actually practice so you have at least your technique the same so when you change something you know it was that variable change that made the difference.

Switching to the Kalita Wave instead of V60. I love the coffee I can produce with it

Putting the Drip Assist on top of an AeroPress Go 😄. As long as I don't go above 10 g, wdt before I begin and only use the outer ring, I'm able to grind almost espresso-fine and go up to 1:22, extract to ~25%+ (even with a Comandante) without any bitterness or astringency (with light roasts). It's tastier, more complex, with more clarity and acidity (!) than anything I could come up with with my Tricolate (V3) so far. All my other drippers, including the Hario Switch, have been pretty much collecting dust since last summer.

The first Coffee cafe (Cafe Moka formerly located in Virginia Beach, VA now located in Charlotte, NC) I went to with multiple brew methods (Hario V60, Chemex, Aero Press, French Press, Kalita Wave, Yama Siphon, Able Kone, etc.), the owner said to use temperature between 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93.33 Celsius) - 203 degrees Fahrenheit (95 Celsius). Using a temperature higher than that range will burn the coffee.

Thanks 🙏

Ive been using Crystal Geyser water it's about 60-70 ppm 7ph and your Gabi B Kalita (Sagan) Method . I switch between the 155 and 185. Recently I used Sibarist Flat filters Kalita 185 and my new zp6. I ground at 3.5 and the draw down was at 3 min . Since I use only light roast and mostly natural coffee grinding finer works best for me . I sometimes use a bit hotter about 207-9 F for the bloom and maybe 205-7 for the second part for the Gabbi B part I pour it at 210-212 F . Question I have I have read somewhere less fresh coffee is better ground course and more coffee to water . I was under the impression grinding finer for less fresh was better. When I go courser it gets under extracted.

Thanks, Ivica! I would go for a V60. For the kettle, I would take the Stagg. Or you could also consider the more affordable Timemore Fish Smart Kettle.

@@coffeechronicler thank you so much for your advice - it is much appreciated.

Definitely!

Mmm, James Hoffmann did a video on brew temperature and especially the risk of "burning" the coffee. Turns out that even when you boil the water, by the time you pour it the temperature drops a few degrees. You will never burn your coffee. More important is brewing at about 96 degrees because then by the time you drink it it will hopefully be around 60-65 degrees which is a drinking temperature that lets the flavours come out best.

Go for it! Timemore B75 is great, but I think it makes a lot of sense to get the V60 as your first model.

@@coffeechronicler great to know, V60 is even easier to find!

Yes, it's Timemore's temperature-controlled kettle. It's quite nice, except the weird control pad, but you can get used to it :)

Hario Drip Assist ☕

@@coffeechronicler Thanks a lot!

Only available for the 02 size, unfortunately

Like bwt?

Depending on where you live, this can be an excellent approach!

@@nikolajhansen15 exactly

@@magutin cool! I plan on trying bwt filters as i found out they fit in my Brita filter jug - so I hope they do a better job than britas filters

Closer to rough sand than powder

Go courser and lower your water temp to 80-85c and see if that helps.

@@michaelpeuplie6464 thanks

If you have chicory coffee just buy the cheapest shittiest coffee maker

The experts say no.

I use my Britta filtered water. I use it for cooking, making tea, drinking, etc.

Distilled water could damage your kettle apparently. And you need some minerals in the water to be able to extract what you want from the coffee . I use Third Wave packets mixed into a gallon jug of distilled water. You get 12 packets for about $17 US. That’s enough for 12 gallons. I still haven’t used up my first box I bought.

Yes, it's a good starting point

YESSSSS ABSOLUTELY, well you can just pour with less agitation or no bloom :D

Adding bypass is another layer of complexity that you have to explain to someone new though. Coarser grinds are less consistent in particle size but they do ultimately have less fines due to the smaller surface area of the beans being exposed.

It's so different from country to country that it's hard to do. Usually, the ones labeled "drinking water" (and not "mineral water") are ideal.

Big fan of Cafec Medium Roast filters recently

Bicarbonate is the main source of alkalinity. Calcium and magnesium are rather measured in terms of hardness. But all minerals and salt count regarding TDS.

