I Ground My Coffee Way Too Coarse on Purpose

Hey,

I ground my coffee way too coarse on purpose. Coarse as anything. Then I tried to make it taste good anyway.

A coarse grind on a pour over usually means trouble. Less surface area, water races through, and you end up under extracting. Weak, sour, thin. That's the expected result. So I gave myself a little challenge. Same brewer, my Hario V60, but a stupidly coarse grind. Could I still get a cup I'd actually want to drink?

The trick wasn't the grind. It was everything around it. I tightened the ratio from my usual 1 to 15 down to 1 to 12, so more coffee for the water. I brewed at 200 degrees to pull as much as I could. I did multiple pulses and slow, patient pours to give the water more time with the grounds. A 30 second bloom to get things going.

And it worked. The cup came out lively and tasty, a nice balance of sweetness and acidity. I didn't even need to check the numbers. I've tasted enough coffee to know when it lands, and this one landed.

That's the real lesson, and it's bigger than grind size. The recipe you use is just a starting point. When one thing works against you, you lean on the other tools in the box. Coarse grind pulling too little? Tighten the ratio, slow the pour, add a little heat. If I'd wanted more sweetness, I'd have dropped the temperature to around 185 or 190. It all bends.

If your grinder and your usual recipe are making you happy, you don't need to go mess with this. Keep what works.

But if you've ever been stuck with the wrong grind, at a friend's place, on a trip, with a bag of pre-ground, don't panic. You have more control than you think. As a rough starting point, I go tighter for lighter roasts, around 1 to 10, medium roast around 1 to 12, and darker roasts I'll open up toward 1 to 15, since they give up their flavor more easily. Watch me rescue the coarse grind here.

Then hit reply and tell me the worst grind you've ever had to work with. I read every one.

Oaks, the Coffee Guy