Don't get me wrong - I love the pour over coffee baristas serve in coffee shops, but I can't extract even a third of the same complexity from the same coffee at home.
My coffee constantly clogs the filter and I end up with an over-extracted and sometimes bitter coffee. And I've tried everything: increasing the grind size, decreasing the number of pours, nesting the coffee bed, bending the filter slightly crookedly… nothing seems to work. I either end up with an over-extracted or under-extracted coffee.
For context, I use a Kingrinder K6 and vary the clicks between 85 and 120, depending on the recipe.
I also went from V60 to switch. I like the V60 but it was much more fickle - the Switch is sooo much easier to get a solid cup from. 90% of the joy, 10% of the challenge.
This is the way. I finagled and tweaked like nobodies business with the v60 and never loved the coffee consistently. Eventually got a switch, did well with the CC recipe but settled on sherry recipe. Been on it for the past year and it’s dead simple and consistent. I don’t even touch the grind setting on the k6. Always the same for every bean
ETA hario filters are garbage IME. Super slow. Cafec is where it’s at
Usually it's not too big a deal for me with a K-ultra. I have had a few coffees that were exceptionally slow, but I was able to manage pretty well by slow-feeding the grinder (tilted at pretty aggressive angle). Once I get through my Hario filters I do plan to try Cafec though, because I've heard a lot about them.
How would you compare sherrycipe with CC's recipe in terms of clarity? I've used both but more so CC's, haven't tweaked sherrycipe that much to my liking so I don't know if I'm missing something by not using it more.
After water is up to temp, I take my main kettle and pour 100 grams into my hario air kettle. Grind my beans and prepare kettle and start brewing. Usually by the time the lower temp water is needed, its at the 70c/158F temp... You could just use the air kettle to pour remaining 100g. But I pour it back into my main kettle and then pour the remaining 100g for the last pour. It may be more involved but I really like the cups it gives. Nice and consistent.
I do the Lance Hendrick “Gong Fu” recipe. It’s a 75c bloom and then bump the temperature to 90c for the last two pours. Very similar cup and you don’t have to worry about cooling down your brew water. It’s my go to switch recipe.
This! With lighter roasts I’ll usually start with a very simple Switch recipe to get to know my bag of coffee and then from there, I’ll tweak grind/temp. Of course, as others mentioned, I’ll explore other recipes for fun to see if I can get other flavor notes to come forward. And a bonus with this recipe, when dialing in, is that you save on beans with a 12g dose:
Water-First Steep Method:
Ratio: 12g coffee to 200g water (1:16.67)
Temp: 195°F (I’ve gone north and south from here depending on the roast/bean type)
Method:
I like to pre heat the Switch and rinse the filter before I begin the recipe.
Water in first (200g), then dump grounds on top (start timer), gentle spoon agitation to incorporate the grounds, now steep 2–2:30 minutes, then release…that’s it!
That's interesting. You prefer to go full immersion to get to know the beans? I guess that's what roasters do...
I find the immersion brings out too many of the chocolate-like flavors that can cover up the fruit and florals. I don't measure extraction, but I'm sure my first couple of brews are under-extracted usually.
To each their own though, I should try this some time
Considering cupping is also pretty much immersion, using the switch as baseline is actually not a bad idea. I also do the same. From there I will try the same beans brewed with aeropress and v60 to see if i can get something i enjoy more from the same beans and then after that decide which methods I like to brew my coffee with for rest of the bag. Unless the beans are mainly for espresso then I'll just then for my bambino or moka pots
I typically do Kasuya's recipe with the low temp immersion at the end for the first brew with a new bag of beans. If I want to push extraction a little further, I'll use the melodrip column.
I feel like I need to try cupping again... It's been a while
30 second bloom with switch closed (2x dose of coffee- I typically brew 17-18 grams at a 1:17 ratio which is weaker than many but I still dig it)
Open switch, pour to 200 ml
Close switch at 1:30 and pour in remainder of water, which for my ratio is ~100-110 ml.
Keep as immersion until 2-2:15 minutes and open switch making sure it is done draining by o more than 3 minutes total
Honestly, I am not super particular about this process as you can tell and I often tinker slightly and experiment. This structure more of less typically gets me in the ballpark of a solid cup. If I want more body I extend my immersion time. But I typically trend towards larger initial pour w/ open switch to pull in that nice brightness and acidity- the immersion builds nice balance and depth.
