borisblank wrote:Can you give some pointers as to what some of the key aspects of this method are? How coarse are the grinds for this approach? I've tried it a few times now, and when I invert the filter to dump grinds, most of them at the bottom of the sock are not fully hydrated. Perhaps I'm not grinding coarse enough.

The brews at 1:4 - 1:5 are good but not particularly espresso-like. I've varied a few things like brew time (up to 6min) but am still left wanting more.

Using some fresh medium roasts from La Colombe. Thanks.

When you use higher doses of coffee, grind coarser to compensate.

Typical bloom is 2x water to coffee.

You can also use a little wood spoon to cup around the grounds before wetting and hollow out a divot in the middle where you know the coffee is in a deep cone beneath anyway. As you poor water into the divot in small circles, the bloom opens up like a baking muffin.

You can also vigorously stir up your bloom after adding the 2x water.

For lighter roasts you can also use hotter water. I boil in my Hario (no transfer) and for even hotter, place it back on the burner between pours.

borisblank wrote:Can you give some pointers as to what some of the key aspects of this method are? How coarse are the grinds for this approach? I've tried it a few times now, and when I invert the filter to dump grinds, most of them at the bottom of the sock are not fully hydrated. Perhaps I'm not grinding coarse enough.

Here's a link to the Blue Bottle recipe:

https://bluebottlecoffee.com/preparatio ... s/nel-drip

For lighter roasts you can also use hotter water.

Good tip. The coffee I'm brewing with right now is a lighter roast than is typical at Blue Bottle. I'm going to try compensating by raising the strike temperature to 185°.

Eastsideloco wrote:Here's a link to the Blue Bottle recipe:

https://bluebottlecoffee.com/preparatio ... s/nel-drip

Hm, I've tried this verbatim, has left me wanting. I'll try some different temps. Not a big believer that grounds grooming (pile, with thumbtack-deep divet) contribute much to the outcome but maybe that's part of the magic, too. Thanks.

I've seen some extended methods from Japan that really trickle the flow very, very slowly as variants. I'll keep it at it. Thanks.

It's a limited sample set, but increasing the temperature brought more out of the coffee for me.

Look at the roasted coffee in this story:

http://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2016/0 ... -23-years/

Visually, it's a much more developed roast than anything I brew with at home. It makes sense that one would have to brew at a higher temperature with a relatively lighter roasted coffee.

The drip-by-drip pour is kind of a beast. I may put a flow restrictor back in my kettle.

I agree with this quote above:

nickw wrote:But in all honesty, between the person, coffee, grinder and brewer, the brewer is the least important. Any brewer can be good if you practice and learn how to get the best out.

I just came back from a road trip where I brought a Clever Dripper, a travel kettle and thermometer and a LIDO 2 grinder. Worked great. Other times I like to use my Bonavita Brewer or a Bonavita PID kettle and Clever Dripper, using an electric grinder at home (Bunn LPG with Ditting burrs).

Able to dial any of these in easily, the equipment gets out of the way and I'm enjoying the coffee.

I an without my lever for a month. I just picked up a single cup technivorm at a killer price. I have been making strong drip coffee and while it isn't closer to espresso I like it.

The Technivorm is what got me into coffee years ago. It isn't perfect and today there are better drip brewers but IT BREWED WITH HOT WATER and that opened my eyes to the rest.

Eastsideloco wrote:It's a limited sample set, but increasing the temperature brought more out of the coffee for me.

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I may put a flow restrictor back in my kettle.

I'll give higher temps a try - and was just thinking I need to pick up a flow restrictor somewhere...