Bought a Clever about a month ago. I've had some great results, but, frustratingly, I'm having a hard time getting consistent results across different coffees.

Here's my basic process:

Ratio of 1:17
Typically, I'm brewing for 2 people, so that's 29g of coffee (pre-ground) to 500g water.
Both beans and coffee are measured on a scale.
Timer at 4minutes, trying to complete drain-down between 3:30 - 4:00
I have a Baratza Maestro Plus, grinding between 18 and 20
Following Nick Cho's process, basically: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyZTOadWGqA
Using Melitta #4 White Filters

Here's two consistent problems:

1) Often, I find that there's often standing coffee in the filter, it doesn't drain completely in less than 4 minutes. This occurs especially when I try to agitate (I've read quite a few people encourage agitation with the Clever, but the results, for me, are never good.) But, it occurs without agitation as well.

2) Across different coffees, I'm finding a consistent bitterness in the brew. I've tried beans from Wrecking Ball, Ritual, and Coava; I'm certain I'm doing something consistently wrong here, but not sure what.

So, as a starting point:

Thoughts on Nick Cho's process? Is there another method I should consider?
Given that I'm not hitting the drain-down in time, should I grind coarser? The reason I'm sticking to 18 - 20 is that the local shops where I've had a brew from the Clever seem to grind fairly fine. And their results taste great. Not sure what other options there are here...


Thanks for any ideas!

Try grinding just a tad coarser and don't agitate it. Sounds like you're overextracting.

Agreed. Think of the CCD as more of a French press than drip. It just happens to filter differently, but the extraction (full immersion) is similar.

It may be that you grinder produces a different particle size from the grinders you see in shops - this is certainly the case with my grinder (64mm ex cafe intended for espresso) vs the bulk/filter grinders of a similar diameter. I find I have to grind comparably very coarse to get similar results on the same beans on chemex or siphon. As an example, my grinder is stepped and burrs touch at 3.5 to 4, I would generally use 6 to 9 for espresso, 30 for french press coarseness. I find that I need to use around 30 for filter/siphon also, otherwise the brew is far too slow and overextracted.

I've been using a CCD for a year or two now and I'm giving up on it. I've used different grind settings and have played with with steep times but with little difference or improvement.

The thing I've most recently realized is that it produces a pretty flat/bland cup. Brewed a Panama natrual in my Bonavita for family and got a chocolaty, spicy and really amazing cup of coffee. Brewed the following day in the clever and it was good, but hardly amazing.

Try brewing at double strength; using the same amount of grounds, but half the water. Drip the coffee out into your cup then add the remaining amount of hot water. I've been doing this for about a month now and the results seem to be a slight improvement.

I think one problem is cleaning the valve. Do you notice it's getting slower in dripping as time goes by? Might be worth cleaning it with strong detergent and hot water, and dripping it through a couple of times.

UltramaticOrange wrote:I

The thing I've most recently realized is that it produces a pretty flat/bland cup. Brewed a Panama natrual in my Bonavita for family and got a chocolaty, spicy and really amazing cup of coffee. Brewed the following day in the clever and it was good, but hardly amazing.

Huh. I find that it varies by coffee and what other variables you put into it. But yes, you get a declining temperature profile - you do get to select the starting point and to some extent how slow the ramp.

My routine is to boil water, fill the CCD, cover it, and let it sit for 15-20 seconds. Then I drain the water back into the kettle back on the heat. While it reheats, I grind the coffee, and load the filter. By then the water is boiling again an I pour it into the CCD, stir, and cover. I then start a timer for 4:00. With about 1 minute left on the clock I stir again.

It does a better job than my Krups drip but not as good as a Chemex.

Coarser grind definitely improved the drain-down - I've moved closer to a French Press grind, but not quite so coarse.

Didn't agitate.

Started the drain-down at 3:00, completed around 3:40. But, the flavor just wasn't there - the result was very tea-like.

Will try a slightly finer grind and longer immersion before drain-down.

Any other tips?

I don't think you've ruled out the grinder being partly to blame, so maybe consider that possibility?

Can you clarify what you mean that the grinder is to blame?