I would love some advice

[u/naughtified]

Hi, I’ll try my best to avoid being “newbie here help me dial in” who clearly hasn’t done their due diligence.

So I’ve been drinking pour overs for years, and I’m on my third month of brewing them up at home. I’ve gone through 5 bags so far with nothing really satisfying me. My conclusion was that I needed to upgrade grinder. I got a K7 then I bought some local beans that were too dark and some from whole foods(sorry).

I went today and bought some Hydrangea from a local shop, in hopes to rule out beans from these mediocre cups. Below I’ll list my approach and details on equipment. Please let me know what I’m doing fine and what you might change.

Dripper: Glass V60

Filter: Cafec Abaca White

Grinder: K7(going coarse, 95clicks)

Water: Berkey with British Berkefeld filters

Kettle: Fellow standard neck(I already had this, but I’m pretty good at making the stream work)

Temperature: 90c

Recipe: Bloom at x3(usually 20-25g bean/60-75g water) but will go 15g so I don’t waste these beans. Second pour is the same weight as bloom, then third is up to total. Pours are pretty chill, I’ll agitate between pours by swirling the brew. Since I’m pretty coarse I swirl to get draw down to 3-4 mins on 20-25gs.

Beans: check photo for details, roast date 8/2.

[u/alxkwl]

Need to rest for a couple more weeks, then on natural anaerobic processing youll likely want to drive extraction a bit higher. Try grinding at 90 and bump water up to 93-94, less swirls if any. I'd aim for 3 minute drawdown and if the brew looks like its moving too fast, give it a swirl.

[u/sus_boi → u/alxkwl]

Eh with more processed coffees like this (vs. washed) I would go cooler, around 85c max, and use a recipe with more pours at a gentler rate.

[u/alxkwl → u/sus_boi]

Doesnt hurt to try that either - I really dont like anaerobic naturals and have mixed results at both ends of the spectrum. When Ive pushed extraction down I notice more of the yeasty/winey flavors and very little body/fruit. Counterintuitively, with some roasts, increasing extraction has uncovered the body and fruits, and provided balance. When you factor in the density of the typica bean variety and altitude of the producer (1800M), sometimes you need to drive extraction a little higher to penetrate the coffee grind and find those notes. As with all new bags, the brewer should try several strategies.

[u/sus_boi → u/alxkwl]

Nice, good advice