TIL my burr grinder was set way too fine for pour over

I've been drinking bitter coffee for months and thought that's just how pour over was. Then my buddy who roasts in his garage took a sip and said 'dude, your grind looks like flour.' He told me to try around a 20 on my Baratza Encore instead of the 8 I was using. First cup after that was night and day. No more bitterness, actually tasted the fruity notes. Took me 3 tries to dial it in. Anybody else have a friend save their morning cup with something obvious?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda19d agoMost Upvoted

Hard disagree honestly. I like my pour over at a finer grind because it gives me more body and a richer cup. All those fruity notes are fine but sometimes I just want coffee that tastes like coffee.

lee_reed20d ago

dude i had almost the exact same thing happen but with my aeropress. was grinding at like a 10 on my encore and thought the bitterness was just how it was supposed to taste. then my roommate who works at a coffee shop was like "bro you're basically making espresso" lol. took me a while to realize grind size isnt just about speed of extraction but also about how even the water flows through. what setting did you settle on after that initial 20? i find i still have to tweak mine depending on the bean origins sometimes even the roast level changes things.

the_kim19d ago

Keep playing with it even after you think you've got it dialed in, that's the thing. I've found it's like cooking - what works one day might not work the next because of humidity changes or bean freshness. @the_linda mentioned liking richer cups with finer grind, and I get that sometimes. But I've noticed this same pattern shows up everywhere, not just with coffee. Like with my cast iron skillet, I thought high heat was always better until I realized medium low gives a way better sear on most things. It's that whole thing where we assume more aggressive = better results when really it's about finding the sweet spot for each specific situation. Same with sharpening knives, people think sharper is always better but you actually want different edges for different tasks.