Hario V60 and Eureka Mignon: slow and over-extraction due to fines ?

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
BlackCat
Posts: 13
Joined: 7 years ago

#1: Post by BlackCat »

Hi all :D

I'm drinking espresso since one year, but I'm new to pour-over brewing. I manage to get decent results with a V60 using my Eureka Mignon, but it's still slightly bitter and lacking of acidity / fruits notes to my taste. I'm comparing with a V60 I tasted in the specialty coffee shop in which I bought the beans.

The point is that I have difficulties to finish my extractions before 3 minutes, even for one cup, and with different grinder settings. Currently I'm using 12g of coffee for 200ml of water. I get the first 150ml in roughly 2 or 2.5 minutes, and the last 30ml takes a lot of time to go through the filter. I made an interesting test: I extracted these last 30ml in a separated cup and realized it was very bitter. The beginning of the extraction was OK. I'm wondering if the Eureka Mignon (which is probably more appropriate to espresso than filter) just produces too much fines that block the filter at the end of the brewing and leads to over-extraction ? Is it a good techniques to stop the extraction before all water falls in the cup ?

Also, even though changing the grind size does not seems to improve, does someone has a reference setting for V60 with this grinder, in comparison with a typical espresso setting ?

Thank you very much for your advices !

PS: This is my first post here and I'm not a native english speaker so I apologize in case my post is not very clear.

DeGaulle
Posts: 545
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by DeGaulle »

I have a Macap M2M grinder that is similar to the Mignon in terms of burr diameter and I have the same experience. What you could try is to sieve the fines out before you dose the ground coffee into the filter. This kind of grinder can typically cover the full range from espresso to French press, but it does produce fines at all grind settings and is really best suited for espresso.
Bert

BlackCat (original poster)
Posts: 13
Joined: 7 years ago

#3: Post by BlackCat (original poster) »

Thanks, do you have a reference for a siever that would be the best for this?

DeGaulle
Posts: 545
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by DeGaulle »

I use a regular household sieve that you could use for flour and such.
Bert

User avatar
aecletec
Posts: 1997
Joined: 13 years ago

#5: Post by aecletec »

Your grinder is different so may need different technique to achieve good results.
I can't see any problem with skipping the end of the draw down if it's undesirable and doesn't balance out the brew - I've seen many places do this.
Pouring technique can affect how the filter gets clogged - a "centre pour" seemed to clog less than pouring around the edges (and washing the grinds back down into the bottom).
I don't do many pourovers any more but it could be that you can get decent results by experimenting with technique rather than sifting.
I used to try sifting to get my pour rates lower but was never quite satisfied with the result - there's a lot of talk about how it's the fines that we extract most of the coffee from so perhaps removing fines is not the way to go if we want to extract efficiently.
However, I tried immersion brewing the sifted fines and didn't get much flavour out of them.
I feel like it's best to experiment to find the way that works best for your preference.

BlackCat (original poster)
Posts: 13
Joined: 7 years ago

#6: Post by BlackCat (original poster) »

Thank you for the interesting comment. Next time I will try to pour more in the center to see if it's different at the end.

BlackCat (original poster)
Posts: 13
Joined: 7 years ago

#7: Post by BlackCat (original poster) »

I just tried pouring at the center of the filter, indeed the flow was a bit faster. But I did not see a significant impact on bitterness.
I also tried to sieve the grind and I found the coffee less bitter, with more acidity and taste ! I definitively need to experiment more with all these techniques :)