Always start the day with a pour over - V60 in the main but also Chemex, Clever and occasionally Sowden. Ritual is always the same - porcelain mug to allow heat to leech away more quickly but find I still have to wait until the coffee has cooled sufficiently. But here’s the thing - how cool should it be? Obviously, it’s down to personal preference but drinking some Chinese Gui Ben this morning, was struck by how much the coffee changed within a very few degrees gradually becoming less thin (insipid) and developing more mouthfeel. I always watch for the tell tale signs of an oil film developing on the surface at which point, for me, the coffee is drinkable but not at its best. What’s your ritual?

Since getting the Evo, the first coffee is always off her; either a short black or with milk. My pour over is mostly Clever, which I love the routine. Paper filter, SwissGold, 225g hot water first - straight from Osmio Zero and add 20g fine espresso grind and brew for 30 mins. I wrap the clever to retain heat. It’s only warmer after 30 mins. I do micro wave 15s before drinking as black. Right now, I am brewing Kenyan Mikari. The Aero Press and the Indian filter are not in use very much.

Re-watched James Hoffmann’s V60 routine - two pours - 60/40%. Had been using a recipe from a championship winner using four pours. Switching to the two pour 60/40% ratio produced really different outcomes - much preferring the Hoffmann recipe at the moment which goes to show how much you can vary the end result by altering the pours and amounts you put in during brewing.

Systemic I have watched a lot of his videos. Could you link that V60 video please ? I don’t have a V60. Not keen to invest on a gooseneck kettle only for this as the Osmio Zero is doing all the hot-water duty. 😊

Systemic Thanks to your morning post, I have ordered a plastic V60 02 for 6 quids from amazon with some 02 papers. I am going to see if I can fill directly from Osmio! Should be interesting. 😊

LMSC I have watched a lot of his videos. Could you link that V60 video please ? This is the video link:

I go through phases with my pour over kit - am in a pro V60 at the moment. Follow Hoffmann’s directions and you won’t go wrong. But let the coffee cool to get the best out of it flavour-wise.

Dunno if there’s a ;should;, but I like to start drinking around 52degC. You can’t taste properly until it’s not too hot anyway. Same sort of thing with wine and beer - they need to come up to >10degC for fuller flavours.

Agree - there is no ‘should’. With you that temps in range of 50-55c is a good place to be to get the full range of flavours from the bean.

I will give it a go with Hoffman’s method in a couple of days!

Got the plastic v60 02 from Amazon. Tried @MWJB ’s method, that too without gooseneck kettle (😂), a direct pour from Osmio Zero. The controlled pour didn’t go well, obviously. Hoffman’s method is fit for a direct pour from the Osmio Zero. It was Kenyan Mikari, as I know how it comes out on Clever. Anyways, 3.7 rotations on Jx Pro, 13.6g, ~240g of water in total and 194.5g on the cup after 6 mins and 20s. The brew time was almost double than normal. 60g bloom, 1:30 mins wait, 60g in a circle, 2mins wait (because I had to switch the pour over method), 20g in a circle every 30s and the final pour at the centre. Despite the lack of gooseneck kettle disaster, the coffee was really delicious. Balanced and sweet. It was neither sour nor bitter. The flavour was good and I had peachy necktarine fruity notes. I wonder what the EY would have been! Having exclusively brewed Clever (apart from Indian filter), the cup was really comparable. I normally steep for 30 mins, grind at the lower end of espresso range for clever and 20g:225g water. The difference was the clever cup was stronger, considering the dosage. If I were to keep all variables except the brew time the same, I doubt I can pick clever vs v60 apart. Hoffman method later this afternoon. Espresso will be for the evening ! Thx Mark and Patrick for the V60!

Pour over and brewed drinking temperature

MWJB

LMSC

LMSC I will also make a cup with @MWJB’s keeping all the same along with Hoffman’s tomorrow and compare. I doubt they will be different.

I suspect they might be, my regime is a much slower pour rate, designed for a coarser grind.

Be interesting to see what you get.

LMSC

MWJB The JX Pro pour over range is 3.4 to 3.8 turns from burrs touching. My grind is at the upper end of the pour over setting for both methods. It’s probably on a little weaker side of extraction but perfect to drink without any feeling of “oh it is a little stronger for me!” 😀

I am thinking if that’s the sweet spot. Haven’t tried grinding finer except one pour over, which I found it a tad sour-bitter. Tbh, I haven’t seriously tried grinding finer. I will do for sure.

I will however post the comparison result tomorrow.

MWJB I suspect they might be,

Btw, why do you think there might be please? I am thinking you would be expecting a relatively stronger cup using Hoffman’s, given everything is same and the nature of the pour / steep extracting a little more than yours ?

MWJB

LMSC Humans are not good at determining the strength of coffee, it’s more useful to go by sourness, siltyness & smokey bitterness (if present). Any brew ratio of around 60g/L has a tolerance of about +/-0.15%TDS anyway.

At a given ratio & grind, the slower you pour, the higher the extraction. You’re pouring at around 3g/s, my regime is closer to 1g/s, though there is some dead time with dry bed in my regime.

When I compared Hoffmann’s regime with my 1.65g/s pour regime, his didn’t extract any more than that.

LMSC

MWJB

All parameters are same

13.6g, 226g water. 3.7 Jx turns
Took boiling water from Osmio Zero on a long-neck 304 stainless steel water can, boiled off the Hob, and poured.
Between pours for both methods, kept the water can on the Hob at Sim to keep it warmer.
As usual, Kenyan Mikari

Hoffman :

27.5g bloom for 30s, 108g in 30s-1:45 mins, 90g in 1:45-2:15 mins
4:00 total time inc drawdown and 187g was the liquid
Excellent cup. Sweet and nice fruity acidity. Not bitter and perhaps a tiny / fraction of sour note just before after taste. I will probably rate this cup at 8 out of 9.

