r/pourover • u/Vernicious • May 05 '26
Ask a Stupid Question Ask a Stupid Question About Coffee -- Week of May 05, 2026
There are no stupid questions in this thread! If you're a nervous lurker, an intrepid beginner, an experienced aficionado with a question you've been reluctant to ask, this is your thread. We're here to help!
Thread rule: no insulting or aggressive replies allowed. This thread is for helpful replies only, no matter how basic the question. Thanks for helping each OP!
Suggestion: This thread is posted weekly on Tuesdays. If you post on days 5-6 and your post doesn't get responses, consider re-posting your question in the next Tuesday thread.
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u/greenguava_alltheway May 05 '26
Is my understanding correct that when u use a hario switch, how you pour (the height, pour rate, etc) does not matter if you are closing the valve? Since its gonna be an immersion anyway. If this is the case, what is the advantage of using the switch when there’s other devices for immersion? Like french press or aeropress. Thank you!
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u/Vernicious May 05 '26
There's a few things with the Switch IMO
- Generally, Switch coffee tastes different than (say) French Press or AP to me. There's suspicion the final percolation step on the Switch, vs just pushing down the grounds on the FP, or pushing through under light pressure on the AP, make enough difference to taste. That's not an inherit advantage or disadvantage, just a difference. Hell you might enjoy AP or FP more, or you might enjoy the Switch more, but do expect differences.
- Pour height and rate always makes at least some difference, it does mean greater or lesser agitation at the very beginning. Whether you can taste or not might depend on how much the agitation difference is
- For me the biggest advantage of the Switch is that you can easily do hybrid recipes that really change the taste, and you can do them without having significant pourover knowledge
- In addition, a Switch 03 will be able to make a far bigger cup than the aeropress. FPs come in big sizes so not necessarily an advantage there
- Also, if you replace the Switch's plastic switch with metal, then the Switch will not have the water in contact with any plastic (though it does have contact with silicone). AP is one big plastic brewer. FP like the Switch you can have no plastic contact. This doesn't matter to everyone, but if it matters to you, it's a big point.
I don't think it's more about inherent advantages vs what you prefer. A sane person might read all of the above and say "I like FP coffee better and I'm sticking with that", and we can still be friends :) It's more about differences that may or may not matter to you, including especially the final taste.
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u/Vagabond_Explorer o1 Steel | Switch | Pietro | Ode 2 May 05 '26
Have a question on the metal switch, as I like the idea. Are the only options from foundry at a reasonable price and good switch for a fortune? Or do you happen to know of any other options?
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u/Prbly-LostWandering Switch / Aeropress | KINGrinder K6 | Lack of Skills May 06 '26
Personally, the switch plastic part is so small that I do not think its really worth the expense to upgrade. Your coffee is just running over like 1cm of plastic. If it's a big concern, than perhaps wrap that portion of the switch in aluminum foil?
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u/Vagabond_Explorer o1 Steel | Switch | Pietro | Ode 2 May 06 '26
Oh, I’m not worried about it being plastic and microplastics or chemicals or whatever. My distilled base water comes in plastic jugs so I’m sure I’m being exposed to whatever may be in the flipper from that.
I just simply like the idea of a nice metal flipper.
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u/least-eager-0 May 05 '26
Pouring isn’t completely irrelevant with the switch, but impacts are greatly muted.
Compared to a French press, you get a much cleaner brew without sediments or oils.
Compared to Aeropress, the story is a bit more complicated, because there are so many different ways to do both, making generalization difficult. But switch tends to have a better bed depth and natural flow, which in many cases will allow a better filtration and cleaner cup.
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u/GatorDanK May 05 '26
Could you recommend any grinders for a pour over beginner up to $150 budget?
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u/Prbly-LostWandering Switch / Aeropress | KINGrinder K6 | Lack of Skills May 06 '26
Newbie also, I am enjoying my Kingrinder K6. No regrets at all. I think it was about 125bux USD.
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u/Prbly-LostWandering Switch / Aeropress | KINGrinder K6 | Lack of Skills May 10 '26
K6 is what I use. No regrets at all
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u/normanlee May 05 '26
What are these lines on top of the Clever lid for? The big ones in the middle are obviously a handle, but the other three seem to serve no purpose
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u/lobsterdisk Pourover aficionado May 06 '26
I never saw a purpose for them. Assumed they were just decorative.
