drip coffee: gold tone vs paper

[drcoffee]

Has any one noticed that their coffee tastes \"thinner\" when brewing with a gold tone filter vs a paper one? I bought the gold tone filter since paper traps some of the aromatic oils.

The problem may be that water passes through the gold tone filter much faster than the paper one, producing a faster extraction time. I''ve tried to compensate by grinding the beans finer; no-to-little success.

Any ideas?

 

[John P]

you generally need to grind coarser, not finer. gold filters have larger holes in and you need a grind larger than the holes in the filter.... almost the same as a 'medium to fine' french press grind.

 

[drcoffee]

you generally need to grind coarser, not finer. gold filters have larger holes in and you need a grind larger than the holes in the filter.... almost the same as a 'medium to fine' french press grind.

By grinding courser, wouldn't you get weaker tasting coffee? The larger grains have less surface area to extract the flavors. In addition, water will be able to pass through the grinds faster due to larger spaces between them.

So far, the grind has not been too fine. The grinds that pass through are very small and settle to the bottom of the pot.

I'll try a course-to-medium grind next time and see what happens though. (I've been doing a fine-to-medium grind).

 

[Jackson]

If you grind too fine, you may pull more bitters (tannins) from the beans. If you think the extraction will be weaker due to a faster brew cycle, try adding a few more grams of coffee to the basket. You will be surprised as to how much better the coffee tastes.

 

[John P]

you can always use less water rather than more coffee. If it's too strong, you can add a little bit afterwards.... or just just a melitta cone and control the saturation yourself.

 

[drcoffee]

Thanks John and Jackson. I haven't been measuring the grounds by weight; I just do 2 tablespoons of grounds per 6 oz. Might have to adjust the grounds to water ratio.

I can't believe I'm writing this, but I think I want my coffee to be more bitter! Perhaps I should use less grounds?

Using the Melitta with the gold-tone filter seems interesting. Looks like I've got some experimenting to do!