Don't Give Up on That Coffee Yet

Hey,

Here's a scenario you probably know. You get a fresh bag of coffee, the notes on the label sound incredible, and then you brew it with your usual setup and it just doesn't click. You tweak a couple of things. Still not happy. And now you're most of the way through the bag, a little frustrated.

Before you write that coffee off, try this. Don't change the beans. Change the shape of the brewer.

Grab about the same amount of coffee, split it, and brew two cups side by side. One in a cone, like a Hario V60. One in a flat bottom brewer. Keep everything else as close as you can, same grind, same rough recipe, so it's an even playing field. Then taste them back to back and be honest with yourself about which one you like more.

The difference can be bigger than you'd expect. What I keep noticing is that a fruitier coffee often comes out more balanced and more flavorful on the flat bottom. That same coffee through a cone tends to be sharper, brighter, louder, more acidic, more in your face. Not worse. Just different. And which one is right depends entirely on your palate, not mine.

That's the whole point, honestly. I can tell you what I taste, but you're a different person. You might love those bright, sharp notes the cone pulls out. You might prefer the rounder, calmer cup from the flat bottom. Both brewers can get you there. You just have to taste and see.

If your one brewer is already making coffee you love, you don't need a shelf full of them. Keep it simple.

But if a new bag ever leaves you cold, don't assume the coffee is bad or that you messed up. Run it through a different shape before you give up. It might be the same beans just needed a different door to walk through. Watch me test both side by side here.

Then hit reply and tell me, are you a cone person or a flat bottom person? I read every one.

Oaks, the Coffee Guy