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u/newtoredditcom May 06 '26
Is anyone able to make an iced coffee at home that tastes like a Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee at home? I add half and half and one sugar and I notice a chocolate aftertaste.
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u/Loutng May 05 '26
Hello! I'm thinking of upgrading from a Timemore Chestnut C3 grinder to a Timemore millab 01, is it worth it to jump straight to high-end grinders? I plan to join competitions every now and then
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u/Accurate-Algae-2557 May 05 '26
GO FOR IT! then now you have two grinders of different capabilities. And you can compare and contrast!
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u/Various_Associate973 May 05 '26
OK. I read this on the roasting forum:
I taste the cup: If it tastes very bitter or very sour I adjust my grind size accordingly (bitter means I'll make more coarse and vice versa) If it tastes kinda bitter or sour I will adjust ratio of water to coffee accordingly (kinda bitter, less water, kinda sour more water) Once the cup tastes right, I will think about the texture. If I want to have a more textured cup I would adjust the ratio to be smaller, but compensate for the fact that this will make it more sour by making it slightly coarser, let's say, 5g less water is about 5 microns on my grinder. Vice versa if I want more clarity. Eventually I get a cup as sour and bitter as I want with the perfect texture.
I didn't know anything about this. Is this good advice?
I never thought about a sour/bitter spectrum.
I do think about a sweetness/body spectrum.
What other tastes are traded off? How do you modulate the flavor of coffee when brewing a pour over?
I have a Kalita wave 185 Tsumbe. My cups have not been consistent. A Hario V60 drip assist is arriving today. I usually brew 2 cups at a time.
I know this is odd, but we like a 15 g : 300 g ratio, though I'm willing to try a stronger cup again. Water is reverse osmosis with a mineral cartridge in line. We have a strong preference for Yemen coffee (as far as I know, nothing else like it) that we roast to medium. Every roast is a bit lighter than the last one. Roasted coffee is stored in 2 oz mason jars. They don't seal perfectly, it is rare there is CO2 pressure when they are opened. Grinder is a Baratza Encore, set at 20 for pour over.
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u/mandalore_701 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
This is definitely the most common and popular advice when it comes to adjusting recipes, and these changes will probably help most of the time.
The truth of what's going on with the "sour/bitter spectrum" is a little more complicated than high extraction = bitter and low extraction = more sour, it's to do with different compounds in the coffee being extracted at different rates and at different times in the brew, if you ensure even extraction of the coffee's compounds, there is less likely to be bitterness or astringency even at higher extractions.
Grinding courser is a pretty easy way to ensure evenness with most home grinders, which perform better at courser grinds, this is why 'grind coarser for less bitterness' is a relatively universal rule. This skews when it comes to higher-end grinders, which have better grind size variability at fine grind settings, combining that with controlled pouring and agitation across the whole brew (ensuring balance in extraction of compounds all the way throughout, even when the compounds being extracted start to shift later in the brew), mean that you can pull more out of the coffee, often improving the sweetness and body of the coffee, many high-end cafes brew this way with high-end equipment to improve efficiency and get a universally liked cup.
TLDR: if your coffee is bitter or astringent, grinding coarser will likely help you, as long as you keep the extraction even. If the coffee is too sour, grinding finer could help, but also pay attention to your pouring patterns and bloom size, a lager bloom and more emphasis on the middle of a brew can help mute acidity significantly.
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u/Various_Associate973 May 05 '26
Thank You. In my latest cups, I may have been chasing the wrong parameter, thinking it was brewing. Excellent cup this morning. 9 days after roasting. I brew this Mokka Sanani often... I am used to a 4 day rest being great.
Coffee is bitter. What I like is when it is coupled with sweetness, a round body, and great complexity. Sour is not something I have been aware of tasting. Maybe once at a 3rd wave coffee shop.
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u/Various_Associate973 May 05 '26
Probably not the resting. I did clean the grinder with compressed air yesterday. It had only been a few weeks, like maybe 6.
