Better Coffee Q&A

Thanks for reaching out via our questionnaire. 

I understand your brewing routine, and I agree to some extent. It is quicker and easier to use auto-drip in the mornings when we’re trying to get off to work and in a hurry. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to be able to cultivate a slower routine in the morning that allows me to take the time to do all manual brewing, and I enjoy that ritual. Your Chemex brew on weekends and holidays is more up my alley. 

Though I will say, you must be having a heck of a time getting that Chemex to flow using a blade grinder. Blade grinders produce either completely pulverized coffee or wildly different grind sizes, if you’re trying to grind for drip or French press. Chemex brewers tend to flow a lot slower than other drippers because they don’t have any ridges for water to grab onto and run down. The surface area is completely smooth, so it creates a lot of drag for the water trying to go through that restricted opening at the bottom. Having a lot of fines in your bed of grounds is going to exacerbate this problem and clog up the filter considerably. You’ll have the same issue with auto-drip, but I’d be willing to bet you’re using a brewer with a flat bottom brew basket, so it’s alleviating the issue to some extent. 

Couple things about coffee itself. You mention La Minita is your favorite. That’s good taste. The roaster in New Orleans you buy from sells a lot of blends, which indicates to me that they aren’t sourcing excellent single origin coffees. Blenders are lower quality. You also said as they’ve gotten bigger, the quality has decreased. That could be from growth, but it could also be from the tariffs and C market craziness over the past couple years. There came a point where coffee was so expensive that most roasters made the decision to buy lower quality coffee to insulate themselves from that price spike. I struggled with this, but at the end of the day I felt like I had no choice but to raise my prices and pay the market rate for top tier coffee. So it’s tricky. You really just have to find a roaster you trust, learn as much about them as possible, and make sure they continue to sell high quality, fresh coffee. 

Also, get a burr grinder. Thanks Frank!

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Couple things here. No complaints about your coffee? That’s my kind of gal! 

I complain about my own coffee. But I’m probably just a malcontent. 

There are many things that can (and do) go wrong with coffee from way back to when and what and where the farmer planted the seeds, all the way up to grinding and brewing. Freshness, for instance. In my opinion, coffee should be consumed within a couple weeks of being roasted. Most roasters don’t do that. Coffee goes stale (rancid coffee oils) and tastes yucky. Speaking of roasters, each one roasts coffee differently. Well, I say that. They used to. Now 99% of specialty roasters are using a computer program in order to ensure their coffee tastes just as bad as their competitors’. My coffee tastes different, for better or worse.

But Lisa, we must talk about this blade grinder. Blade grinders should never have been used for coffee. They’re actually spice grinders. And I wouldn’t even put my spices in one. If you have a pepper mill, that’s a burr grinder. And if burrs are good enough for peppercorns, they’re good enough for coffee. It’s a much better mechanism, producing ground coffee specific to the coarseness or fineness needed for the particular brewing style. Kind of like how you can have cracked pepper on your steak au poivre or finely ground pepper in your quiche. That’s what burrs do that blades cannot. They sell manual and electric burr grinders specifically made for coffee. That, in a nutshell, will make your coffee taste better. 

Anyway, off my soap box - er, coffee box?

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I like the way you roll - V60 and gooseneck kettle. That’s my morning routine. And we generally have the same taste in coffee. A shame to see that last Dembi run out. But there are better Ethiopians hopefully on the horizon. 

You say your main complaint is “uncertainty.” I can understand that. Coffee is tricky. I always tell people when you have a cup that just blows your hair back, take a minute to soak it in, because the next cup may not be that great. What can cause dramatic variations in the cup?

Well, a lot of things. As it turns out, there are a lot of differences in coffee grinders. Even though you’re using a burr grinder, there are probably better ones out there that would make a better cup of coffee, more consistently. Right now I’m using a Zerno Z1. I like it, but I haven’t gotten into the fun stuff - changing out the auger and burr set. The feed and the type of burrs can change the coffee. Also, flat burrs are much better than conical burrs. Most of us who have home coffee grinders have conical burrs. Because flat burr grinders are expensive. Conical burrs tend to have play in them that create an uneven grind, whereas flat burrs are static and only let through grounds that are a certain size or smaller. The best grinders I’ve used at home are the Mahlkonig EK43S, which is a monster meant for commercial use. It was great, just took up all my counter space. I used a Pinecone Pinion at home for a while too. That’s a great flat burr grinder. But it’s too tall for most cabinets. So that’s tough. 

Other thing that could be causing you undue variation is water temperature. I love the manual stovetop kettles, but I finally succumbed to using a Fellow Stagg because I can set the temp and forget it. There are kettles with a better pour spout, but the Stagg has a nice heating mechanism that seems fairly reliable. Believe it or not, altering your start temp by 1-2˚F can change the taste of the coffee. 

