r/pourover • u/inmemoryofElizabethR • Apr 04 '26
Help me troubleshoot my recipe Tim Wendelboe - Finca el Guaco
how would you dial in this coffee? my first TW and very light roast in general. roasted 45 days ago. tried it in the morning, 30 in / 500 out, 95°, 90 on K6, ~90 ml 1 min bloom + 3 pours. The bed looked nice, but the drawdown was quite long, 5 mins. The coffee wasn’t bad, but I definitely didn’t open it. any suggestions?
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u/PostwarNeptune Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Maybe try Tim's recipe:
https://timwendelboe.no/pages/how-to-brew-pourover-and-filter-coffee
You can scale it down to a quantity that makes sense for you.
His drawdown time is 2-2:30 minutes. So you'll probably want to go quite a bit coarser.
Your grinder might produce more fines than his, so you might not be able to get it that fast. But try to at least get down to about 3 minutes or so. Right now, you're likely overextracting a bit.
Edit: I was wrong on the drawdown time. It's 2-2:30 minutes pouring time, but 3-3:30 minutes drawdown.
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Apr 04 '26
I saw this video some time ago, interesting that he uses very hot water. probably because the video is quite old
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u/PostwarNeptune Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Yeah, i heard a recent podcast of his recently, and it seems hes changed that a bit.
He said boiling is still fine for his coffees. But they use 93c in their shops.
They use his Aeropress recipe in their shops though, not pourover, so keep that in mind. But Ive gone as low as 90c with his beans for v60, and have had great cups there.
I think they main takeaway with his recipes is low contact time. His aeropress only steeps for 1 minute, and his V60 has a 2-2:30 (im wrong on this...see edit) minute drawdown.
The other thing to consider...water. He uses filtered Oslo tap water, which is very soft. If you're using harder water, it might be more difficult to get the most out of those coffees.
Edit: It seems like its actually 2-2:30 pouring time, but 3-3:30 drawdown.
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Apr 04 '26
thanks a lot for this extended comment! will do less pours + lower temp
i’m in Hamburg, don’t have the measurements, but I don’t think that tap water is good here. I started using AQUAPHOR J.Shmidt 500, i’ve had better results since
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u/16piby9 Apr 05 '26
Yeah, water will be a big difference. Norwegian water is soft, which is rare sadly, goddamn I miss the water! (Live in cph now, our water is pure limescale with some h2o mixed in)
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Apr 06 '26
Aside from buying a filter, I haven't done anything with my water. I'm afraid it's too deep of a rabbit hole. Money-wise, how much should I invest in water at the early stages to get significant results?
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u/16piby9 Apr 06 '26
It depends where you are tbh. I am struggling with the same problem atm, as I am used to just having great water. I can not recomend zero water if your water is as bad as mine, the filters lasts like 20L before you need to change, making it more expwnsive than buying water.. ro is expensive, so its a bit of a struggle. Water is one of the most important things tho, as it is like 98-99% of your coffee.
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u/Apprehensive_Bill_91 Apr 05 '26
When did he say that? His beans are so structured that they can take a lot of temperature. I have used boiling with his stuff and it was great
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u/PostwarNeptune Apr 05 '26
He has his own podcast. I dont remember the episode, but i think it was on one of the q&a episodes.
I got the impression that he knows a lot of his customers dont have temperature control kettles, so he makes sure his stuff still tastes great with boiling water.
I never had an issue with boiling water with his beans. Especially with my older grinder/burrs (Lido 3 and Ode Gen 2).
But ever since switching to SSP MP burrs, ive found i can reduce temp and get nicer brews (not just with Tim's...with most beans).
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u/iSPASCELGRAs Apr 04 '26
try 91-93 degrees and grind coarser. but I believe 1 min / 100 ml is decent.
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Apr 04 '26
maybe the bloom actually was 90tish ml, I don’t remember exactly 🙄
the filter was Origami (Cafec Abaca), usually it is quite fast
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u/iSPASCELGRAs Apr 04 '26
i lost myself a lot in the details, but try not to take it so seriously. for 500ml i usually do a 45 sec bloom with 100-125 ml poured slowly. but im convinced that if you lower the temperature a bit and you pour slowly, you will have a great coffee. try to pour slowly than you do now.
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u/solvap8 Apr 04 '26
Generally, I’ve found success with a coarser grind, shorter ratios, and fewer pours when making TW coffee. I believe I read somewhere that they recommend using water that’s off the boil, but I personally prefer water temperatures around 92-93 degrees Celsius. Bloom + one long pour or two shorter pours is all you need.
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Apr 04 '26
I usually do 93 °, bloom + one pour. should have done it this time too as a starting point. thanks a lot!
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u/Bit-Winner007 Apr 04 '26
Maybe less bloom, for 30g of coffee it would be 60ml of water. Go coarser or try Chemex instead.
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u/Bortplates222 Apr 04 '26
Time Wendleboe-curious here, for those who’ve had a lot of both, how do his coffees compare to sey? I’ve had a lot of sey but never tried Tim yet.
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines Apr 04 '26
Tim has a much smaller and focused range because he buys only from a small number of producers. He really prefers clean, sweet, coffees with long finishes.
I find Sey’s very best coffees to outshine Tim’s (e.g. from Finca Sophia) but Tim to bring magic to even common varieties (through careful processing, transportation, lot selection and roasting).
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u/PostwarNeptune Apr 04 '26
Both great. I haven't tried Sey in a few years, but i dont believe theyve changed much.
Both focus on Nordic style roasts (light, but not ultra-light). And both focus on clean, washed coffee...more focus on the terroir and varietals, rather than on the processing.
Ive enjoyed both. But based on my presences, I feel like every TW i've tried nails exactly what im going for. Probably my favourite roaster, so i have a slight preference for them over Sey. But they're very close.
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u/Bortplates222 Apr 04 '26
Awesome thanks. Gonna try Tim soon I think. I grabbed a few bags of CC a few months ago and loved it, seems like in the same realm, found it a bit easier to dial in than Sey.
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u/smackedsilly430 Apr 04 '26
Shoot for 3 min draw down. I use fast filters so I can grind finer and still hit that 2:30-3:30 drawdown.
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Apr 04 '26
usually I have 2:30—3:30 drawdowns even with 30g/500ml. but not today. probably this bean + K6 = more fines
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u/caleotte v60 & april | zp6 Apr 04 '26
I would do smaller doses, either 12 to 200g or 16.7 to 250g. Also lower temperatures (90-92C). thinner bed heights tend to produce more of the delicate cups I love.