The Moving Target

Thanks for filling out our Better Coffee questionnaire.

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.