Need help with pour over! Cant solve sour coffee problem.

[Cafecoffee]

I got interested in pour over about a year ago, and recently got some better equipment. I am needing help though to solve a problem. My coffee keeps coming out sour.

My hand grinder is a 1zpresso j. While it's not the top of the line, it certainly gives me a much more even grind than I was getting before. It does produce a bit more fines than I would like. But I mesh sift them off a little to keep them from clogging my paper filters.

My initial ratio used was 18 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water. Water was heated to 203, and grind size was to the point where the entire pour, including bloom, was 3:30. Coffee came out sour. Good news was there was no bitter in it.

I've done multiple trials and errors adjusting the ratio, and adjusting water.

The latest one I tried was 20gr of coffee to 300 grams of water. Water was heated initially to 207 for the bloom, and then by the time pour started it was 205. Grind size was to the point of a 3:40 second pour including the bloom. While this pour had better flavor, it was still sour, and I did note just a very minor hint of bitterness coming through. I believe I had too many fines in this particular cup though so I am marking that slight bitter taste to that.

My question is of course, are there any suggestions on what I can do to change or tweak? Is there a temperature that is too hot for pour over? Any other tips and tricks to get proper extraction? Forgive my lack of knowledge if there seems to be a blatant answer for this. I'm still new to this in general.

Thanks for any answers!!

 

[Musicphan]

I would grind a little finer and slow it down a bit... I shoot for about 3:30-4pm post bloom. Water temp may be a touch too high... I shoot for 202. Overall you are spot on specs... it may just be the coffee you ar using as well.

 

[Cafecoffee]

Thank you for the input. I will try that. I typically have a 30 second bloom. Is that too little or too much? I know it's sort of subjective to the coffee. But it was just sort of a guess. I wanted to keep the constants as rigid as possible, bloom time being one of them.

 

[Musicphan]

Thank you for the input. I will try that. I typically have a 30 second bloom. Is that too little or too much? I know it's sort of subjective to the coffee. But it was just sort of a guess. I wanted to keep the constants as rigid as possible, bloom time being one of them.

That's what I shoot for... but havent' seen it cause much diff if longer.

 

[salmonthefish]

I rarely make coffee at home because I just can't make it well. For some reason, I also often get acid. That's why I usually drink coffee outside the house. Once I forgot my wallet in a cafe and thanks to cafe la trova customer service I was able to get it back. Of course I stayed there for morning coffee and since then it is my favorite place with the most delicious coffee

 

[mjboise]

Sour = under-extraction. Your TDS would be low. and PPM would be low. Adjust your grind more fine. Push the water so it goes through and you're done pouring in 3:00 Minutes and it's drained in 3:30 total. You'll have to pour aggressively to get the water to go through. Quit waiting so long, you're brewing to long, and under extracting. I'm sure it's funky. Maybe don't try to sift out as many fines, you grind curve for micron particulate may be off on that grinder. While fines do cause over-extraction/bitter taste, on less than commercial grinders, they tend to balance the sour under extracted flavors.

 

[mjboise]

Also, altitude will effect boil point. Take, water off boil point. Wait 45 seconds, then begin your pour. (assuming you've got approximately the amount of water boiling that you will use.

 

[mjboise]

The brew vessel will change that also. What pour over do you have?