I'm looking for pointers on brewing with the Clever. The old topics I wanted to reply to are closed so a new one was in order.

I currently have the small version and brew around 12g of coffee (currently a natural processed Ethiopian Aricha) with ~175g of water. I use a 1.2 setting on the lido 2 and I'll usually bloom for 35 seconds and then brew until 2:45. At that point I'll begin the drawdown that will usually last until 4:00. I'm getting a relatively sour taste, which surprises me as it appears most people brew for about 1:30 with a similar timed drawdown to total 3:00. What would be the taste differences if I were to grind finer and shorter vs coarser and longer?

I plan to update this when I brew some more (I only make one cup at work because well, im supposed to be working ).

If the drawdown takes 1:15, you are probably grinding too finely and over-extracting.

I agree with Marshall.

Many Ethiopians are very acidic, and grinding fine tends to bring that out. I would go more coarse, and see how you like it. I would also consider steeping longer. I routinely go 4 minutes on a Clever, and when I have the grind dialed in just right it's great. If you go coarser, the added length will help get more out of the bean, perhaps with less acid notes. Same acid comes out, but other things too that you didn't get earlier in the extraction. I have no science on that, it's just my theorizing. Best of luck.

I don't know why someone would bother trying to bloom an immersion brew. I pour quickly, from a slightly high position, with my PID Bonavida while the Clever is tarred on a scale. The agitation created until I get to my target weight is easy to control in a nice even fashion. Turn the scale off, watch the timer and release.

+1 I use a Zojirushi water tower with the same effect.

Right. If you want to incorporate more agitation, you can do so after pouring all of the water. While I generally lean toward the "less is more" side of agitation, some baristas incorporate manual agitation into their routine, especially with the Clever. So you can experimented with both approaches. In theory, you'd use agitation in combination with a more coarse grind size than you'd use if you were foregoing additional agitation.

Good point - I believe we brought this up in a different thread about bloom and clever. I don't 'bloom' in the clever, but I do direct the stream over the floating clumps as I pour. Then I take a swizzle stick with a round tip about 2 cm, and stir the crust into the brew. Then I put the tip into the brew and twirl the stick between thumb and finger to roil the grounds. A poor man's Trifecta 'agitator'. I don't know if it does anything, but I love my coffee.

Brian - did you ever end up trying the Devil's lettuce in the Clever?

I'll share specifically what I've been doing, for several months now, and it's pretty much the only method I'm using to brew coffee.

Grind slightly coarser than what I normally would for a Clever brew, sieve the grinds with a #40 sieve. Weigh it on a tarred scale with the Clever warmed up (rinsed paper filter with hot water). Strike with water in a quick, but controlled pattern evenly wetting with plenty of agitation as the vessel fills to my desired weight. Scale off, lid on. watch the timer I started when I began. All brews are updosed, generally about 15:1

Then, before drawdown, I give the Clever the ever so slightest "swirl-shake" basically a slight wrist rotation, which makes the grinds floating at the very edge break (can be seen by the change in surface color/texture) then when I draw down, I don't get high and dry grinds, but on other hand, I also don't have to loose flavor intensity by stirring after the water is added. Most of my brews I found stirring just over extracted and the caramels that were pulled out tended to blunt the sparkle and intensity of the flavors I was seeking.

Doing the above is extremely simple, consistent, and takes less hands on time than doing a traditional pour over. The only "added time" is the sieving, which I do while the water heats up in the Bonavita.

Tom - how much time are you allowing the brew to sit before you initiate drawdown?

It varies a bit, but I aim for a 3.5-4 minute total brew time. I generally dial in one coffee, note which extraction was best, time wise, and then continuing on from there, keeping things the same. Generally I have the infusion going for 1:45s- 2 minutes max. With cranking up the brew strength from lower bean to water ratios, I'm getting extremely intense, interesting flavor profiles, all with much less bitterness than would be normally seen at that strength, from sieving out the finer particulates that lead to over extracted nastiness.

The Clever is the best and easiest device for doing this IMO. And I do have a Bunn Trifecta.