I'd go so far to say put any water that drips out during the bloom back into the slurry since it didn't do it's job the first time around.

I've actually tested this when I first heard about it. I have a few problems with this practice.

First of all it's common acceptance that the bloom pour is done with the sole purpose of wetting the grounds. The recommended method is to pour only as much water as necessary, with a specific intent to minimize flow. I don't know of any PO recipes that calls for a specific quantity of brew to be dispensed the blooming phase. So suggestion folks discard their bloom "brew" without offering any guidance to how much of it to discard makes little sense. Everyone pours differently, and there are many factors that can vary the quantity of bloom brew-- flow volume, speed, pattern, etc. Also, the age of the roast is another factor. As we all know older beans do not bloom well and the water tends to just flow through more. That would yield a significantly different quantity in the vessel as well.

So that's the first problem. The second problem is that this initial brew is arbitrarily deemed as undesirable. In testing this, I found this assumption be very subjective, at best. It flavors in the bloom brew constitutes a significant quality of the cup--not bitterness as practioners seem describe. I've diluted the concentration and found it to be contain the essence of the coffee's berry flavors, sweetness and brightnes. I would hardly describe those attributes as negative.. Discarding this portion is akin to cutting out the center of the watermelon, IMO.

Nonetheless for those folks who believe this practice 'tames' their coffee, I guess it an be useful modifier. I just would never recommend it as standard practice. At best it's a corrective technique and a rather heavy-handed one. Discarding the bloom brew is not a subtle--it changes the cup profile significantly given you're dealing with the initial concentrations. In my experience the technique is has been always been a detriment, never an improvement. If the roast is too bright, eliminating that portion of the profile does not necessarily make for a better cup.

Hmmm...i remembered this thread just now and tried it with very different results...

I have been trying to hit that 10min rao mark roast with some Brazilian...it has not worked. First couple roasts, before reading a hit about the ten minute roast benchmarks, were slow 15 minute pre 2nd roasts and were very nutty and chocolate...now just bland and burned.

I say that because i tasted the bloom water again for THIS roast and it was TERRIBLE.

Like concentrated acid or something...dumped it and the cup def improved hehe...so, it clearly varies by bean and roast, and i would speculate that some times it might be good, other times not. I will probably taste the bloom for a while and see of it reveals anything. Maybe others like the op will too?

day wrote:Hmmm...i remebered this thread just now and tried it with very dofferent results...

I have been trying to hit that 10min rao mark roast with some Brazilian...it has not worked. Forst couple roasts, before reading a hit about the ten minute roast benchamarks, were slow 15 minute pre 2nd roasts and were very nutty and chocolate...now just bland and burned.

I say that because i tasted the bloom water again for THIS roast and it was TERRIBLE.

Like concentrated acid or something...dumped it and the cup def improved hehe...so, it clearly varies by bean and roast, and i would speculate that some times it might be good, other times not. I will probably taste the bloom for a while and see of it reveals anything. Maybe others like the op will too?

That is a great idea! To taste the bloom water. I am gonna give that a go. First I have to get my grind together. Still new at everything. I mistakenly purchased a manual burr grinder (more on this in the grinder section) but wow was that NOT worth it. In time or money.

That's not true for every manual. I am in love with my pharos now, though it took some work to get it where I wanted it. Seconds to grind, 0.0g retention, in basket dosing, no purging necessary no mess, absolutly in love. I made a video to try to share but i was stupid and made it 5 minutes long:) might redo in the 1 minute time range hehe...average view was 1.5 minutes;)

On topic, i decided that perhaps this bean just needed a different grind setting and flow rate to improve so i raised my grind setting 4 notches and slowed flow rate. The bloom water (little of it but some) was thick and had what i think must be the baked characteristic from my roasting but was ok, not battery acid and some hints of nuttiness. i will personally experiment for a while and see if the bloom water might be able to help me dial in new beans on the v60, and figure out how different grind size might bring out different flavors, as the bloom water would be independent of the flow rate and be purely a result of water temp and grind size. Just something to play with. If was just starting i recommend just watching you tube videos and trying to reduplicate.