Struggling to dial in my pourover with a Kalita Wave 155. - Page 5

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
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shawndo
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Joined: 14 years ago

#41: Post by shawndo »

I also recently started using a 155 alternating with a v60-01.
Some things that I suspect is basic knowledge to some more experienced but I had no clue:

- My coffee bed's were ending up looking like the grand canyon and I didn't know that was a problem. What helped me in this was to fill the kettle to almost full (even though I only use a fraction of the water) This helps to to control the flow since the kettle isn't tipped so far over and use a slower pour to not agitate the coffee bed. I also got a restrictor, which also helps. I was hesitant to do this with bottled water so I switched back to filtered water from the tap since there is more unused water.

- At first, I tried to imitate the Perger v60 style of 2 big pours (no pulses) That did not work well for me on the 155. What works best for me is to fill it up to just under the edge of the filter and keep it full by constant slow pouring until you reach your target weight (after an initial bloom/stir a-la-perger).

I was much more consistent on the refractometer and taste after those 2 changes.
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

phil127
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Joined: 7 years ago

#42: Post by phil127 »

Hello all! I'm Philip. This is my first post after hanging around HB for some time now, so juts thought I'd introduce myself.

I've had the same difficulties with the Kalita in the past. It's a surprisingly difficult method to dial in, though fairly reproducible when you figure it out. My experience with the Kalita improved when I realized two things: 1. Grind size doesn't have much of an impact on total drawdown time-- much less so than with the v60. With the kalita, total drawdown time is limited by the three small holes. That means there's a range of optimal clicks (3 to 4) on the encore that will give good results and have a constant drawdown time, but that I can use to get similar results if I manipulate a variable that doesn't impact drawdown time (i.e. temp). HOWEVER, interestingly enough in my experience while total coffee weight doesn't have a huge impact on drawdown time either, bed depth with water appears to significantly influence drawdown time. If you keep the bed low you'll get a longer drawdown time, or if you agitate often fines will clog the filter and also result in a slower drawdown time.

The second realization that helped was realizing the need for pulse pours that emphasize temperature management. When I couldn't get over 2:10 I started pouring slower and keeping the bed low and increased to 3:00, but the result was increasingly greater sourness. Using a thermometer I began measuring bed temp and realized that because of the slow pouring and agitation (both of which decrease bed temperature), I was dropping to around 160 to 180 during the majority of my brew. I'm currently experimenting with different pulse pours to keep temperature as constant as possible, and trying to divide my water weight by 2 or 3 excluding bloom so I only have 2 or 3 larger pours. This has helped a lot.

Also important to note is that stirring the bloom is really important but difficult because of the ridges. I've taken to pouring my bloom from a greater height to increase agitation and using 2.5 to 3 times water to coffee weight.

Hope that helps! Please let me know if anyone has any thoughts on this.

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SpecC
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Joined: 7 years ago

#43: Post by SpecC »

This method was a game changer for me. I was struggling quite a bit with my 185 and now get consistently good cups every time. I was having issues with slow draw down when I'd pulse pour. I think the filter would get clogged up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3pX0ard7AI


I also have both a stainless and Ceramic wave and notice the ceramic flows much faster/more uniformly. You can see this even when washing the filter. I can fill the ss one to the top by pouring quickly while the ceramic one will barely fill half way.

btlancaster24
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#44: Post by btlancaster24 »

Eastsideloco wrote:Me, too. I use a 320:20 (16:1) ratio as a starting point with the KW. Drawdown is usually in that 3 - 3:30 range.

To the OP, you brewing temp is exactly where I'd want mine to.

The challenge with my travel kit in SLC is that I heat in an electric kettle, but pour out of a little goose neck kettle. So I'm way off boil when brewing at elevation, no matter how much I preheat everything.

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Did your Bodum water kettle come with the huge sticker on it? If so, how did you get it to come off without scratching up the plastic?

btlancaster24
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#45: Post by btlancaster24 »

Eastsideloco wrote:FWIW: I use Gerber Pure (mineralized) or distilled water remineralized with a Third Wave Water capsule
Where do you get the "Third Wave Water Capsule"?

maigre
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#46: Post by maigre replying to btlancaster24 »


btlancaster24
Posts: 28
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#47: Post by btlancaster24 »

Thx, Maigre!

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Eastsideloco
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#48: Post by Eastsideloco »

I don't recall fighting a sticker on the Bodum kettle, but that is definitely one of my pet peeves. (Looking at you Airscape by Planetary Designs.)

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