Mark

30g every 30s, each pour in circles lasting 15-20s, the final pour at the centre
4:41 mins in total after the draw down and 187.5g was the liquid
Excellent cup, very smooth, balanced, sweet, no bitterness and not sour. Very nice fruity notes. I would give 8.5 out of 9.

Comparison

Hoffman’s had relatively elevated fruity notes with a tiny sourness than Mark’s. The sourness (nit-picking) was very mild and felt it is ok as the cup was enjoyable.
I don’t think one can pick these two apart in blind tasting.
Although, I will continue improving the Hoffman method by grind adjustments, personally, I prefer Mark’s for a very clean outcome. 😊

Edit :

What I like is a tiny bit of after-taste sweetness, which lasts for a while.

DavecUK

LMSC IMHO, I think Mark knows a lot about brewing, probably more than Hoffman

LMSC

DavecUK Agree.

To be fair, Hoffman’s gets a very good cup but a tad stronger. But, Mark’s straightaway gave a cleaner and a smoother cup for sure, which is my preference. It will be interesting to see where does finer grinds would take me.

I think we are going to have to make Hoffman’s and Mark’s side by side and throw a blind-tasting challenge to @MWJB! To ensure there isn’t inconsistency, we can let him brew both side by side, ask him to leave the room and we can swap the cups to facilitate blind tasting ! 😁

LMSC

Went to my office in London after almost 2 years yesterday. It was weird but great seeing some familiar faces.

Brewed Kenyan Mikari for travel. The brew — @MWJB’s method was for 30g:500g:423.3g liquid:10:24 mins in total. Tightened the grind by 4 micro clicks to 3.6 turns instead of 3.7 turns. The cup was good, but had a noticeable lemon sour bitter after taste. It wasn’t an unpleasant after taste. I however would score this at 7 out of 9 than the previous 8.5/9.

I don’t thing a taking a half-step back is going to remove the lemon sour bitter after taste. However, I might still see what happens as it is going to be just one additional brew.

I know the the first brew setting at 3.7 turns on JX pro is the sweet spot.

It’s would just be 3 brews to find the sweet spot. 😊

LMSC

@Systemic Where do you buy your light and medium light roasts please?

It’s more of a lotto in my case as most of the roasters descriptions of their roast often fall short. Crankhouse is one exception. They never miss the beat.

Haven’t tried Foundry yet. I will get some bags as recommended by @MediumRoastSteam

Systemic

LMSC Where do you buy your light and medium light roasts please?

Origin, Horsham, Triple Co, Long & Short, North Star are some I use quite regularly. I usually buy in kilos to bring the cost down then vacuum pack in 250grm bags.

LMSC

BlackCat’s Costa Rica. The usual @MWJB’s V60 method.

15.3g:256g:213g liquid. The cup was light, perhaps on a little weaker side with muted fruity notes. Almond and Blueberry notes for me; the Evo brought this out very well as an espresso along with enhanced sweetness. I enjoyed the V60 cup and will give 7 out of 9.

Unless the tightened grind improve the notes and after taste in the next round, I will clearly prefer it as an espresso only.

With everything being equal between Kenyan Mikari and Costa Rica, Kenyan was also fantastic to brew. Of course, Kenyan was a light roast and Costa Rica is a medium roast.

Edit:

The beauty of brew / pour over is the simplicity complimenting a lovely cup of coffee every time, thanks to folks like Mark and Hoffman doing all the hard-core research!

MWJB

Costa Ricans tend to be less soluble, so maybe a little more coffee could help with the intensity?

LMSC

MWJB I didn’t know this. Will try grinding finer for a cup and perhaps 65/70g a L for another. I am also thinking of a long steep on Clever.

As a guide or an indication, are there any other origins, which are less soluble like Costa Ricans ?

Thx

MWJB

Well, I aim to keep things constant, so that no origins drop into weak/bland territory. For the ones that extract more, additional strength doesn’t seem to bother me if the flavour is good.

But in answer to your question, origins that extract on the lower side are:

Honduras

Brazil

Nicaragua

El Salvador

Costa Rica

Guatemala

This doesn’t indicate they’re not tasty, I really like Nicaragua & El Salvador overall & had some delicious Hondurans It’s just if brews are scoring low just because of weakness (even if balance is OK), using a bit more coffee can fix that problem (adjusting for similar extraction).

E.g. I generally prefer my coffee over 1.30%TDS. If I brewed at 60g/l a lot of my cups will land at, or lower than 1.30%, even at a good extraction.

LMSC

MWJB

Thanks Mark. Although the Costa Rica Natural was a bit weaker, it was a clean and a sweet cup. As you observed, it’s easily fixable by adding a few more beans, long steep on clever, fine grind, … It’s fantastic as espresso! 😊

LMSC

Update on Blackcat’s Costa Rica - After toying between tighter grind and a few extra beans for strength, I have settled on a slightly tightened grind. It is still at the end of the pour over range. I am good here.

Thomson Coffee Rugali - It is not a light roast as they claimed. It’s definitely a medium roast for me. Brewed this today.

15g coffee: same grind size, 250g water, Mark’s method, 201g liquid in 4:45 mins.

A very enjoyable cup. Distinct orange notes and caramel after taste. A tad bitter. I will loosen the grind, which should do.

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