Not sure, if we have a thread for this. I couldn’t find. This is one of my favourite brews. It’s faster, easier and always give a lovely cup - be it @"MWJB"#139’s or Hoffman’s method. Mostly, I use Mark’s as I find the cup is a little cleaner than Hoffman’s. Yesterday, I opened the [Ethiopian Haru Washed](https://www.thomsonscoffee.com/products/ethiopia-haru?_pos=2&_sid=4420db8ae&_ss=r&variant=39311835398231). Pulled a few shots and brewed on Clever. The cups were ok. I wasn’t impressed, given the cup score of 87.25. I bought this as a light roast. It’s a medium light for me. I am drinking a cup from V60 now after brewing this. The dosage details are: 3.9 Jx Pro rotations, 16.3g powder, 272g water and got 237g liquid. I used Mark’s method, 30g every 30s pouring in circles. The each pour lasted 8-11s. The last pour was at the centre. The total time was 5:01 mins. The cup was very clean, light, very smooth, full of citrus flavours and sweet citrus notes, which are Bergamot orange. As a result, there is a little bit of fruity bitterness, which also creeps in disturbing what is otherwise a good bag. I am therefore not a great fan of this bag. If one is brewing this exclusively or drinking it as a long black, it is good as long as one is aware of the tiny fruity bitter aftertaste. It won’t cut with milk! We buy beans, which can be a very good milk-based coffee and also pull a nice brew. I don’t think I will buy this bag again. It is not for us. It was good buy considering I paid about £23 for a KG vs the full price of £33 and has a cup score of 87.25. If you want to buy, please try a smaller bag and see if this is for you.

I do enjoy a V60 from time to time as well.

@"DavecUK"#p15221 How clean, easy and very good the cup has become, thanks to a lot of hard work and contributions by @"MWJB"#139 and Hoffman. I don’t even have to wonder what my grind size is. Just start with the same settings and a few clicks change are all required.

Blackcat El Salvador Los Luchadores with a cup score of 86.5 Mark’s method. 16.4g, 275g water, 4:44 mins, 242g liquid. Cranberry and chocolate after taste for me. Very nice black coffee.

@"MWJB"#139 Thanks to all your research work on various brew types and Hoffman’s on V60, the pour overs have become easier. It’s very difficult to get the brews wrong. Many thanks mate!

Thanks & you're most welcome :-) It warms my heart to see folk getting pleasing brews. When I first started making brewed coffee, pour over seemed seemed unfathomable, driven by luck/beneficial spirits and I, like many others, sought 'safety' in immersion brews, where you could at least dictate brew time & not be reliant on things outside of your control like flow rate. But, as I built a better understanding, I realised that pour over is certainly as predictable & repeatable as any brew method, reasonably quick too. Of course, I still enjoy immersions, but 95% (just a guess) of my brews are pour overs. Sure, I come a little unstuck every now & then, but usually due to trying a new regime/brew weight/grinder or setting.

Can imagine how hard the journey to where you are now would have been. May have taken you months, if not years, of dedicated research and hard work to achieve the expected outcome. Minions like us can now use your template and make a damn good coffee. The beauty is I haven’t seen the need to change my grind settings for different beans. 😊 It hardly requires any major adjustments except a click or two on either side. > @"MWJB"#p16943 Of course, I still enjoy immersions, but 95% (just a guess) of my brews are pour overs. Sure, I come a little unstuck every now & then, but usually due to trying a new regime/brew weight/grinder or setting. We hardly take out our Indian (immersion filter), unless some one gifts a bag of ground coffee. 😂 Many thanks and best of luck for keep pushing the boundaries. Please do post regularly so that we get to read and learn from your brewings. I also think you may want to consider sharing your journey so far on this forum. 😊 Cheers mate!

Blackcat’s Ethiopian medium 20.1g, 335g water, Mark’s method, 284g liquid and 6:02 mins in total. Another balanced, fruity and sweet cup; had a tiny lingering orange bitterness after taste, which I think is the impact of the orange peel. I am grinding coarser than I normally would. I brewed this coffee for the first time. Perhaps, I will grind a tad coarser next time. Clever would be interesting, although I doubt it would make a difference to the cup. https://i.imgur.com/aCaNR9W.jpg Edit : Please ignore the espresso shot.

**Django Santa Ana** Brewed 16g on 270g of boiling water using Marks method. Got 231.3g liquid. The blueberry, mild sweet blackberry and vanilla taste come out clearly. Considering I ground this at the lower end of the pour over range at 3.6 turns on my grinder, it did produce a slight raw fruit bitter after taste; the cup was very good though. There were no silts, although the mild bitterness call for a coarse grind; I wondered if the water was too hot >100C that resulted in bitterness. Perhaps, I will grind at the normal setting of 3.8-3.9 and see. https://imgur.com/a/c4uOhlz

@"MWJB"#139 Given the tasting notes (blueberry, blackberry, vanilla), I thought the bitterness seeps through the grind size. Considering the other person also got it but only at the first sip, could you explain how does it creep in? I can understand notes like Rhubarb, fruit peel, dark chocolate, etc., producing the (sweet) bitterness. I wonder if Anaerobic natural process is contributing to the tiny bitterness. It is tiny sweet bitter. I felt it in the espresso as well. IMO, it doesn’t alter the taste profile, although does brighten up the coffee a bit. Thx mate!