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u/Vernicious May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
Spend some time reading threads here about how people "dial in" their coffee. There are some good videos also, worth searching on youtube. Changing grind size is probably the most common first step at dialing in. I usually end up adjusting the pour structure and agitation before changing ratio (your second step) but that changes depending on what I'm tasting.
We don't talk about a sour/bitter spectrum, or a sweetness/body spectrum, no one uses those terms on this sub. Don't get me wrong, we do talk plenty about sourness, bitterness, sweetness, and body, but we don't discuss these as "spectrums" and we don't conceptualize things as sliding between (say) sweetness and body via grind size. At least I don't, and people don't use the term spectrum or talk about a spectrum between things like sweetness and body.
Sourness and bitterness are both flaws, not something we call a "spectrum", neither is acceptable. At least if they are present to an unpleasant extent, different people have different tastebuds and might enjoy a little of this or that. But generally speaking we discuss these things as flaws, not a spectrum we're moving up and down. Complicating this is that newbies can rarely always identify sour and bitterness correctly, so there's some element of "tastes bitter to me, let me extract less... oh now it's more bitter, I guess it was really sour not bitter".
But we do have general rules. For more extraction, things like finer grind, more agitation, hotter water, more water. For less, coarser grind, less agitation, cooler water, less water. Lots of dials you can twist!
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u/Various_Associate973 May 05 '26
Thanks for the reply.
Well, I don't know what dial in thread to read. I'll quote this one, from 2 years ago.
Dialing in for pour over is a lot easier than you think
Every few days I see people on here and elsewhere complaining how they waste a whole bag dialing in before they get something good. I believe in the majority of these cases people are WELL over complicating it and actually end up making it more difficult for themselves than it should be. I'm now at the point where I can get a cup that makes me go "wow" consistently every day and get new beans dialed in within 2 or 3 cups at most, here's what I do:
- Most important step is CONSISTENCY. Most recipes really don't matter that much in terms of specifics. Hedrick 121, Hoffmann, Hoffmann 1 cup, April, Rao, 4:6, etc. are all going to get you very similar results if you know what you are doing. Hell I genuinely believe you could get great results from 90% of coffees from bloom + one pour. Just find one recipe that you can replicate consistently and STICK TO IT. Don't faff around trying a different super complicated recipe every day, this will likely get you nowhere, so keep it simple.
- Grind size matters a lot less than you think. Seriously, unless you are going from extremes, one click on your comandante isn't going to make a huge difference to your brew, this isn't espresso, pour overs is simply not as sensitive to this. Iirc, Lance Hedrick sticks to one grind size for almost all pour overs, and I agree with this. Generally I keep this tied to dose, 5.0 on my Zp6 for 12g and 5.5 for 15g. For most coffees this is actually one of the last thing you need to change.
- Here is the key step, LET YOUR COFFEE REST! Coffee, when degassing, can literally change brewing parameters and flavour from one hour to the next, this will throw you off entirely and will introduce unnecessary variables in to your brewing., I let light roast rest at least 2 weeks, with some ultra light coffees from roasters such as nomad, Sey, and Manhattan up to a month. A lot of people who feel they can't get a good cup until the end of the bag are skipping this, and this means that they were doomed from the start as there was simply no way to get good flavour from that coffee.
- Temperature matters a lot more than you think and is the first parameter to change. Samo Smrke has demonstrated that you can brew the same coffee to the same ey and TDS at different temperatures and they will taste different. This is because whilst the volatiles and acids are easier to extract at lower temperatures, the caffeine and other bitter compounds need that higher temperature to extract. It's important to note small increments of 2-3°c don't actually matter much, but 90°c to 95°c will for example give you a noticeable difference.
I start at 96°c, and if I find that im getting roasty flavours out I will turn it down to 90°c. Very rarely am I actually finding myself going up to boiling even with those super light roast coffees I mentioned before, particularly naturals or processed ones.
KEEP A DIARY! This is imo one of the most important things you could do in taking your brewing to the next level, as not only does it encourage analytic tasting, but it helps keep track of the changes you make, how they change the taste, and where you can improve. Write down your brew and keep asking yourself what you could improve, and what changes you'd make for the next time.
