Grind Setting / Quantity Adjustments for Bonavita

#1: Post by **Bbdude** » June 12th, 2015, 5:12 pm

Hey all.

Quick question. I'm using my Bonavita to make Red Bird's excellent Ethiopia Sidama - Shakisso. The cup is delicious but I thought maybe I can make it better?

I'm using a Breville Smart Grinder on the #6 setting (six clicks from left). I really like the blue berry notes in this coffe and would love to bring them out even more.

I usually do 30oz of water and around 48g of coffee (smart grinder set to 6 cups).

How would I bring out more fruity notes? Add coffee at the same grind setting? Keep coffee amount the same but more fine? Something else?

#2: Post by **Eastsideloco** » June 12th, 2015, 5:26 pm

Based on your water to coffee ratio (about 17.7:1), you definitely have headroom, so to speak, to increase the dose. I'd probably try that first.

June 14th, 2015, 8:49 am

Tried an extra 8g this morning. Made the coffee too nutty maybe even a little bitter, which totally removed any hint of blueberry.

I guess my next step is making the grind finer?

#4: Post by **drgary** » June 14th, 2015, 11:00 am

You could sieve the fines to get a more even extraction and greater cup clarity. The bitterness may come from fines (dust) getting overextracted).

June 14th, 2015, 11:02 am

There is quite a bit of dust. What do you recommend using to accomplish this? Pasta Strainer?

#6: Post by **drgary** » June 14th, 2015, 11:10 am

Something quite a bit finer than that. yakster found some sieving material at a paint store. TomC likes a #40 sieve, but they can be expensive. I visited someone awhile back who had a cone shaped strainer he used for beef stock, and that worked well. I just glanced at the mosquito screen on our window. Something like that would probably work but others in your household might object if you let flies into the house ...

#7: Post by **Eastsideloco** » June 14th, 2015, 11:40 am

Bbdude wrote:Tried an extra 8g this morning. Made the coffee too nutty maybe even a little bitter, which totally removed any hint of blueberry.

I guess my next step is making the grind finer?

Maybe not. Grinding finer will likely increase bitter flavors as well. I might stay at the new dose and grind more coarse. (Then change course, if need be.)

Matt Perger's "best extraction" chart is useful in times like these:

Here's the blog post:

http://baristahustle.com/8020-method/

June 16th, 2015, 9:47 am

Thanks, all.

We've tried grinding more, grinder finer, grinder coarser, but have not tried grinding less. It's especially frustrating since we just went through a lb of this coffee a few weeks ago and it was great start to finish using the same settings we're using today.

July 7th, 2015, 2:38 pm

E-mailed the roaster. Apparently since the beans are sun-dried naturally ... they're prone to tasting difference based on the weather and several other factors. This coffee has been pretty consistently different, and not in a bad way. I've tried to tweak it all over the place and I believe I had it right from the start so will just hope I get a different lot next time