I would like to see what others are changing when you start a new bag of coffee. I will preface that I only do pourover.
I keep my ratio the same as well as my brew temp/# of pours. I really only adjust my grind size to aim for similar brew times and then from there adjust grind size based on taste/astringency.
What I do is first look at the bean roast profile. I usually buy my coffee from the same roastery, so the profile (for traditional brew) is relatively constant. If I see the profile is darker than the usual, I grind it coarser, and vice versa. Everything else (ratio, brew time, water temp) stay the same.
I like Lance Hedrick’s pourover recipe for requiring less dialing in *between *brews due to the fact that you’re adjusting the agitation on the fly *during *the brew.
I will also tweak any or all other variables, depending on what seems like it will help or if I’m just feeling like messing around. Dialing by ratio is very underrated, I think, because it’s a good way of targeting bitter/sour balance. Bypass brewing is also cool and something that I’m trying to make use of more often.
If coffee has bitterness that resists other adjustments, then dropping the temperature by 5+ degrees can really help.
When dialling in (I’m new to it), I like to try and maintain the same brew time. So I’ll adjust grind size to try and account for this, although I’ve found that as I go through a bag I end up wanting a finer and finer grind. Does also depend on the roast of the coffee, so if a roast is darker than I expected I’ll grind a little coarser as I believe darker roasts extract more easily.
I use a chemex, I’ll usually tighten the grind as I go through a bag, so I’ll back the setting off a little before a new bag and then tighten from there. Coffee is too expensive these days to throw away a bad brew and I prefer my coffee to be a little soupy vs. over-extracted
I brew Chemex every day as well, and use the same strategy. I always brew to ~600g, and start with a 1:18 ratio for a brand new bag, as well as a set grind setting.
Moving forward I only really mess with grind/ratio honestly, and haven’t really been concerned with temp or time. Although I’ve considered setting aside a day to play around and see if I can actually taste differences adjusting more variables….
Totally agree on expense though, I rarely ever throw out a brew so always want to err on the side of caution
Yeah, temp should be 205F for most pour over applications. Shouldn’t need to fool around with that. I don’t let time bother me at all on the chemex, can take a while sometimes. I just mainly focus on keeping a nice even bed while I’m pouring.
I typically keep my grind size the same and adjust brewing ratio and extraction time. I’ll start with a 1:16 ratio and move up or down slightly from there. I do most of my better cups with a Hario Switch, so I can change the immersion time too.
Yeah to be honest I don’t play around with my morning coffee. I just try to get good coffee ASAP in the morning. If I’m going to mess around it’s going to be midmorning on the weekend or in the afternoon.
Oh wow you're like the opposite of me except I also use the Switch but again with the immersion times and such I'm still pretty static. I actually use a mix of Sprometheus's and Tetsu's Devil recipe
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