Good idea in general. However, it doesn't work well in a few countries with very hard water.

Bitter? Two ways I know to be sure to have bitter coffee. One is use medium or dark roast beans bought from the store. The other is to roast you beans to a light roast but in a roasting pot which has not be cleaned for several roasts. The way I know (supect) to get a sour cup of coffee is to under-roast the beans- actually I am not sure what that flavor is, might be "sour" or might be just what underroasted coffee tastes like.

@lucasentinekekramer647, the tablespoon of coffee to cups of water should be the same. After the 2 have mixed they need to boil on low for 7 minutes. Also drink from a mug vs a metallic cup.

That's a good place to start. You can always bypass a bit of tap/mineral water to increase hardness if necessary. However, I have tested it in other countries where the TDS can be quite high.

thanks for the reply. what do you think about Brita filters?@@coffeechronicler

Probably it's more acidic rather than bitter? SPA looks like it's very low TDS, which means that it has less alkaline buffering capacity. This really lets acidity dominate. Ultra-low TDS can actually be great with a handful of Nordic light roasts, for example, Coffee Collective. But there are also some specialty brands that roast to harder water around 120 TDS. For that reason I like the range of 60-80, since it's almost always pretty good. What beans did you use?

@@coffeechronicler Thank you very much for your reply! What kind of brand of water do you advise? (maybe i can get that here in the Netherlands) to answer your question: I get the same bitter and sharp results with a few beans; chanchamayo (peru, light roast), yellow bourbon from Brazil (medium roast) and Myanmar (medium roast) I have a very simple hario sim plus grinder, so i tried your tip to use a 1:15 ratio. that provided a stronger cup but did was less sharp and bitter, but now it's back and i don't know why :( I tried a few tips that you provided, i'm using the cafec medium roast filters for my plastic v60 01. I tried the osmotic flow technique, and i had a few good results, but after 2 a 3 cups that sharp taste came back. I use 92 degrees water IN the fellow stagg kettle (so not the slurry temp) I also tried 4:6 method and a single pour. Especially the single pour is very sharp/bitter. I don't really taste the difference very good so that's why i say sharp and bitter. The crazy thing is i found a coffee roaster and coffeebar close to my hometown so i went there and drank a great filter coffee (the miyamar) A conversation just happened with the barista, and he did not understand why i did not get good results with my recipe and method (as listed above) He gave me a bag of grinded beans grinded at the setting he uses at at the bar. He also uses the same tapwater that i have at home, since we live close togehter. Tried all the techniques at home, osmotic, 4:6, single pour, but still get that sour/bitter stuff. I had the idea the barista poured pretty agressivly and with a single pour. His coffee was great nice and smooth when it cooled down a bit. Great taste notes of chocolate. I don't know what i'm doing wrong :( I bought all kind of stuff, the follow kettle was 90 euro. I hope i can get it right someday. Your help is very much appreciated.

@@lucasentinekekramer647 Hi Lucas, it's hard to diagnose the problem precisely. You say that you have a few good cups, but then the problem comes back. So it sounds like you're on the right path and just need to be more consistent. The Hario grinder is not the best one, so it can help to grind a bit coarser. When you say sharp and bitter, I get the idea that you might grind a bit too fine and agitate too much. As for the water, Volvic is usually quite decent, but many cheaper, local brands should work.

@@coffeechronicler Thanks for your reply! All try to get my hands on some of that volvic water. Maybe i just need more practice. I do have the idea that low aggetation methods works best for me. I received a sample bag of ethiopian coffee beans yesterday. Yesterday the cup was very nice with osmotic flow. Totally different coffee taste, those ethiopian beans. It tasted like black tea, just like the said on the bag. Not bitter or sour at all. Today i did the exact same thing, but the taste was a bit weaker with a little bit of that sharp aftertaste. So maybe it is me. Or my grinder. I had the idea that even with the same setting, i had more coarse grinds then yesterday. What kind of grinder would you recommend in the 150 euro range? (Electric or manual.)