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.

 

[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?

 

[froze]

If the water is too cold it will make sour coffee, as will too short of brew time, and too coarse of a grind will result in under extraction that will lead to a sour taste.

One commented that making coffee is too difficult, YouTube Video has a wealth of information on how to make any type of coffee you want to make, it isn't difficult at all to make coffee and I can't cook food well at all, but I have no problem making coffee without using electric machines, so if I can to do it anyone can do it.

I too would like to know what pour over device he's using. I've had great success with the Kalitta Wave Stainless 185 dripper, it is a much more idiot proof pour over than others, something that works to my advantage! Another idiot proof one that I also have is the Hario V60 Switch, it doesn't work as good as a traditional slow pouring type of maker like the Kalitta but if you don't use it that way and instead use the switch method that I'll explain later it comes out a bit better than the Kalitta...in my opinion, but I like both.

You also didn't say what coffee roast you use, a dark vs a light will have different brew times and water temps.

The grinder you have is not a terrible grinder and it should work fine for Pour Over, but it won't work good at all for Turkish grind which you don't do so not a big deal. I would play with the grind size, go one step finer, then taste the coffee if it is still sour go another step finer, and keep doing that till you pay dirt, but I doubt you'll need to go more than 3 clicks on the grinder. The grinder I use is the Timemore Chestnut C3 ESP Pro because that one will do a Turkish grind because I make Turkish coffee; it also is not an expensive grinder if you buy it on sale directly from Timemore and not from Amazon, Amazon will cost you almost $75 more than from Timemore direct!!

Experimentation may take a bit of time and coffee to do, but you want to go finer grind like granulated sugar with a light roast and about 3 min brew time, give or take 30 seconds, and a water temp of between 197.6 F to 294.8 F; and use a courser grind like coarse sea salt with a dark roast but reduce the brew time by about 15 seconds and reduce the heat to between 190.4 to 194.0. Some gooseneck kettles will have a built in thermometer so you can easily see what temp the water is at.

2–3 °F swing can push your coffee from bright and sweet into sour or bitter territory.

Most grinders you should be looking at between 1 to 3 clicks on the grinder to move between coarse sea salt and granulated sugar, but I don't know your particular grinder. Keep a small journal, or notes in your phone as to what grind you eventually find, how long, and what roast was used that made the desirable result you wanted.

The beauty of the Hario V60 Switch is that the brew time can be anywhere from 4 to 9 minutes depending on how strong you want it, it's not as particular as other pour over makers, the Hario is a lot like a French Press in the brew time. If you decide to get the Hario when you put in your grounds, take a chopstick or a wood skewer (not metal so as not to scratch the glass) or something similar, make a small circle pit in the center of the grounds; then you need to pour the water slowly around the outer edge of the coffee using a gooseneck kettle and bloom for about 45 seconds with the switch down so that it is to allow to drain a small amount; (the next part can be done a couple of different ways but this is how I do it), move the switch up and pour the water at a medium pace which means a bit faster than a pour over pour; once the all the water has been poured in stir the muck gently for about 30 seconds with the chopstick or skewer, cover the top with some sort of lid to keep the heat in for as long as possible; once the time that you prefer is up flip the switch down and let the coffee drain into a cup.

That stir step people should be doing the same thing with a French Press, both, the Hario and the French Press are immersion makers, you don't want floating coffee grounds, nor do you want to scoop those floating grounds out of the maker like James Hoffman promotes on his You Tube channel, those grounds have to stay there, they simply need to be stirred to get them to soak in the water and remain immersed in the water and not floating on top, and 30 seconds is all that is needed. I did explain to Mr. Hoffman but I never received a reply, probably thinks I'm a lunatic.

Not sure why Hario doesn't include a lid, seems a bit odd, but a lid is crucial to keep the water as hot as possible for as long as possible. You should also preheat the Hario and filter with boiling water before making the coffee for better heat retention. All I do is put the Hario on top of the cup, pour in boiling water I made in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, while the other water to be used to make the coffee is cooking on the stove top in my gooseneck kettle to the proper temp, just before that water reaches the proper temp I push the lever down and let it drain, then pour it out of the cup, put the Hario back on the cup and begin making my coffee with the proper heated water from the kettle.

Sorry I didn't mention this all before but I had to leave and then forgot to come back till I got an e-mail today that reminded me.