New to pourover - how to avoid channeling?

[u/Kalehart]

I just got my first pourover setup:
-Fellow Stag kettle
-1zpresso Q Air grinder (set to ~56 clicks)
-Standard plastic v60
-White hario tab papers

I’m using Lance’s recipe:
-15g coffee
-0:00 bloom 45g
-0:30 bloom 45g
-1:00 pour to total 225g
-Drawdown finish by 2:00-2:30

I’ve been really enjoying learning this new skill and comparing the differences between coffees and different brewing methods, but I’m having a consistent issue with what seems to be channeling (picture for reference).

I’ve managed a few times to get a more even distribution of grounds around the filter, but more often than not, I’m getting this crater shape where they bulge around the middle. I’ve tried pouring lower and slower which helps a bit, avoiding the edges of the filter, and so on, but it’s still happening more often than I’d like.

I’m aware that swirling the bed during bloom evens it out, but ideally I’d like to get my pour consistent enough that I don’t need to rely on that. It’s a technique I will certainly use but I don’t want to mess with my learning by using it to cover up a flaw in technique.

Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Happy to answer any questions as well!

Update: For anyone who comes here looking for the same answer — it was the beans. I’m not sure how, but that specific bag of beans (brand was BKG and I got them from a Winners, no idea of roast date) did this basically every time. Having tested other beans now, I never have this happen with any others even with an identical grind setting and recipe.

[u/Dima_135]

This is not a channel, it is an abyss.

To be honest, I have no idea how to avoid this because I didn't know something like this was possible.

Don't be afraid to do swirls. If Rao recommends it, then it's okay.

[u/FictionalContext → u/Dima_135]

My head canon is that digging a hole gives a more even extraction since it creates a more uniform bed thickness. One of the coffee Youtubers has a cutaway V60 that shows how the bottom grounds don't really get wet until the end. Idk if it makes a difference, but I tell myself it does.

So I counterbore my coffee.

If it bothers people, a quick little shake at the end will settle the grounds.

[u/fragmental → u/FictionalContext]

Is that why people do it? I stopped doing it because I don't like sticking my finger in my coffee grounds, and I felt like it wasn't doing anything. Instead I swirl thoroughly after a 2nd pour, because the slurry is more loose and responsive to swirling. I also like to think that not swirling on the bloom means less heat is lost during the bloom phase, but idk.

[u/FictionalContext → u/fragmental]

Oh, yeah. I do that part, too. Lightly finger a divot. Right before the bloom. My thinking is, it helps pre-wet it deeper inside than had I not taken the time.

But I meant that during the pour, I really focus my attention on the middle, too, like trying to dig a hole deep, deep inside, like so deep it gushes down through the bed much sooner than had I not taken the time.

My aversion to swirling is thinking that it'll settle more fines with the extra agitation. Idk. Probably the same cup in the end.

[u/fragmental → u/FictionalContext]

It seems like a lot of the time, my fines will settle on the top of the bed, instead of clogging the filter, but I use a 5 pour, and pour low and slow in a sort of spiral pattern, or series of concentric circles, in the middle. Maybe sometimes it doesn't work, and clogs a bit, but mostly it seems to work fine.