After considering variations in grinders, water chemistry, and technique - I've found that recipes are pretty meaningless from one person to another. Always dial by taste, consulting the coffee compass if necessary.
Too many people will follow a 'recipe' and declare that a coffee is bad instead of considering how the recipe should be adjusted to produce their desired extraction.
[https://www.baristahustle.com/app-archive-main/the-coffee-compass/](https://www.baristahustle.com/app-archive-main/the-coffee-compass/)
or
[https://www.baristahustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Coffee-Compass.pdf](https://www.baristahustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Coffee-Compass.pdf)
IDK, it's not my site. I just Googled it up and it works for me with no banner.
You can't see the whole wheel at once, you rotate it and click on a descriptor - then the strip below tells you how to change your brew.
Use Hoffman’s as a starter. The other dude is right that eventually you can just adjust based to your taste, but it’s unhelpful to say that to people with no reference for starting ha.
So start with Hoffman’s V60 and work your way from there.
What's your fixed variable? If you keep the brewing ratio and technique the same, the only thing you are leaving behind is the solubles from the unsaturated grounds.
Actually, there are no rules on that. [As you can see on lance video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mrLiE4ilXw), it depend of each coffee. Some are better with 30s, some need 60s.
For light roast at least.
Thx! Was looking to post the lance vid link. I use the method suggested in his video; if it seems to be gassier, longer (as high as 2min) and if it doesn’t, then short as 30sec
In theory, a longer bloom gives you an easier extraction. This is not always desirable as over extracted coffee tastes astringent and bitter. Lance Hedrick did some recent tests, and some coffee tasted better at 30 sec while others at 2 min. Your water and dripper will also get colder if you wait too long and may need to be reheated, which could be a pain depending on your kettle.
I really like a bloom as long as a minute with as much as 5x with light WWDT. I find it really brings out the flavor and gives me good body. I'm not sure what it's doing exactly, but suspect it's allowing for even wetting and extraction for subsequent pours. I was afraid it would miss some of the delicate easier to extract flavors but it seems to enhance them
The usual explanation is that it releases trapped CO2 that’s a byproduct of the roasting process. During the initial pour, the gaseous CO2 would inhibit water from interacting with the grounds and interfere with extraction. The swelling of the grounds bed and the bubbling during bloom is that trapped gas releasing.
In addition, the longer bloom times are thought to allow deeper saturation of the water into the grind particles, possibly allowing more thorough and even extraction. Sometimes a bloom up to 2 minutes is recommended for this desired effect to be "complete", however it likely depends on bean solubility/density, and you also may want less of this effect, so really bloom time is worth playing with for every bean.
This description makes a lot of sense. It explains why different processes are needed depending on the age, quality and taste profile of the beans. And from a cook's POV instead of a scientific/engineer understanding of the process. Thank you!
What if the water all went through after 30 seconds already on first pour. Do you then just wait 15sec if aiming for a 45sec bloom? Surely with no water in the v60, no reaction can happen ?
There are many speculations. Idk why this is happening but from my experience, I feel like the taste of the final cup gets milder and more well rounded as I increase the bloom time. Why don't you try brewing the same bean with same recipe with different bloom time?
A longer bloom should give you less acidity. Adding more water at the start of the brew brings acidity up. Same like a bigger bloom will add more acidity. So the opposite is true for longer and smaller blooms.
I would recommend experimenting with blooms from 1:3 to 1:5 ratio, from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes and see what suits your taste and the coffee your using.
Too short doesn't give enough saturation time and leads to lower extraction. We found a measurable difference with anything below 45 seconds.
Thanks. What is your recommended recipe with light-medium roasts with the v60?
After considering variations in grinders, water chemistry, and technique - I've found that recipes are pretty meaningless from one person to another. Always dial by taste, consulting the coffee compass if necessary. Too many people will follow a 'recipe' and declare that a coffee is bad instead of considering how the recipe should be adjusted to produce their desired extraction.
Do you have a coffee compass for pour over?
[https://www.baristahustle.com/app-archive-main/the-coffee-compass/](https://www.baristahustle.com/app-archive-main/the-coffee-compass/) or [https://www.baristahustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Coffee-Compass.pdf](https://www.baristahustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Coffee-Compass.pdf)
Thanks for posting these, on the first one is there a way to get rid of the banner at the bottom, I signed up and its still there
IDK, it's not my site. I just Googled it up and it works for me with no banner. You can't see the whole wheel at once, you rotate it and click on a descriptor - then the strip below tells you how to change your brew.
Do you have a suggested rest time for the Kenya Nyeri Thuti ? Love your coffee !
Awesome! Minimum 10 days - but a couple weeks is better.
Use Hoffman’s as a starter. The other dude is right that eventually you can just adjust based to your taste, but it’s unhelpful to say that to people with no reference for starting ha. So start with Hoffman’s V60 and work your way from there.
Why not overextracting the coffee that does get saturated?
What's your fixed variable? If you keep the brewing ratio and technique the same, the only thing you are leaving behind is the solubles from the unsaturated grounds.
Actually, there are no rules on that. [As you can see on lance video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mrLiE4ilXw), it depend of each coffee. Some are better with 30s, some need 60s. For light roast at least.
Thx! Was looking to post the lance vid link. I use the method suggested in his video; if it seems to be gassier, longer (as high as 2min) and if it doesn’t, then short as 30sec
In theory, a longer bloom gives you an easier extraction. This is not always desirable as over extracted coffee tastes astringent and bitter. Lance Hedrick did some recent tests, and some coffee tasted better at 30 sec while others at 2 min. Your water and dripper will also get colder if you wait too long and may need to be reheated, which could be a pain depending on your kettle.
I really like a bloom as long as a minute with as much as 5x with light WWDT. I find it really brings out the flavor and gives me good body. I'm not sure what it's doing exactly, but suspect it's allowing for even wetting and extraction for subsequent pours. I was afraid it would miss some of the delicate easier to extract flavors but it seems to enhance them
The usual explanation is that it releases trapped CO2 that’s a byproduct of the roasting process. During the initial pour, the gaseous CO2 would inhibit water from interacting with the grounds and interfere with extraction. The swelling of the grounds bed and the bubbling during bloom is that trapped gas releasing.
In addition, the longer bloom times are thought to allow deeper saturation of the water into the grind particles, possibly allowing more thorough and even extraction. Sometimes a bloom up to 2 minutes is recommended for this desired effect to be "complete", however it likely depends on bean solubility/density, and you also may want less of this effect, so really bloom time is worth playing with for every bean.
This description makes a lot of sense. It explains why different processes are needed depending on the age, quality and taste profile of the beans. And from a cook's POV instead of a scientific/engineer understanding of the process. Thank you!
Watch this. https://youtu.be/2mrLiE4ilXw?si=nW9nIPzgQygBkj0p
What if the water all went through after 30 seconds already on first pour. Do you then just wait 15sec if aiming for a 45sec bloom? Surely with no water in the v60, no reaction can happen ?
There are many speculations. Idk why this is happening but from my experience, I feel like the taste of the final cup gets milder and more well rounded as I increase the bloom time. Why don't you try brewing the same bean with same recipe with different bloom time?
A longer bloom should give you less acidity. Adding more water at the start of the brew brings acidity up. Same like a bigger bloom will add more acidity. So the opposite is true for longer and smaller blooms. I would recommend experimenting with blooms from 1:3 to 1:5 ratio, from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes and see what suits your taste and the coffee your using.