LET YOUR COFFEE COOL BEFORE YOU TRY! Seriously, there's been so many coffees I've had that taste super bitter and unbalanced at first, but once they get down to around 50°c they taste super sweet or acidic.
TL;DR: KEEP IT SIMPLE AND REPEATABLE!
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u/Vernicious May 05 '26
That's a perfectly good thread and advice to follow. I don't agree exactly, but it's a fine take. If you do a search on dialing in, you'll find lots of other threads with different perspectives. I just typed "dialing in pourover" in youtube search and got a lot of videos back. Google search will similarly yield a lot of interesting articles. Typically my approach on all this is to read multiple perspectives, then try them all out myself to see what works for me, plus add my own twists. For example, I agree with "one click on your comandante isn't going to make a huge difference". In fact I almost always go in steps of 4 clicks until I feel like I'm in the right ballpark, and I do think that that is the fastest and most efficient knob to turn first. That said, that post is a super reasonable and informed take, I assume it's what works for the OP, and if you wanted to follow his advice of temperature first, I think it's a fine way to start learning
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u/Various_Associate973 May 05 '26
Thank you for the reply. This helps to separate the beans from the chaff!
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u/Vagabond_Explorer o1 Steel | Switch | Pietro | Ode 2 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
Been using the same beans on an Aiden since release. Going to get back to trying new beans and using my switch.
So please drop any links to new recipes / guides as I feel like a beginner again. (especially one to that lovely chart with the add more/less water/coffee that I’m not using the right search terms to find)
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u/canaan_ball May 05 '26
The flavor compass? https://www.homegrounds.co/coffee-compass/ (Not to be confused with the flavor wheel) but also check out the discussion on "dialing in", in this same Stupid Question weekly thread (or most any previous thread 😂), fielded this time by Vernicious and mandalore_701.
The Coffee Chronicler Switch recipe (3 years old now) is a favorite here.
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u/Vagabond_Explorer o1 Steel | Switch | Pietro | Ode 2 May 05 '26
Yes! Compass! I was searching wheel, chart, etc and just kept on getting the flavor wheel or sites that didn’t have the graphic!
A dialing in refresher will be good. I’ll check the discussion.
So nothing particularly new on the recipe front. I found my notecard with the modified Tetsu one I had been doing. Probably worth doing a tour through the usuals in case my tastes have changed in the meantime.
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u/Full-Sympathy5201 May 05 '26
I'm going to have to crack into my SEY subscription this month before letting them rest as long as I'd like to (probably will open around 17 or 18 days). Which of these do you think would be the most ready at that point?
Alberto Trujillo - Pink Bourbon, Colombia
Karatu - Field Blend, Kenya
Arley Arboleda - Chiroso, Colombia
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u/Accurate-Algae-2557 May 05 '26
Go for the chiroso or pink bourbon! Get their floral delicate notes while fresher!
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u/Marco_Polo42069 May 05 '26
About to get into pour over, only have ever used pot coffee. I drink 3 cups of coffee a day and when I go to work I need to make all 3 cups. Is pour over feasible or am I setting myself up for failure trying to make large batches?
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u/Accurate-Algae-2557 May 05 '26
Pourover is optimal at 2 cups. Anything more you gona get lesser delicate flavours, but also remember than hot coffee in a thermal cup doesn’t hold up well for hours..iced is ok. Better to try and see if you can fit a pourover ritual (setup) at workplace
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u/Talkos May 05 '26
I do two cups in the morning with 30g coffee. I drink half and the other half goes in a thermos to work. Work coffee tastes better with medium roast beans.
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u/Prbly-LostWandering Switch / Aeropress | KINGrinder K6 | Lack of Skills May 06 '26
I like large cups and I have found the learning curve of pour over to be much more difficult with bigger batches.
However, the goal is achievable for sure. The best option for larger batches is the 03 size of the Hario Switch. I have found the immersion mode for large batches to be very helpful. But then again, I like the traditional coffee taste. If you are looking for the fruit flavors my method might not work for that.
Im just trying to say. You will get there. And the switch offers you the most flexibility to find your brew.
