Baratza encore grind setting for a 3 hole melitta pour over dripper

[warrickroy]

Hi guys.

I've been looking all over the internet but couldn't find information on this. I see posts regarding grind settings on the one hole melitta dripper or the bee house 2 hole dripper. But has anyone used a melitta 3 hole dripper. I actually have the kalita 102, which is the same as the 3 hole melitta.

I have a baratza encore and seem to be having a hard time dialing in the grind size for this 3 hole pour over drip. Has anyone have ny experience regarding this? Should i go finer on it or coarser?

 

[flphotog]

I think experimentation is your best bet on this. The grind seeing you use will depend on your personal taste. I don't have a melitta dripper, mine is a Hario, when I use it I generally set my encore to about 12 but that's just me. It might give you a starting point to work with.

 

[warrickroy]

thanks flphotog. did you ever try opening your encore to see where your calibration was? i wanted to ask this just so i might have an idea which grind size you have (because the encore has more calibration settings for coarse, neutral, and fine, which gives it way more settings then usual)

 

[flphotog]

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, the only way to tell the grind setting is by the setting on the top under the hopper. To open it up you unscrew the hopper which of course invalidates the grind setting.

 

[peterjschmidt]

There's an internal adjustment too, that shifts everything finer or coarser too. But yours is stock since you bought it new, which is fine for everybody, but the extreme geeks that have to putz with everything.

 

[warrickroy]

lol that is quite true peter. well i'll play around with the external grind settings a little. i tried flphotog's setting and it was too strong for me, so i'll adjust it a bit coarser with every brew that i make. thanks a lot guys!

 

[sarwanov]

Great post.well done

 

[flphotog]

There's an internal adjustment too, that shifts everything finer or coarser too. But yours is stock since you bought it new, which is fine for everybody, but the extreme geeks that have to putz with everything.

Thanks Peter, didn't know that. I never looked, I guess I just figured I could muddle by with the 40 choices I already had.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Thanks Peter, didn't know that. I never looked, I guess I just figured I could muddle by with the 40 choices I already had.

I'd have to check with Baratza to see if this internal adjustment is on the newer models, and which models. It was used by people who either couldn't get it to grind fine enough for espresso, and/or coarse enough for press pot. But they've added some more increments to the grind settings, and I'd think the average user can leave the grinder as it's set from the manufacturer.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Thanks Peter, didn't know that. I never looked, I guess I just figured I could muddle by with the 40 choices I already had.

I'd have to check with Baratza to see if this internal adjustment is on the newer models, and which models. It was used by people who either couldn't get it to grind fine enough for espresso, and/or coarse enough for press pot. But they've added some more increments to the grind settings, and I'd think the average user can leave the grinder as it's set from the manufacturer.



The thought that occurred to me in this thread is to understand the correlation between grind setting and steep time/flow rate of a given filter holder. Since a 1-hole will drip slower than a 3-hole, it would make you think the coffee could be ground finer. The paper filter used can affect that as well. The over-riding consideration however, should be to change only one variable at a time. Keep one grinder setting, and play with the water:coffee ratio - get that down, and see if changing the grinder has any effects. Maybe I'm just lazy, or maybe I did enough geeking out in my earlier coffee days, but my Virtuoso never changes; it stays on 12 for press pot, pourover with a screen filter, Yama vacpot, etc. Sometimes I wonder if the minute improvements we're always chasing are really discernible.

 

[warrickroy]

I must be quite a weak drinker. Because i actually re-calibrated my machine one or 2 notches towards a coarser setting, and i still use #18 for my pourovers, that would probably be #16 on the factory setting. I'm using paper filter at the moment so that might be why my flow rate is a bit slower. I will actually try the #12 setting tom morning and will get back to you guys

 

[peterjschmidt]

It has me wondering if the settings on a Virtuoso translate to the settings on an Encore... does the Encore use 1-40?

Also, it's been my MO for some time, to use a finer grind with a shorter steep time. It's just my own goofiness, but I think every grinder will produce fines (some think a coarser setting actually produces more fines) and the fines will overextract easily and produce bitterness. So, my thinking is to lessen the steep time to reduce the overextraction of the fines, and compensate for the shorter steep time with a finer grind setting.

All of that comes into play more with full-immersion brewing, and less so with pourover. But you can still take into account the rate at which you'll pour, or the flow rate of your filter holder, and think about the relation of flow rate and steep time to grind settings.

 

[warrickroy]

I tried pouring over with a setting of 12 this morning on some medium roasted beans from Kenya and i was surprised! It had a strong, yet subtle flavor. And I made my aunt try it out and she gave the profile "strong, but not offensive". So great tip there guys! I doubt this would taste as good on semi-dark roasted Ethiopian coffee beans? I have to crank up the grind settings higher on that one to come up with even a slightly acceptable, non-offensive brew.

I don't have a Virtuoso, but the Encore does also have settings of 1-40. I did read somewhere else though that the Virtuoso could produce finer grinds and it will suit someone with espresso needs; Whereas the Encore is an entry level home grinder which could grind well for drips, auto drips, French presses, etc., but will only make "acceptable" espresso grinds, even if you calibrate it for fine grinds. And I read that the Virtuoso has a faster grinding speed than the Encore, but can't confirm this.

Do you make espresso grinds with your Virtuoso?