doing pour over and water pouring through filter too fast. help ?

[CoffeeNoob99]

Hey everyone. I'm using a Bodum pour over system with #4 white Melita paper filters, as the mesh metal filter that comes with the unit is basically useless. I had a problem with the filters breaking and all the grounds falling into the base of hot water. So I've been folding the filters (kinda like how you would fold up a paper airplane) and now my filters hold up, but the hot water pours through the grounds way too fast! The grounds barely have time to bloom much (maybe 10 seconds) before all the water just pours right through into the bottom. I pour the rest of the water in a circular motion. I haven't timed it yet, but the brew process seems much quicker than ~3 minutes. The hot water just pours right through. Before I was getting stronger coffee, but most times the filter would break. Now I'm getting the opposite. I'm using about 2 tablespoons of beans (one scoop that came with my grinder) on setting 6 (Medium) the first Medium number on an OXO grinder, to brew one cup at a time. The grind isn't super fine, pre ground coffee looks finer than this. I think if I make the grind coarser the water will just pour through even faster. I have a gooseneck kettle with a thermometer, and I wait until the water is about 200F or cooler, then wet the filter so it sticks, peel the filter back a little, pour out the water and start the brew process. What can I do to saturate the grounds longer with hot water? Also is there some type of mesh metal filter I can buy that will fit a Bodum for when I want to brew coffee without a paper filter? Thanks.

 

[Musicphan]

Grind coarser when running too fast, and grind finer when running too slow. Ditch the metal filers - that's part of the issue IMO - most are too wide of the screen to do a great job. My preferred filter is the Filtropia #4 - far superior over the Melittas, which break easily.

 

[CoffeeNoob99]

Grind coarser when running too fast, and grind finer when running too slow. Ditch the metal filers - that's part of the issue IMO - most are too wide of the screen to do a great job. My preferred filter is the Filtropia #4 - far superior over the Melittas, which break easily.

Ah ok. I will look into getting those filters. (possibly). Isn't that backwards though? Like.. coarser and looser grounds will cause water to pour through faster no? I tried not prewetting the filter and it slowed the drain down a bit. I don't really notice much paper taste in the coffee when I do this.

 

[Musicphan]

Ah ok. I will look into getting those filters. (possibly). Isn't that backwards though? Like.. coarser and looser grounds will cause water to pour through faster no? I tried not prewetting the filter and it slowed the drain down a bit. I don't really notice much paper taste in the coffee when I do this.

Sorry - yes - those are reversed. Prewetting will help a bit... its really down to grind size that really effects speed of brewing.

 

[CoffeeNoob99]

Sorry - yes - those are reversed. Prewetting will help a bit... its really down to grind size that really effects speed of brewing.

Thanks. Yeah I turned the grind setting down a few notches and now it's brewing slower. What do you use for a pour over device?

 

[Musicphan]

Thanks. Yeah I turned the grind setting down a few notches and now it's brewing slower. What do you use for a pour over device?

Well, I'm partial to the Hario V60... but I have a nice gooseneck kettle which is almost a must IMO. If you don't have a gooseneck I recommend The Clever brewer - makes an amazing cup of coffee. Its somewhat of a hybrid between an immersion brewer and pour-over. You essentially put your filter in the device / add coffee / add hot water / sit for 3-4 min and place it over your mug and it will dispense the coffee. So you get somewhat the body from a french press/immersion brew but clean cup due to the filter.

 

[CoffeeNoob99]

Well, I'm partial to the Hario V60... but I have a nice gooseneck kettle which is almost a must IMO. If you don't have a gooseneck I recommend The Clever brewer - makes an amazing cup of coffee. Its somewhat of a hybrid between an immersion brewer and pour-over. You essentially put your filter in the device / add coffee / add hot water / sit for 3-4 min and place it over your mug and it will dispense the coffee. So you get somewhat the body from a french press/immersion brew but clean cup due to the filter.

I said I had a gooseneck kettle in the first post....

 

[JeffD]

Well, I'm partial to the Hario V60... but I have a nice gooseneck kettle which is almost a must IMO.

I really love the Hario AIR drip kettle. Under $20.00 and it does the job.

 

[CoffeeNoob99]

I really love the Hario AIR drip kettle. Under $20.00 and it does the job.

Looks pretty awkward and like it would not pour very well. If you're bringing this on a camping trip you would probably already have something to heat the water in anyway (like a gooseneck kettle with a thermometer). It's basically a really expensive plastic measuring cup. Btw the gooseneck I have has a thermometer, is metal, and costs $19.

 

[JeffD]

Looks pretty awkward and like it would not pour very well. If you're bringing this on a camping trip you would probably already have something to heat the water in anyway (like a gooseneck kettle with a thermometer). It's basically a really expensive plastic measuring cup. Btw the gooseneck I have has a thermometer, is metal, and costs $19.

Looks are deceiving. The Hario Air pours like a dream. Like a dream! No need for the gooseneck. Try one. You will be surprised.

Nobody measures with it. We use a digital scale to measure grams of coffee, and grams of water.

And as for temperature, the ideal pour over temperature is just off the boil, so say something around 95 C. So if you pour boiling water into the Hario Air, and then use it to pour over your grounds, the temperature is about perfect. Without a thermometer.

But you are right on in this respect: it does look like camping gear. Not a handsome design, Not the expensive copper clad goose neck everyone lusts after. And for under $20 it is much less expensive than the goose neck kettle.

To each his own. I go for the taste of my coffee, and not so much the beauty of my tools. Don't knock it till you have tried it though; it pours like a dream.

 

[Christina8920]

If the water through too fast, that means the grounds are too coarse to stop the water from running out, making it finer/smaller will solve this issue.

 

[JeffD]

Instead of using the scoop, measure by weight.

I would predict that if you measured the weight of the whole beans going into the grinder, and the weight of the water being poured into the dry grounds, and kept a ratio somewhere near 16 water to coffee, and got that consistent, and adjusted the grind, within a few tries you would have slower pour.