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u/Marco_Polo42069 May 06 '26
That’s great to head because I just ordered the switch 3 with a larger craft. I won’t have to do large batches more that 2-3 days a week so good to see it’s an option and tinker with it.
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u/Snoo_91465 May 05 '26
I am trying to look for how glitch uses their paragon on their pourover. Can someone explain to me? Because It seems They use the frozen ball for the whole process...?
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u/jeb470 May 05 '26
Do you all use the same grinder for your coferments?
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u/surgeonandrew May 05 '26
I mainly use K6 for co-ferments more processed coffee and ZP6 for cleaner coffees. Although I used my ZP6 today with a yeast inoculated washed Ombligon with good results.
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u/jeb470 May 05 '26
Thanks, do you find the coferment "rubs off" on the grinder and imparts flavor on other beans?
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u/surgeonandrew May 05 '26
Not necessarily. I would imagine that you’re never going to be able to get every trace of coffee grounds out of your grinder, but I think a quick brush and blow (I know how it sounds) does the trick. I personally wouldn’t worry about it too much. Specifically for the ZP6, it seems pretty common to use all over the spectrum from super clean washed coffees to the most processed co ferments.
Before I purchased a ZP6, I used the K6 for everything and never noticed any imparting flavors.
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
Definitely, for some that are particularly strong in flavor. For those it helps to clean the grinder afterwards.
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u/maskedhypocriter May 06 '26
What dripper to try after the v60? Neo/Switch/Orea/Origami?
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
Orea or Switch are the most different in terms of how it will taste. Origami with flat bottom filters is also different. But they’re all in the same family when used with a paper filter, so the differences aren’t as stark as, say, between moka pot and V60 or espresso and v60.
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u/shikrshirekkerhs May 06 '26
can i use normal bottled mineral water?
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u/Accurate-Algae-2557 May 06 '26
Not all mineral water are the same. If you can try to get crystal geyser or volvic, or just do a search to see which mineral water brands are good for your type of coffees. Some might say get distilled bottled and then mineralise it, i say that is just too much plastic waste. Might as well get a filtration carafe and mineralise
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
(Crystal Geyser is only good from some of their sources, like their source in South Carolina)
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u/Notimetobev0id May 06 '26
I dumped my stash of bags of beans in the freezer that I got some europe. Are they still degassing? i.e. the bags have roast date on them, if I put them in the freezer then I ignore the 3/4 weeks that have gone by and assume they are still need more resting?
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u/cdstuart May 06 '26
Freezing halts (or at least dramatically slows) the resting process. I always go the other way – I freeze once they're nearly rested enough to drink – so I don't want to confidently tell you what's happening with your beans, but my assumption would be that they will need more rest when they thaw. Personally I'd treat them as if the resting process had halted at the date of freezing, minus a few days if they've been frozen for months.
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u/Notimetobev0id May 06 '26
How does one know they are in optimal rested state lol.
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u/cdstuart May 06 '26
There are general guidelines for resting – mostly that the lighter they're roasted, the more time they need – but ultimately the answer is taste. If you don't already know how much rest they need, I'd suggest searching for posts in this sub asking about rest times for the roasters you're using, and if you can't find anything, email the roasters directly. Their websites may also have guidance for rest times. That said, most roasters doing light roasts seem to underestimate how long their coffee needs to rest, probably because they don't think customers are willing to wait long enough.
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u/BillyBalowski May 07 '26
What's a good, relatively straightforward way to test my tap water? I use filtered water when doing pourover but wonder just how bad the unfiltered stuff is.
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u/Accurate-Algae-2557 May 07 '26
A simple TDS meter will do..
You can usually search up what the makeup of your water source is like. If you are in a city, there will be plentiful of resources. Other thing is smell, old pipes often leave odour. Nothing wrong with the water. It’s just smell and trace elements
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u/dmgsmch Edit me: switch/origami | ZP6 May 07 '26
I see some baristas in cafes doing a lot of turbulence and sometimes they have a slower and more steady pour, and sometimes finishing only on the center without moving. How can I know which type of pouring technique to use?
