Which would you like the bottom of your cup to look like after using a metal filter for pour over brewing - the one on the left or the one on the right?

Left? Is this a trick?

No - it's no trick. This is the result using the same grinder but two different metal filters. Both cups were brewed using 16g beans and 240g water poured over 3 minutes.

The one on the right is what's in the bottom of the cup after brewing with a SwissGold #4 filter and a V-style cone.

The one on the left is what's in the bottom of the cup after brewing with a #2 flat bottom basket type gold tone filter sitting inside a Hario V60-2 cone.

I did not expect to see these results. Definitely a clear definition of flavors in the cup on the left as well. Here is the filter after brewing - the Hario was already removed.

Here are the filters side by side - turns out the flat bottom filter comes from a Mr Coffee brewer.



The water flows out the sides - maybe the majority of the fines sink to the bottom and get trapped by larger grounds before they can flow out - maybe Mr Coffee uses a finer mesh, not really sure what to make of this.

The grind quality is average for a conical burr grinder.



The bed is flat for both methods after brewing too.

This morning I went back to the well to try my hand at a 500ml water and 30g coffee small pot of pour over.

The grounds - a little coarser than yesterday but the quality is acceptable:



The last cup - not muddy looking but lots of oil:



The bottom of the last cup - perfectly acceptable for metal filter brewing:



I found this old Hamilton Beach Scovill basket style 4 cup coffee pot (no coffee maker though) - the filter fits in perfectly.



Maybe this is the "real" Kalita Killer!

What grinder are you using? preciso? Also I'm curious what your pour times are like, just because the grind looks coarser than I'm used to.

I think the grind looks big because the photo is a macro. Here is a comparison:

Close up similar to the previous photos of the grounds:



Actual size:



When I hold a nickel next to my monitor it matches closely the size of the nickel in the bottom photo. The grounds are not that coarse for this type of brewing.

My pour time for 500ml water over the 30g of grounds in the photo was 3:30. The last drop in the filter fell at 5:30. Most had flowed out at 4:30. I am still playing with the grind size but going coarser to shorten total draw down is just a matter of testing and adjusting. The grinder is a common step-less Peugeot hand mill that took about 90 turns to grind these 30g of beans.

Does the coffee from the flat-bottomed filter taste much better?

This post caught my eye because I also recently tried using a Swiss Gold filter in my Hario with very similar results. I then went back to paper filters, and have been much happier. My personal observation is that your grind is much coarser than I use in my Hario. It is also much coarser than the grind I watched used at both Ritual and Fourbarrel in San Francisco this past weekend. I usually aim for a 16.5:1 brew ratio and ~4min extraction, which for my set-up, requires a finer grind.

Just wanted to share my experience. As a side note, the Ethiopian Hama that Ritual was pouring was absolutely delicious. I need to find some of this in green.

Dave

EvanOz85 wrote:Does the coffee from the flat-bottomed filter taste much better?

Better? Yes, to me anyway. The cup was more nuanced - I drank the cone brewed cup first and thought it was decent, but the flavor, save the finish which was a little bittersweet like cocoa, was just coffee. The second cup was clearly brighter with a tame yet noticeable acidity followed by a tobacco/leather middle joined by a similar but sweeter finish to the first cup. I guess better is relative, but the flavor notes were distinct and the mouth feel was soft with the flat bottom filtered second cup.

I like less sediment making its way into my cup too.

dynamiteid wrote:This post caught my eye because I also recently tried using a Swiss Gold filter in my Hario with very similar results. I then went back to paper filters, and have been much happier. My personal observation is that your grind is much coarser than I use in my Hario. It is also much coarser than the grind I watched used at both Ritual and Fourbarrel in San Francisco this past weekend.

I didn't think this (actual size shown) was a very coarse grind - maybe it is though.



Can you post a photo of what your usual grind looks like? I am curious now.

dynamiteid wrote:I usually aim for a 16.5:1 brew ratio and ~4min extraction, which for my set-up, requires a finer grind.

Do you aim for a ~4min extraction without regard for the amount of water and coffee grounds used? I get brew times in this ~4min ballpark (usually faster) with 16g coffee and 240g water - a 15:1 ratio.