That barista at Blue Bottle told me my pour-over was way too slow

I used to think the whole point of pour-over was to go super slow and steady, like a meditation session. But last month at the Blue Bottle on 3rd Street in LA, the barista watched me finish my V60 in over 4 minutes and just shook his head. He said I was over-extracting and getting bitter notes from all that contact time, which honestly explained the weird astringent taste I kept getting. He showed me to grind a bit coarser and aim for a total brew time of around 2 minutes 30 seconds. First cup I tried at home with that timing was way brighter and actually sweet, no bitterness at all. Has anyone else been told their pour-over timing was off and adjusted? What ratio do you use for a single cup?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade5585d ago

Swapped my ratio from 1:15 to 1:17 after a barista called me out too, @the_vera, and it fixed everything.

the_vera5d ago

So you're saying he just watched you and then dropped that wisdom on you? That's wild, reminds me of when a cashier at a ramen spot saw me struggling with chopsticks and straight up told me I was holding them like a toddler. I took his advice and now I can eat noodles without launching them across the room.