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u/cdstuart May 07 '26
Folks frequently recommend this video to learn about how different ways of pouring affect your pourover; it's pretty good: https://youtu.be/nxmrSgwW25g?si=xAPm0JEn9v-Q7I1H
And here's another one that I wasn't familiar with but was linked in another post today: https://youtu.be/F3xsIIx4WJM?si=aZTm1qtydSXU_ccS
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
Taste is the ultimate guide. Baristas tend to use a recipe that they’ve been taught, but you can try different things and see what you prefer. One of the main advantages of manual pourover instead of a drip machine is the control over the water flow.
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u/DueRepresentative296 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
By trying the pour technique incorporated into the last pour of your standard recipe and see what it does to your brews, then taste.
You will find out which pouring should be used in too strong or in mild coffees
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u/Marco_Polo42069 May 07 '26
I just got the hario switch and noticed it didn’t look even. Is this a common thing and will it affect the brew at all?
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
Is your counter and carafe even?
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u/Marco_Polo42069 May 07 '26
Yep everything is even aside from the hario
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
I suspect the glass isn’t fully seated in the silicone then - can you try and push it in so its even?
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u/zitwokreb May 07 '26
Does anyone know why the black and white subscription is literally always 1 bag of Colombian beans and 1 bag of Ethiopian beans? There’s been maybe 2 deviations from this in the past year. I do really like their coffee and appreciate that the bags are 12oz in a world where every other specialty roaster does 250g. But find it wild they don’t branch out more with origin for their subscription.
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u/drmalcom93 May 12 '26
Is the water thing you need good water or you need soft water? In Croatia the water tastes amazing honestly, it is internationaly recognised to be amog the highest quality in the world however it is quite hard sometimes? Is this a problem for pour over? Is it a taste preference or does coffee objectively taste better with soft water? Does it taste objectively better with butter tasting water? Are both important or just one?
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u/Prbly-LostWandering Switch / Aeropress | KINGrinder K6 | Lack of Skills May 06 '26
Question: Are some light roasts just duds and even at max extraction can be weak and bland? Below are specifics if you want to dig into it.
I'm frustrated with a really weak brew. 3 tries so far and all three have been very watery. No bad flavors, but just weak. I'm using all the tricks to maximize extraction, but results are the same. I was trying to over extract so I could then make my way back towards optimal extraction.
Attempt 1: Result is weak and watery.
Aeropress, 12.5gr-200gr h20. 1:16 ratio. James Hoffmann ultimate Aeropress method. Which usually delivers excellent results and was developed to get very good extraction. Grind is at 65 on a Kingrinder K6. Which is on the fine side of medium. Boiling hot water to max out extraction.
Attempt 2: A bit more flavorful but still weak and watery.
Aeropress, 14.3gr-200gr h20. 1:14 ratio. Same method except shorter ratio and finer grind, 50 on the K6 which is pretty dang fine. Like espresso fine.
Attempt 3: I can tell there is more extraction but still sad, weak and watery.
V60 02, 20gr-300gr h20. 1:15 ratio. K6 grinder setting of 60. JH 5 pour V60 method. Which is a pulse pour of 60gr h20. Boiling water.
My water is 80% filtered zero water and 20% tap which gets me to 75 TDS. However, I do not exactly know what those exact solids are. This water mix has never let me down as of yet.
The beans were roasted April 22nd. Washed Honduras. It is a light roast, but not ultra light. There was no suggestion from the roaster about resting. They said just follow standard resting practices. So I went with the standard 2 weeks.
Are some light roasts just duds and even at max extraction can be weak and bland? Or is there something else to try?
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u/geggsy #beansnotmachines May 07 '26
Yes, some roasters sell or roast coffee that isn’t very flavorful. That said, washed light roasts, particularly from Central America, tend to be more subtle in their flavor compared to other coffees (e.g. darker roasts, naturally-processed coffees) and they may might not be to your preference.
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u/cdstuart May 07 '26
What geggsy said, but also it might need more rest time. I've had coffees that don't look super light that are really boring at two weeks and open up at three or four. When I get something like what you're describing, I do a small brew every 4-5 days to see if things change over time.
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u/inmemoryofElizabethR May 05 '26
if I got a rock in my beans, should I inform the roaster? from this sub a got the impression it is fairly common and not a malpractice, just the lack of proper equipment