Obviously, you’re using a scale. Right? Oh dear. I know people who have tried to eyeball it, and that can’t end well.

First, thanks for being a loyal DoubleShot customer. Nice to hear you’re enjoying the coffees. You have a broad taste spectrum, enjoying both Ethiopian and Sumatran coffee. That’s unusual and refreshing to read. 

Sounds like you have your brewing ritual all sewn up, for the most part. Burr grinder, auto-drip, filtered water, descaling regularly.

Not sure what type of drip brewer you’re using, but they range from really good to really bad. Ratio 8 to Mr Coffee. I have long dreamt of building my own brewer, and at one point I even purchased the brain and sensors needed to do it. Lately I’m back on the hunt for the perfect brewer, and thinking hard about building one again. So stay tuned. 

One thing I ran into recently was a friend notifying me that the Moccamaster filters had changed all of a sudden. You probably don’t think much about coffee filters, but they can make a big difference. I emailed Technivorm, and they assured me they did extensive testing on the new filters and they have the same flow rate. Problem is, my friend gave me some of the old filters and some of the new filters, and I ordered some filters from another brand called CAFEC. I did a flow rate test with those, plus the standard grocery store Melitta filter. All of the filters performed pretty close to the same, EXCEPT the new Moccamaster filter, which flowed substantially slower. Pre-wetting the filters increased their flow rate a little across the board. But who wants to pre-wet a drip filter? 

Point is, filter paper can make a difference, believe it or not. Once you dial in the specific filter you use, stick with it. If it changes, you either need to change with it or change filter brands. 

Only other thing you might try is experimenting with various brewing methods for fun to see how the coffee can taste different in a French press or moka pot or V60 pourover or aeropress or whatever. And depending on what grinder you’re using, you can almost always buy a nicer one!

Thank you for filling out our Better Coffee questionnaire. 

We can definitely help you make better coffee at home. I think I have some suggestions for starters.

I like that you’re using a manual burr grinder. I use a Comandante every day at home to make coffee, and it’s really an enjoyable part of the process for me.

The AeroPress is a tricky brewer. The original method for using it is solid, but there have been endless variations that people have come up with for brewing with the AeroPress. The guy who invented it is really smart, and I tend to stick with his approach. You probably already know this, but because of the simplicity of the device, grind size and pressure are interrelated. The only way to increase the pressure is to make the grind finer. Because increase in pressure and a finer grind both speed up the rate of extraction, they multiply the effect in the AeroPress. But without pressure, the device is just a drip coffee maker. So you have to find the grind size that creates an optimal amount of pressure - hard to press but not so hard that it clogs up. Once that’s set, you need to control the rate of extraction via water temperature. Unlike most other brewing methods, the AeroPress tends to be best used with a cooler water temp - the directions recommend 175ºF. If you’re careful to control all these variables, you should get consistent results. 

Not sure if you’re adding hot water after brewing, but I like mine cut with 1:1 ratio of water to make something resembling an americano. I think the flavors of the coffee comes through a lot better diluted a bit.

If you like single origin naturals, you should definitely try this coffee: DoubleShotCoffee.com  I’ve been drinking it in the mornings at home, and the aromatics are amazing.

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I think we can help you make better coffee at home. I remember a few years ago you asked about making bigger batches of coffee for guests. Hopefully you figured something out for that - I know it’s a challenge scaling up and maintaining quality.

One thing we haven’t talked about is how you’re making pourovers. I assume you’re using a scale? Let’s talk ratios. There are a lot of opinions about what the right ratio is for making coffee, but I like a substantial cup. So we do a 1:12 ratio. So often in the mornings I’m using 30g coffee and 360g water. (If you need a scale, I recommend this one.) For me, part of the beauty of making coffee by hand every day is messing around with the variables. So I’m constantly changing the water temp I brew with (between 198-201º), changing the grind size by 1-2 clicks on my Comandante  and even brewing with a different ratio. I find, in general, that my best cups come when I dial in a grind size that has a flow rate in the V60 such that I don’t get much pooling when I pour about as slow as my kettle will allow. Once I find that grind size, I try to remain patient and pour slowly for the entire brew, and then I just brew with different water temps and see what various aromatics play out at each temp. You wouldn’t think it would be that specific, but I find that it is. I enjoy trying to find the best set of variables for each coffee, but I also enjoy the variety I can get from one coffee. Seems to be a moving target anyway - guessing that as the coffee gets further from its roast date, its flow rate changes and different flavors develop.