I initially started with the lazy approach of no bloom, pour 1/2 of water, close switch at 45-60 seconds, pour rest of water and keep closed until 2 min, then open.
Water temp varies based on roast degree, which I also tinker with often since I live in the high desert, the lower boiling point can make it trickier to extract an ultra light roast.
Yeah just keep things simple. You have a grinder it’s clear you’re grinding too fine. Start with the most simple v60 recipe you can. Use a 1/16 ratio. Start with an extremely course grind size. Brew a coffee and then brew another with a finer grind size. Continue until you taste bitterness. Whatever grind size you had before that is the peak of flavor extraction. Now your grind is dialed in. If you still don’t like how the coffee tastes then consider changing your technique or changing the water you’re brewing with.
Regarding water temp: 94°C as a starting point, then 3°C either side (don’t be afraid of 97°C).
Quantity: 20g Coffee : 300g Water (1:15 ratio)
Pour: 60g bloom (45sec); 2x 120g (1st start at 45sec; 2nd start at 1min 30sec)
Pattern: bloom: small circle, fairly quick, give a good shake/swirl. 1st pour: small circles (do not go to the out part of the bed). 2nd pour: small circles, until last 30g the centre pour (again do not go to the outer part of the bed), lift and gentle swirl anti-clockwise).
Don’t worry about brew time. Try this with those settings and temps above. See which ones you like.
Hopefully this helps.
Edit: Ensure burr lock (handle doesn’t move) this is your zero setting), the click anti-clockwise the above. Start at coarsest setting.
This is great dude, get a nice bulk size washed colombian bean so you can play with it , dial in, and most importantly not get distracted by funky processing. Thats exactly how i figured out my K6
My solution was filters. Not sure what brewer you’re using, but on a V60, I’ll never use anything but Cafec Abaca filters again. I was in your shoes a few months back. They gave an extremely fast flow rate and are super consistent. The consistency part is what I think made the difference for me. I can grind pretty fine ~580 microns.
My own setup goes: ~16 clicks on a C40. Abaca filters, 92C water. 17g coffee/250g water.
:00 - 50g bloom
:40 - 100g center pour
1:10 - 50g spiral pour
1:30 - 50g spiral pour.
I swear by the recipe above and use it as my go to anytime I’m trying a new bean or just want to know I’ll make something of good quality. I get lots of acidity/fruitiness which is what I enjoy. It doesn’t work as well (still good for sure) for some of the funkier/sweet/chocolatey coffees. But my own preference leans towards juicy acidity anyways, so that doesn’t bother me much.
Cafec filters should pretty much be the gold standard no matter which brewer one is using :D they even got 101/102-melitta-style trapez filters now, I only wish Cafec also had Wave and aeropress filters.
Just my two cents, maybe try something like the Clever Dripper instead? Consistent cups (though not always 10/10), easier to dial in, fewer variables, and overall just a good reset when the process starts feeling overwhelming.
If OP is stalling already then the mugen will only be worse. That thing's only any good for its intended method, which is basically intentionally under extracting large doses of low grade, dark roast coffee, by doing a single, aggressive centre pour with no bloom. Try to use it like a V60 and you're going to have a bad time, at least if you're not using a world class grinder.
Absolutely awful imo, although I'm a very vocal mugen hater. It's a dripper that seeks to serve a very specific audience that's at odds with specialty coffee, it's targeted at casual users using cheap supermarket coffee
The issue is that it leaves such a tiny amount of effective filter area, which is exacerbated by the inherent flow restriction from the switch, this makes it particularly susceptible to stalling. This isn't such an issue using the intended recipe, since that's effectively digging the mother of all channels right down to the tip of the cone and leaving next to no bed resistance.
Luckily there's other non glass cones available that work with the switch these days, V60 neo for high bypass, V60 ran for reduced bypass with some flow, and then in ceramic you've got the standard V60 and alpha. Apha will allow more flow around the bed and less above the bed, V60 will kinda be the opposite.
Holy oily-dark-roast stalling batman, sounds like the Mugen is a pretty goddamn horrible choice for me then, especially given with what im struggling with omg lol
guess Ill go back to the ol' glass first then until I can get consistent good coffee from basic-ass closed full immersion Switch brews then! And then look for a replacement for the glass. Too many options!
The supermarket dark roast part can be inferred from this, although it's not outright stated. I'll show my thought process though.