If it's around the first 2 sips and a generic bitterness, it's likely fine particles suspended at the surface of the brew. Sometimes this just comes with the territory and I don't worry too much if the rest of the cup tastes OK. If it isdtracting from your enjoyment & happening all the time, grind a tad coarser and/or tray and agitate less. To me sweet & bitter tend to be poles apart, I understand a mix, but I'm not sure I grasp sweet bitterness?

V60

MWJB

LMSC I didn’t know about Melodrip when I started using an Aeropress & Able disc as a dispersion screen for drip brews in March 2017. Shortly after that I also had a large, flat colander that I used for a while when making large Chemex brews.

Yes, it seems very expensive when a lot of coffee folks have Aeropresses & Aeropress screens sitting about (I don’t see a newbie seeing the need for one). A steel can strainer costs what, a fiver?

But, there have been drip devices with dispersion screens for decades. Like the Swissgold/Freiling KF300 (didn’t work that well when used as intended), a little different but much older was the Curtis gold cup brewer from the 50’s.

A problem with using many of these things with V60 specifically, is that you need a fair bit of agitation in the early stages (less so with flat bed brewers like Kalita Wave), so even with the can strainer I pour directly on the bed for the first 2 or 3 pulses. However with the Drip Assist, you can leave in place for the whole brew as the middle holes do the job (doesn’t screw up your weights if you suddenly add/take away a device from the scales either). It’s nice to see something that really works well in the Drip Assist.

LMSC

DavecUK That’s a nice review of that grinder, which looks pretty slick and well made. I saw the other review as well. Re-your brew, it doesn’t matter what everyone thinks as long as you are happy with the method and the cup.

PortafilterProcrastinator €34. I don’t intend buying it.

MWJB It’s expensive considering the method of dispersing the water. I am sure I will end up pouring hot water on my hand while holding it! 😂 The drip-assist, as you say, is ideal for V60.

MWJB

PortafilterProcrastinator The Kitchencraft steel strainer just sits nicely in V60 02 (will work in an 01 too as long a you keep water level low), Kalita Wave 185, Bartleet & Melitta 102 brewers, no need to hold it/risk burns & scalds.

LMSC

Brewed Horsham Rwandan

17.9g of powder, default grind size, 274g water and MWJB’s method of pouring water every 30s. Used the stainless steel strainer. Not sure, if it made a difference, although we now understand the scope of agitated beds is minimised.

Another lovely coffee from Horsham to brew. It is a medium-light roast. Plenty of blood orange acidity and sweetness coupled with noticeable caramel aroma and (after)taste. Very clean, smooth and pleasant long black to drink. Will do a clever tomorrow.

MWJB

LMSC When using the can strainer I’d use fewer, but larger pulses of 40g to 50g/40s (compared to all pours direct at 30g/30s), with the first 2 pours being direct onto the bed.

LMSC

MWJB Sure. Thank you so much. Is the intent to minimise the brewing time or the agitation or both please?

MWJB

You’re always welcome. I don’t think about brewing time with drip. It’s more to normalise the extractions between direct pour & strainer brews, at an agitation level that doesn’t make for a silty cup.

AndyG1987

What is the MWJB method? Apologies if I’ve missed it in this thread.

LMSC

AndyG1987

Please refer here. @MWJB is your man for any questions and assistance!

https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/359-brewed-grind-references

LMSC

Foundry Rwanda medium light. The cup score is 88.

15.6g powder and 240g water lasting 4:40 mins..

As sweet as plum; it was smooth and very nice. The acidity was mild as in grapes or pears. The cup had a nice mild tartness, which I can liken it to grapes / black cherry skins. The notes and acidity are consistent be it an espresso or a filter.

LMSC

Django Mexican Decaf

Tasting notes - Mandarin, baked apple and Caramel

16.4g, 251 water, 4:12 mins. it was a nice cup, but on the weaker side. I believe the decafs are generally less soluble and requires a finer grind.

I typically grind the standard coffee 8-12 clicks above the upper pour over range. I find this giving a clean cup.

For this decaf, I did grind at the lowest pour over setting. This gave me a very clean, sweet and a nice cup. But a lot weaker. Got apple (don’t care if it is apple or baked apple) and caramel after taste. There was no mandarin.

@MWJB - I need some recommendation. should I grind finer or brew at 75-80g/l please? If finer. could it be finer than pour over and a lot coarser than espresso?

MWJB

LMSC If the balance is OK, then I’d up dose first, if you need to grind finer to restore balance, then adjust grind just enough to do that.