Don’t know if you’ve tried it yet, but we have a micro-lot 100% Caturra variety from La Minita that is pretty tasty, and something we’ve never seen before from them. 

Thanks for taking the time to fill out our Better Coffee questionnaire.

I think I can help you make better coffee.

Chemex can be a bit of a tricky beast. I used to think that the filter was clinging to the sides of it and creating an air pocket in the base that slowed down the flow rate, but after doing some experiments with other devices, I actually found that it’s the smooth sides that create a sheeting action which seems to cause pooling around the sides and slows down the drip out. In contrast, the V60 has ridges that give the water something to grab onto and it flows out in streams. I have found one trick that helps with this. Be careful doing this, but if you try putting something under the edge of the chemex to tilt it just a bit, more water runs to the front of the brewer and it drips out faster. Other than that, you just need to find a grind size that is coarse enough that water doesn’t pool up too much when you pour very slowly. If you’re using our coffee, you should be brewing with a water temp that is around 200ºF. The lighter roasted coffees require a higher temp. And then it’s all about the ratio of coffee to water that you are using. We do a 1:12 ratio, which is on the strong side for the industry, but that’s what I like. So if you were using 50 grams of coffee, you’d want to pour 600 grams of water. If you are eyeballing it, you should get a scale. I recommend this one: Hario V60 drip scale  I’ve been using it at home for years. 

Once you get all that sorted, changing the water temp 1-2º or changing your grind size slightly will change the taste of the coffee. So you can play around with the variables until you find a cup you really enjoy.

Also, if you want to forget about all that, I’m pretty sure you could make better coffee by just buying this one: DoubleShotCoffee.com

Thanks for filling out Better Coffee questionnaire. I can definitely help you with this.

I didn’t really drink coffee until after college, and started out making coffee on backpacking trips with Folgers sold in tea bags that we just immersed in hot water. I can’t imagine how bad that must’ve tasted, but I didn’t know any better. 

So, once I got really curious about coffee and started learning the ways, I made this long progression that eventually led me to this lifelong quest for ultimate coffee bliss (or whatever). You, Darla, are on your way, I can tell. 

So there are some basic things you can change that will improve your coffee without a doubt. The bitterness you’re experiencing comes from a couple of things. First is over-extraction. And this is happening because you are using a blade grinder. Blade grinders are actually spice mills that someone figured they could market to coffee consumers - not really designed for making good coffee. What you need is a burr grinder. It is adjustable so that you can get an even grind size throughout, and alter the coarseness based on how you are brewing the coffee (drip coffee needs a finer grind than french press, for instance). Here’s a good entry-level burr grinder: DoubleShotCoffee.com

If you change nothing else, this will improve your coffee.

BUT, there are a couple of other things you should consider. One is the ratio of coffee to water you are using in your coffeemaker. And the other is the coffee itself.

I recommend a 1:16 ratio of coffee to water. So if you have a “10-cup pot,” which actually is 10 x 4oz cups, you would want to use around 74 grams of coffee (2.6 ounces) per pot. There’s really no way to get the accurate amount of coffee without a scale. Any scale will do, but if you think you’ll eventually want to get into making coffee by hand one day, you might as well invest in this Hario drip scale.

As for the coffee, every one is different, and every roaster is different. So you just have to try different things until you hit on something you enjoy. One of my favorites right now is this Ethiopian coffee. Coffee freshness is super important because coffee will taste noticeably stale 7-10 days after roasting. So we always ship out fresh coffee, and I roast twice a week. A lot of the bigger roasters only sell stale coffee, so you might peck around at some smaller roasters to see if that improves your coffee as well.

Thanks for filling out our better coffee questionnaire.

Sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right. Good to see that you’re using the V60 and a burr grinder. That’s what I use at home most of the time.

After I started using a Comandante, I sold my Baratza Virtuoso because I enjoy the manual grinding each morning and the coffee is a bit better because of the consistent grind size.

Interesting that your favorite coffee is Kenyan. We have had some tasty Kenyans in the past, but the Kenyan auction system drives the prices up to a point where it’s difficult for me to find excellent coffees at a reasonable price. I’ve really enjoyed the clarity and variety in our Panama coffees  I think because it’s so close, I’ve been able to become friends with the coffee growers and that helps when buying coffee.

So, probably the ideal flavor note you’d be looking for in a great washed Kenyan is blackcurrant. Depending on how the coffee is roasted, you’ll need to adjust your grind size so that you get a decent flow rate through the filter so that when you pour slowly, you don’t get a lot of pooling. Very light roasted coffees act like a sieve, so they’re difficult to brew in my opinion. Also, in my experience, the lighter the roast, the higher you’ll want your water temp. But I’d say start with 200 and work up and down 1-2º from there to see the variations in taste. 

