Hello all! I am somewhat stumped on a current issue with my pour overs and figured someone here would understand. I tend to like med to light roasted coffees. My go to pour over is a Kalita 185 and I have a Forte BG.

When I brew lighter roasted coffees I seem to get many more fines (at least I think that's what's happening) that choke the draw down.. I think the Forte BG is an adequate brew grinder and have read even the EK 43 produces many fines. So a couple questions...

I follow this method very consistently to eliminate variables. http://www.georgehowellcoffee.com/brew- ... alita-185/

1. Does the draw down time matter?
2. I assume extraction is still occurring, correct?
3. I can change the grinder coarser but still get slow draws on lighter coffee.
4. Is this just the nature of brewing lighter coffees?
5. Is it maybe not an issue of fines?

All else equal if I use a darker roast, this doesn't happen..

BG user here,

Draw down time does matter. Extraction will continue.

Example: brewed my first v60 today in at least six months. Brew time on a 17.5g/280g brew took 4:15
Pull out the refractometer, eek-- 24%

Now, if you're missing the mark on intended draw time by say 15-20 seconds, it may not be an issue

I used to freak out about draw time-- used to yank the filter with a hot slurry still in it and toss it in the sink if I crossed a certain time

If it tastes good, ignore time. Though time is an easily communicable metric, it isn't as important in drip as it is hyped up to be

The drip coffee paradox:
-- Long draws up your extractions
-- Water cools as it sits
-- Grind too coarse, and you start underextracting

Your darker coffees are more porous, letting coffee in and out in a much faster fashion than with your lighter coffees

Have you tried stirring to mix up the slurry mid-brew? Helps a little bit

I've used BG since they have been out. Currently have 3 of them.

Over the years I've found that

1) lighter roasted beans retain more moisture and darker roasts less, therefore I get a larger physical volume per weight with darker roasts (a gram light appears to be less than a gram dark).

2) Lighter roasted beans typically retain more chaff than darker roasted beans

to check your grind,

#1: grind
#2: pour out on a white sheet of paper and run your fingers through the ground beans.

The consistency (or lack of) should be obvious to the eye and fingers.

If you are seeing inconsistent grind you may want to disassemble, clean, reassemble and test again to make sure you don't have dirty/clogged burrs.

If after a good cleaning you still have inconsistencies in grind contact the manufacturer.

Thanks for the replies! My hunch is that it's the roast level because leaving grind equal water flows much fare on darker roasts.. Darker (for me that's a medium roast) roasts even appear more consistent in grind than light.

I have a hard time evaluating grind visually or by feel since I have no reference experience to compare too. That said my forte is not very old and the steel burrs are fairly new. It was original ceramic burrs.

Sure you considered, but Is it possibly not letting the coffee rest long enough after roast? I had consistency problems as darker beans age more quickly, but it resolved when I adjusted rest for the bean & roast. Occasionally I have had lighter roasts need 12 days. I was not happy.

Also the underextraction caused by the co2 pushing the water away killed my EY%; Would fool me into grinding finer to offset. Only increasing choking the process up more.

RyanJE wrote: That said my forte is not very old and the steel burrs are fairly new. It was original ceramic burrs.

I had no luck converting my Varo-W from ceramic to steel (same burr set).

After several weeks of pain I gave up and Barataza took back the Vario and sent me a Forte-BG

What were your challenges with it?

I have a Forte and not a vario. Did you fell your Forte needed any "breaking in" so to speak?

Issue I had with the swap (ceramic to steel) was a complete inconstancy in grind. From power to chunks at the same time. Baratza worked with me for a week or more then just said send it back.

The first Forte-BG was a new grinder directly from Baratza. Worked like a champ from day 1

The other 2 Forte-BG grinders I've purchased since then were factory refurbs and had the soft selection levers. The first one was right after they came out and you throw the grinder all over the counter trying to change settings. They did send me a detente kit to fix the hard selectors but I did not put it in yet. That first grinder is at my other home so only gets used when I am there, not every day like the other two.

Seems to APPEAR fairly consistent at drip settings. Did yours need break in time?

RyanJE wrote: Did yours need break in time?

I did not notice it being different at first. It's been a couple years now with the first one.

Seemed to start out just fine and keep going just fine.