Poorboy's pour-over

[Bronzelife]

My quick take experimenting with pour overs.

after getting a few great cups from local shops I surmised I deserved better coffee at home and I'd give pour overs a shot. So after some trial and error I found a method that I think is respectable in my mr. coffee maker.

Boil 5 cups of water
grind 1/3 cup of coffee - 2 weeks to month old tops
use and rinse an unbleached filter

grind coffee to med coarse then flatten it in the filter with a small depression in the middle and higher sides. Pour in water starting in the center and then around the edge. Wait 30-45 seconds for bloom. Then pour a full brew in a circular motion starting outside and moving in breaking the bloom. Wait til the grinds are visible and repeat second step for full brew.

finally I transfer the coffee while it's HOT to a Stanley thermos. I never reheat coffee or leave it on a source of heat.

In my opinion, it's a pretty good cup and quite comparable to what I get at the better shops. Now I'm thinking of investing in a better, or maybe it's just more expensive, pour over system. Anyone familiar with my method? Did you upgrade your pour over system and get way better results?

 

[Duffyjr]

Don't see why that wouldn't make a decent cup and surely better than what that brewer could make but you should consider a burr grinder next.

 

[Bronzelife]

Don't see why that wouldn't make a decent cup and surely better than what that brewer could make but you should consider a burr grinder next.

Duffy, can you expand on the grind difference a little more. I'm using a cheap chopper now with acceptable results imo. And what would be the difference in moving to a more traditional pour over system like a bodum or pricier melitta besides the obvious style points?

so far I've found that the greatest factors in getting a decent cup are coffee quality, roast date, and water quality.

 

[Duffyjr]

When I went from a blade grinder to a burr grinder I couldn't believe how much better the coffee tasted. With a blade grinder I was getting to many fines in the grind and if I backed off the amount of grind time it lost it's flavor some but the fines were still there and was making my coffee taste bitter. With that being said I used a spice mill for many years before I had a burr grinder so if the coffee tastes ok to you that's all that matters in the long run. A lot of folks will agree with me on the blade vs burr grinder.

As far as pour overs the only one I use is a Chemex and I'm still in the learning phase so I can't help much with the difference in pour over methods. There's lots of guys here that use other pour overs so hopefully they will chime in.

 

[Bronzelife]

After reading your reply and watching multiple YouTube videos I can see a burr grinder is definitely the next step in getting a better cup. Wish they were a little cheaper but the difference in uniformity is night and day. No matter how many tricks you use with a blade the consistency just isn't there.

excited to get even better cups, not excited to spend $200 on a decent grinder. thanks for the direction!

 

[Duffyjr]

I know it's a little spendy but I don't think your will regret it. I bought a Baratza Virtuoso but I think if I had it to do over gain I'd get the Baratza Encore, it's a little cheaper but has good reviews. I know some have mentioned a few under $100 that work but don't recall the brand.

Let us know which one you get.

 

[kahveadam]

These days, I see the Pour-Over product of the Stanley termos brand a lot. I want to use it and try it but I have doubts whether it brews good coffee or not. I'm not sure if Stanley will give me the flavor I get with Delter Press.