My neighbor the barista convinced me to stop using boiling water for pour overs

I've been making pour over coffee for about 2 years now. Always used water right off the boil because I thought hotter water meant more flavor. Last week my neighbor Jen who works at a shop downtown saw me making a cup and asked what temp I use. I said I didn't check, just boil and go. She told me they use 195 degrees at her shop and anything above 205 can burn the grounds and make it taste bitter. I tried her way the next morning with my digital thermometer and it was noticeably smoother. Same beans, same grinder, just cooler water. Made me wonder what else I've been getting wrong. Anyone else have a simple change that made a big difference in their daily cup?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinmason19h ago

Yeah, I realized I was grinding way too fine and it just made mud lol

noah_black16h ago

I mean yeah that mud stage is rough. @robinmason I was there for a while too. What finally clicked for me was going way coarser than I thought I needed to, like almost looking like sea salt. I started doing a 20 second pour over bloom and the water flowed through way cleaner, less bitter too. Sometimes you gotta just trust the process and back off the grind.