My first time trying to dial in a light roast went completely sideways

I was at my kitchen counter last Tuesday, trying to brew a new Ethiopian light roast from a local roaster in Charlotte. I ground 20 grams at my usual medium setting, but the pour over finished in under 2 minutes and tasted super sour. I panicked and ground way finer on my next try, which choked the filter and took over 5 minutes, making it super bitter. In my experience, I should have just made one small adjustment at a time. Has anyone else had a light roast throw their routine off this badly? What's your step-by-step fix when this happens?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_spencer1mo ago

What was the exact grind setting you started with on your grinder? I've had that exact same panic grind finer move ruin my morning lol.

jade6391mo ago

Honestly, I think making one tiny change at a time is a waste of coffee. When a brew is that far off, you need a big swing to get back on track. Your fine grind might have choked it, but at least you learned the outer limit for that bean. Dialing in by baby steps just drags out the pain and uses more beans. I say make a bold adjustment, taste the extreme result, and then you know exactly where the middle ground is.