A barista in Sacramento told me my pour over was muddy, and it took me 6 months to admit she was right
I was grinding way too fine and dumping the water in fast because I thought a slower pour meant weak coffee, so every cup came out bitter and gritty. She watched me make one at her shop and just said "your bed looks like mud," which stung but made me buy a cheap gooseneck kettle and go coarser the next morning. How did you all learn to read your coffee bed, was it someone telling you straight or just a lot of bad cups?