80g/L would be pushing to get a normal extraction, try 70g/L and maybe slow the flow/grind a bit finer.

Pourover has a wide range in grind size, but doesn’t generally overlap with espresso (auto drip can though).

Sometimes, some coffees are less intense (Geshas for instance?), I don’t do much about that, all part of life’s rich tapestry, but if having more that one coffee in a session, have the least intense one first.

LMSC

MWJB I was pleasantly surprised how balanced and sweet the coffee was. I will definitely brew 70g/l and go from there.

I am actually looking forward to brewing Cast Iron’s Don Pancho and, especially, Mandela. Both are medium light. :-)

Thx for your advise!

LMSC

CasteIron Columbia Mandela

Taste notes - Candy floss, peach and pink lemonade

Some of these notes descriptions are meaningless IMO - Candy floss and pink … Why bother mentioning Candy Floss when their description suggests peach and lemonade?

I am basically expecting a mild to moderate acidity (peach / lemon) and peach flavour.

Brewed 16g and 248.1g water in (a few g more than intended) lasting 3:58 mins.

I get a clean light-strength coffee. I get peach and lemon finish (this is more of a slightly tart after taste).

They called it as a very light roast. This isn’t. I will put it between medium light and medium and generously medium light.

The second picture is ground taken under white light and the third in natural light.

I am disappointed with this coffee. It’s meh. I think I should have only bought the Don Pancho and not this after @Cuprajake posted his views.

They have written it makes a stunning pour over filter. I am scratching my hair searching to find the stunning cup that has gone walking!

I will give only 1 out of max 5. Thank god, I did not buy a KG. I feel like revising up the Django’s Mexican Decaf score to at least 4 out of 5.

I will re-dial tightening the grind and up dosing from 64.4g/l to 70g/l. I am not expecting miracles.

LMSC

Foundry roasters Columbia Luis Anabal EF washed - medium light : the same as Clever

14.1g, 215g water. It’s a good coffee. Mango and Toffee (think honey comb or caramalised sugar) flavour were pronounced. The cinder toffee taste along with its’ classic bitterness (nice and slight) stayed also as an after taste long after the cup was finished.

Like Clever, it was a little weaker even at 65.5g / l. I will try up dose at 70g/l and see.

LMSC

Dark Arts Columbian Road Rash - Natural Carbonic Maceration

The usual routine for 13.8g and 210 water using the default grind size and boiling water (99C) off the gooseneck kettle. The fruit note was a ripe mango and the acidity was mild as in strawberry, peach and nectarine.

The cup was otherwise a bit unpleasant to drink - there was a certain amount of bitterness or can we say tartness that stays long after drinking the coffee.

I see two possible reasons for this, which are brew malfunctions.

The kettle temperature steadily dropped to 88C after the last pour, which I thought is ok, given the roast profile. I might have to keep it on the hob between pours
Grind 3-4 clicks coarser as the beans were not on the lighter side. Although the process make it darker than otherwise, perhaps this bag requires a coarser grind.

There isn’t anything in the coffee that suggests a built-in bitterness or a tartness. It’s nothing to do with the strength (65.5g/l) as well.

LMSC

Caste Iron Washed Guatemala Paraiso

Made a V60 off Caste Iron Parasio for my morning coffee. 30g powder - the usual default V60 grind size, 430.6g of water (a couple of grams more than 70g/l), Hoffman’s method as I didn’t have time to use the traditional MWJB’s method and got 375.6g of liquid on an already pre-heated cup.

It a nice coffee and would give 7 out of 9 than an usual 8. A point is lost as I don’t know if the slight bitterness (while drinking and also as an after taste) is chocolate or the brew ratio or it requires further loosening. This slight bitterness was likeable and reminds me of a dark chocolate, while the tasting notes mentions just milk chocolate. I couldn’t lose it in my espresso and clever as well. I will grind a bit coarser and/or drop change the ratio to 65g/l and see.

The fruity acidity was sweet and mild as it nectarine and peach. The aroma was like honey suckle (think honey and jasmine).The chocolate flavour stayed throughout and also as an after taste.

LMSC

I spoke to the roaster re-the slight bitterness, which they said it shouldn’t be there for this bag (Paraiso). They recommend trying the pour over at 92/93C.

@MWJB, what’s your typical hot water range for light and medium light / medium please? Thx

DavecUK

LMSC I spoke to the roaster re-the slight bitterness, which they said it shouldn’t be there for this bag (Paraiso). They recommend trying the pour over at 92/93C.

To be honest…they look quite dark to me, or is it the lighting.

MWJB

LMSC I always start brewing straight after the kettle clicks off boil.

LMSC

DavecUK Natural light Dave.

I will brew V60 tomorrow at 92C/93C and see if the slight bitterness goes away. :-)

Edit:

Unlike other light / medium beans, this bag was a breeze to grind!

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