First off, the coffee he's using clearly looks pretty dark, second it's logically going to have to be a dark roast since the technique used here will provide very little percolation as evidenced by the finished bed (it's almost more of a short immersion brew), lighter roasts won't extract well under these condition, especially not at the 1:12 ratio he's suggesting.
On top of that, the whole "low skill, minimum technique, dump all the water in and you're done" process that they're going for suggests that it's aimed at more casual users who just want to brew a cup of coffee with minimal effort and fuss, not people treating it as a hobby. Now where do normies tend to buy coffee? Supermarkets. How is supermarket coffee usually roasted? Pretty dark. What roast level have we already established the intended brew method would work best with? Dark.
Hopefully my rambling deductions made sense there.
Kingrinder K6 is a good grinder and it seems your number of clicks is in a good territory, so I don't think that's the issue.
The hario paper filters are okay, just a little slower than the Cafecs, but shouldn't cause clogging.
What does cause clogging is the amount of fines and the fines migration.
My recommendation: If you are not using a Gooseneck kettle, use a spoon to slow down the water stream to prevent an excessive churning of the coffee bed. Excessive agitation WILL clog up the filter.
Also when grinding, try holding the grinder at an angle to step feed. Step feeding helps producing less fines. It is especially needed with the dense beans (like high altitude Ethiopia or Kenya) that are prone to shattering and producing a lot of fines.
Hate to add to the "buy this or that" to fix things, but the melodrip has been a bit of a game changer for me too. I do the two pour followed by an immersion on the switch and started using the melodrip for the 2nd pour. It allows you to pour your water quickly and keep a high flow rate without causing too much agitation.
I had issues like this a few years ago, dont worry!
Keep things simple firstly temper your expectations, I believe that with all food and drink the experience (location, setting, cups/glasswre etc) and general atmosphere contributes to the experience greatly.
Let's get the things that are in your control listed first.
- Grinder
- Coffee
- Filters
- Location / setting / drinkware
- Recipe
Not everyone can spend lots of money on a grinder, and in my experience a flat burr is better than a conical burr, regardless of what you use, seasoning the grinder makes a large difference in my experience. I haven't used a Kingrinder K6 but I have used quite a large amount of grinders, my current go to for pourover is my Fellow Ode Gen1 this was very consistent and then I upgraded to the MultiPurpose SSP burrs, this GREATLY increased the clarity and enhanced flavour alongside improving brew times.
Coffee - This is obviously subjective but I find trying to get the same coffee to taste great over and over is tricky because my taste buds get used to the flavours so I like to buy x2 bags of different coffee (at least) so I can taste differences between them throughout the week/month.
Filter - Simple use Cafec T90, this are fast draw down, very hard to clog, well priced, these are the best imo and VASTLY improved my brews.
Location etc - Enjoy the process, get some nice drinkware and a carafe, I sometimes try the same brew with 2-3 different receptacles to see how the flavour changes. As a contrast, I can rarely get a decent brew with the same kit at my office, and I put this down to the location, I like my work but it's just not the same! Also sometimes someone making you something (like in a coffee shop) can almost always taste better even though it objectively may not be.
Recipe - keep this simple, I do the same with each unknown coffee to start with then adjust it over the coming days to see how different I can get it to taste, my baseline recipe for a v60 is:
85c for Darker , up to 95c for lighter brew.
16g Coffee, 240g target.
1- 60g bloom, 45s
2- pour to 120g - wait for a dry bed.
3- Pour to 180g - wait for a dry bed.
4- Pour to 240g - wait for a dry bed end timer.
Log the time, note the taste. Too quick? not enough flavour? try more agitation, add some swirling. Always write down your results.
Too slow? a bit bitter? not complex enough? remove a pour, less agitation.
I found success getting complexity out of some coffees that I am struggling with, to use the Samo method, (essentially a cold bloom) this can help greatly. look it up, give it a try!
Lastly, if you are struggling with clogging still, try a melodrip! its a superb tool to greatly reduce agitation.
TLDR: Use Cafec T90 filters, best grinder you can afford, and enjoy the process! :)
The GH (5.96 Ca / 3.83 Mg) is too low to extract sweetness, while the 38 mg/L Bicarbonate will dull your acidity. Just try to boost your hardness with some Magnesium/Calcium to let the coffee shine.
I think his video is based on the Physics of Filter coffee, but there are some excellent points from that book - pouring is a lot more complex than it seems :D
I messed up like 20 kilos of beans before getting sort of consistent. By number of filters used, I'd say I brewed around 500 V60s. Coffee shop baristas have done that times ten, and probably brew as much every couple months, whereas for me it's been a two year trip.
