Hi all,

I recently obtained a Kalita Wave 155 and white Kalita filters. All of my cups have been overwhelmingly sour (except one that was bitter). Does anyone here use a Bodum Bistro burr grinder + the Kalita Wave? If so, what is your recipe?

I'm including a chart here which shows all the variables I've tried. For reference, I am referring to the circles on the Bodum Bistro as "ticks" and the three icons as "Espresso" (finest grind), Chemex (medium), and french press (coarsest). See this image for reference: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... SL256_.jpg

I don't think it is my grinder or water causing the issue because my live-in partner uses them too and he gets great results with his Chemex.

My beans are from Irving Farms, "Morita, Papua New Guinea" which is a medium roast. To be honest they're a bit on the older side, but I don't think they're the sole cause of my awful coffee.

I'm pretty new to this forum but thought I might take a stab at a response. So here goes!

For my Kalita brews I typically adhere to the George Howell method found here. http://www.georgehowellcoffee.com/brew- ... alita-185/ I know that's for a 185 but the technique should be the same in that it's 6 even measure pours with a pause in between.

I prefer my Kalita grind on the finer side maybe between a Chemex and V60 and judging from your records, you may be on to something right in that same range. You describe your brews as off but moving away from "sour" so I suspect your getting better (though subjectively not ideal) extraction.

Here's what I might try next to get you around the TBW you're looking for. That Chemex grind or 1-2 clicks finer. Water at 203 with a dose of 20.6 (or 21 grams). Don't sweat being right at 20.6! Start with a flat brew bed and pulse with 55 grams of water in 6 even 15 second pours as prescribed by George Howell. I think you will be safe up to that 3:30 mark but just pull the Kalita if you're still waiting for the draw down to complete. There won't be much if any water left in the dripper but that may help with potential bitterness from overextraction.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

If the beans are on the old side, you may need to tighten up the grind bit more than usual to get a well extracted cup of coffee especially from a Kalita. I've found that it's an extremely forgiving brew method as long as the grind is on point. The pour technique is almost insignificant.

I mainly use the 185 but as a single cup so my recipe will work for the 155.
20g of fresh roasted coffee ground medium fine (#16 on baratza virtuoso)
340g total water
Water temp 197-200F
Pre-wet filter
Put coffee into Kalita
Start timer and pour 40g water and allow to bloom for 45 seconds without touching edges of filter (I usually triple my amount of water for pre-wet but 155 is too small to do that)
Pour in a circular motion inwards to out without touching the edges of filter with pauses in between to allow coffee to drain.
Pour time 2:30 including pre-wet.
I do the "Rao spin" for 5-10 seconds after I'm done my pour for a little more extraction which helps get the desired TDS.

This gets me a lovely, full bodied cup with an "ideal" TDS of 1.25.

Good luck!