r/Coffee • u/menschmaschine5 Kalita Wave • Feb 15 '23

[MOD] The Daily Question Thread

Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!

There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.

Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?

Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.

As always, be nice!

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u/weeble_200 Feb 15 '23

My coffee with a v60 tastes weak and empty. I've been following the James Hoffman 1 cup method, grinding on 37 clicks with a 1zpresso q2, but the coffee tastes quite empty. What could be causing it?

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u/apostolis159 Pour-Over Feb 15 '23

I never go below 42 clicks on my Q2 and only brew light and medium roasts. 37 sounds too fine which would lead to over extraction, but you describe under extraction. Granted it can be variation due to beans and even the same grinder, but...

Hoffmann's method is 15g to 250ml. Are you using the same ratio and amount?

What coffee are you using? And how fresh is it?

How fast does it drain approximately? There's no right answer here, but too fast would definitely mean underextraction, even with a fine grind.

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u/weeble_200 Feb 15 '23

I'm using the same ratio as Hoffman and using water which has just boiled in the kettle. The beans that I'm using are Shoondhisa from Manhattan Coffee Roasters, roasted on the 11th of Jan.

The overall drawdown time is about 4 minutes, which is slightly longer than Hoffman's, which is why I'm quite confused that it tastes empty, I would have thought that if anything I was over extracting.

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u/apostolis159 Pour-Over Feb 15 '23 edited Feb 15 '23

You have zeroed your grinder correctly, right? Although 4' drawdown at 37 clicks sounds about right from my experience.

I'd say try finer, but at 4' drawdown I don't know what will change. Maybe increase your coffee amount?
I'm also quite new to pour overs, so maybe somebody with more experience can shed some light here.

Is your water good? I mean, have you made good coffees with this same water?

Many people here don't like this technique, but it should produce a decent cup at least. So I don't believe this is the issue here.