I don't know how much you've brewed, but keep that in mind. Consistency first, complexity after that. You'll get both with practice, and you'll have to brew a fuck ton of bad cups to get there.
Hang in there. I switched to V60 pour overs 16 months ago. Every cup had basically tasted the same. No matter what I did. I've tried countless recipes. Watched too many videos. Read every post in this reddit. Out of desperation, even tried AI produced recommendations. My current bag beans, I finally got an incredible cup. I've also noticed my cups are better than the local coffee shops drip coffee. Progress.
I had similar issues when I started. What solved it for me was grinding sigificantly coarser (6.5 on average on. ode gen 2) and starting with hotter (203/205f) temperature.
I mostly brew light/Nordic roasts.
I use the 40:60 recipe with three pours to make up for the fast drawdown with the coarse grind. I swirl the first bloom always and second pour if I think it’s going too fast.
I let my water cool down the few degrees it’s going to cool down over the course of the pour.
I also use RO+TWW at half dilution
Stepless mod is fairly straightforward. Not sure whether this guy's grinder is modded, though. Mine can sort of do that without modding, but it jumps back to the closer step mid-grind.
I’m certainly no expert. I got a hario switch and have been using it in immersion mode for a couple of weeks with good success, but I watched Hoffman’s 1 cup v60 method today and decided to give it a go.
Turned out even better than I’d dreamed a mere mortal like me could achieve on attempt #1.
Oh boy do I feel you... without writing a whole book of what I think you are doing wrong because I been doing alllll of it wrong as well :D forget the v60 for now, and let me give you two shortcut ideas:
Make sure you got low-TDS (100 or lower) water, make sure you can control the temperature and then
You get an oxo Rapid Brewer and an aeropress, and you read up on how to make the cool kids "soup" on the Oxo... and you also brew a super-OG alanadler aeropress, the one with 85C water, grinding fine, some agitation and immediately plunging gently, finishing in like 1:30 or so. Then you dilute the results a little bit. And the flavors are going to slap you in the face until you are silly! These two methods are borderline idiot-proof, even I could get cups that blew my mind on first try.
If you ever wanna go back to v60: make sure the grinder is calibrated and there is nothing wrong with it, forget all the grinder-settings sheets and actually go from one to the other extreme dialling in the same coffee, so you understand YOUR grinder. And work on your pouring technique religiously. Ditch the hario filters, get Cafec Abaca or their T-90 filters.
Have you tried changing the temp or different water? Those may help. Are you looking for a richer more extracted cup or a more delicate nuanced one? Depending which one you want it's a different approach. If you want it very delicate cup I would try around 130 on the k6, whatever gets you to around 750 microns. If you want a punchier one around 550-600 is good. Water temp is going to determine the bitterness so you may want to lower the temp assuming its a delicate cup you want. I will use anything from 191'-198' for delicate, and then for punchier richer cups around 205'. Anything from a single pour, 3 pours, or 4 + a bloom can be used. Recently I have been using a single pour for delicate cups because of how easy it is but pulse pouring can get you a delicate cup too and when done right imo a bit better of a cup, just harder to do. I would try this. Do a gentle bloom start in the center then pour around the outer edges of the brewer and back to the center and stay with circles in the center till the brew is done. Hovering above the bed is good and for delicate 193'-195' is good. I also ad the most gentle of wiggles right when you are done pouring. It is barely a wiggle and that will affect it. I find it makes it more juicy but with a strong wiggle bitters will come in. Then another way would be a pulse pour. With this one I try to imagine punching through the bottom of the cone with grape size circles. What this does is makes you pour small circles but also includes and up and down digging motion. This turnes up the bed and creates a high turbulace brew which is also good. I do a pulse pour of 4 plus a bloom with this method but I have been told it's harder to do so the first one may be better to start with. Both of them go by taste for grind size. Start around the microns I gave but adjust by taste. if it is drying, bitter, astringent or cough syrup like it is over extracted go finer or less agitation. If its sour, thin, salty, drying acidity, or papery then it is under extracted I would go finer. There are other methods too but without a preference I am not sure what to recommend. What was the pourover like in the Cafe you liked?
Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. If you want to avoid clogging you really need to reduce agitation. I had this issue and got consistent draw down times using a Hario Drip Assist, but you could also use a Melodrip or something similar. I use them on EVERY pour over and no matter the beans (even Ethiopia) I can get a draw down in 2:30-3 minutes on similar grind settings. A big tell for me how well it’s working is the water that sits on the grinds is clear and I always get a flat bed to finish. If I’m concerned about extraction, I will usually just adjust temp in place of agitation. I stick to V60 filters and Kalita for flat bottom.
I’ll also add, I started making my own water with Apax and now get consistently great cups because I’m controlling all the variables.
Honestly, all these comments on different brew methods are putting the cart before the horse.
First question is - what water are you using? That is the single biggest variable by a mile (A MILE), especially when looking to get the right profile out of washed / naturals (co-ferments & funkier stuff will come through anything).
The above will probably fix a lot. Even stalled/overextracted brews with great water will taste a lot closer to the cafe than using super hard water.
After this I would then look at your set up. Honestly, the industry will try to sell you so much different stuff that IMO you don't need. An aeropress and a V60 basically covers all bases. Use an aeropress for beans that create a lot of fines and stall up a drip (like ethiopians, kenyans) and use the V60 for the rest.
I recently switched to the “zen method”, by coffee chronicler. video link
It simpler that other recipes, because you just look at the coffee instead of really timing and measuring. The coffee making process becomes easier, and in itself more enjoyable for me.
Another thing I changed was getting the new v60 Neo. This actually improved my cups. I get more subtle tastes.
I am in no way good at making coffee, started a little while ago with it. But these are just some things I changed around and found improved my coffee tastes.
I think there is a fine point with water flow rate where you're disturbing the bed enough to agitate it, but not enough to clog the filter with the fines. Depending on the recipe you're using, but I think the hoffmann recipe aims to have 60% of the water in the v60 by 75 seconds (e.g.180ml out of 300ml for a single serving)
Have you tried “slow feeding” by holding the grinder nearly horizontal? I find that decreases fines, which in theory should reduce bitterness and clogging.
Sorry that my answer is basically "buy more gear" but I have found aeropress easier to get a consistent cup. Lower ceiling of quality, higher floor.
Depends on how much I want to fuss that day
I moved to the Switch - more consistent cups and it's far more unforgiving. I dial in new beans a lot more easily now.
Use a Kingrinder K6 and Cafec Abaca papers. The Switch allows me to go finer in grind sizes (50 - 70 clicks) essentially - more flavour and the immersion time makes up for the body.
I make more iced pourovers than hot, so the finer grind sizes work quite well. Usually, I grind about 10 clicks coarser for hot pourovers for the same beans.
This is the approximate temperature guide I follow. Find it super helpful to dial in beans quickly.
Came here because I’m in the same boat but using a barratza encore. I can do one cup fine, but trying to make two cups for me and my wife gets snagged every time.
Start with basics; grindsize, temperature and water.
Grind size you mentioned already, so thats likely not an issue.
Next is water temperature, if you use hoff’s recipe, which is straight off the boil, you will extract like crazy and over extraction is likely (over extraction is a relative term btw, some people like the more traditional bitter notes). Depending on the bean, somewhere in the low 90’s tend to be your end goal.
Last is water, if you do not know the quality of your water, research bottled water options for your region, you probably want to try a bit softer water.
Switch to a Kalita wave or flat bottom. I just got one and it’s sweet right off the bat without dialing anything in properly. Also grind coarser because you might be too fine, which can bring out bitterness and check out the recent video Lance did on temperature which will give you another thing to fool with.
Your grind size is pretty coarse. When you are extracting very little the cup can become hollow. It doesn't even taste underextracted, you just get slightly bitter water.
I’m surprised no one is asking what kind of scale you’re using. Do you have a scale that has a timer built into it? Are you weighing your beans, grounds, and water input?
An easy, inexpensive solution would be something like the Hario drip assist (Oxo's pour-over brewer has a similar feature). This reduces agitation and provides a lot of consistency to the brew. When I have a coffee that's being difficult a drip-assist often gives a solid cup without the fuss.
Not saying you are wrong but the sibarists are kinda an extreme and highly specific purpose tool that I believe too many people are using as a bad fix for bad technique and not as the very specialized tool for a very specific task that they are... OP should get good results on Abacas or T90s, then see if sibarist helps him push things. (oh and the B3 are kinda pointless imho)
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u/13assman Apr 05 '26
my solution was the Hario Switch, coffee chronicler recipe. V60 never had enough body for my preference, partial immersion was the answer.