As far as your method, I suggest letting the coffee bloom for half a minute or so before continuing your pour to brew the coffee. 

Ratio of coffee to water is a big one, and everyone has a different opinion. We use 1:12 at the DoubleShot, and that’s usually what I do at home. But most people recommend a much more water-heavy ratio. I sometimes enjoy doing a 1:10 just to get a stronger cup. But you might try 1:12 and see what you think.

If you aren’t using a scale, I recommend this one: DoubleShotCoffee.com

Thanks or filling out our Better Coffee questionnaire. I can definitely help you make better coffee.

It seems you’re at a similar place to where I found myself years ago on my coffee journey. People told me that French Press was an excellent way of brewing coffee, so I bought one, and didn’t like the results. I started doing research, and figured out what the problem was: the blade grinder.

Blade grinders aren’t really coffee grinders; they are spice mills. They’ve been marketed as coffee grinders because they are cheap and simple. But what you really need is a burr grinder. This will make the biggest difference in your coffee. Nothing is more crucial than getting the proper grind size, and a burr grinder is adjustable so that coffee will be ground to a consistent size. For French Press, you want to grind coarse- maybe the size of sesame seeds or a tad smaller. 

Tips on brewing: I like to use around 60 grams of coffee for a 32 ounce press. Grind just before brewing. Use water that is 200ºF. Fill up, wait 2 minutes and then stir. Put on the lid and wait another two minutes, and press. It’s best if you decant it after this so the fines in the bottom don’t continue to extract and make the coffee bitter. We pour ours through a metal filter just to get out as much sediment as possible. 

If you’d like to purchase a burr grinder, this is an excellent entry-level: DoubleShotCoffee.com

A scale and a thermometer are also important, if you don’t have one.

We have an amazing Ethiopian coffee right now: Worka Sakaro anaerobic natural.

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Sounds like you have a nice setup. 

The tricky thing with espresso is that brewing with force really amplifies the effects of all the other variables. So here at the DoubleShot, we teach a very specific way of dosing, leveling, and tamping and try to ensure that our baristas adhere to that unwaveringly. We’re trying to fix as many variables as possible. Then it’s obviously all about making sure your pressure pump is set at 9 bars (or whatever your preference is there). Then fiddling with the grind size until you get the flow rate you want - we shoot for 2 ounce pours in 25-30 seconds. The last thing is that, if you have the ability, changing the brew temp up or down by one degree will yield a different espresso, and that can be fun.

As far as coffee, I see that you’re on our monthly subscription at the moment. I’m going to make note on your next shipment to send you 1/2 pound of our India Monsooned Malabar and 1/2 pound of our Ambergris Espresso Blend  if that sounds good to you. The blend is specifically made to be used as espresso, and that’s what we use in-house. About 1/4 of the blend is the Malabar, and even though it’s a polarizing coffee (and I don’t necessarily recommend using it as a drip coffee), it makes a super interesting espresso loaded with crema.

If you ever need service on your espresso machine, we have a full-time tech on staff who is a whiz and can fix, descale, or completely renovate your machine. And if you ever think about going fully manual with your espresso, I use the Comandante grinder and Aram espresso maker at home, and it’s a very satisfying process.

Thanks for taking the time to fill out our Better Coffee questionnaire.

First off, I’m glad you’re using our coffee and filtered water to make coffee. That’s a great start. 

Here are my suggestions for changes you can make over time.

If you’re using pure RO water, it will work, but adding back some minerals will get you a better extraction. We add back calcium carbonate just to around 50-60 ppm. So not much. This should make a tiny bit of an improvement in the taste of your coffee without causing lime scale buildup. I know there’s a packet of “Third Wave Water” that you can add, but it sort of seems like “instant water, just add water,” so I’m guessing there’s a much cheaper option out there (like adding .5g calcium carbonate powder per gallon).

One of the best investments I made early on in my coffee learnings was upgrading from a blade grinder to a burr grinder. I was really surprised at the difference it made, and it opened up possibilities for me to precisely grind for different brewing methods. So that would be my initial recommendation for upgrading your gear. (Surprised I didn’t say to get rid of the Keurig, aren’t you?) We sell a couple different burr grinders from Baratza. 

My second gear change suggestion is inexpensive. I think you should get an aeropress  It’s only $30, and will make coffee similar to an americano. It’s also a great travel brewer because it’s lightweight, small, and easy to clean up. Surprisingly makes good coffee. It’s well suited to our Ambergris too. 

Let us know if you have questions. Or if you want to see any of the gear in action, I’m sure one of my team could get you on a video chat and walk through it. Thanks for your support, Ross!