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Unpopular opinion: my expensive grinder was making my coffee worse for a year
I saved up for a $400 grinder and used the finest setting because I thought that meant more flavor. My coffee always tasted bitter and thin. Last month, a barista in Austin watched me make a cup and said, 'You're choking the machine, it needs room to breathe.' She had me grind way coarser, like a coarse sea salt. The next cup was smooth and sweet, not bitter at all. How many other basic steps are people like me missing because we bought fancy gear first?
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lee8472mo ago
I get what you're saying about learning basics first, but honestly, that expensive gear is what pushed me to learn. My fancy grinder's manual had terrible advice, so I had to dig into forums and videos to fix my bitter coffee. The good gear just shows problems more clearly, which forces you to learn faster.
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ray3562mo ago
Had the same thing happen with my espresso machine. I kept pulling sour shots and just assumed I needed better beans. Watched a video about adjusting the grind and dose together, and it was a total game changer. Sometimes you just need to learn the basics before the fancy gear makes sense.
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rowan_thomas842mo ago
Oh man, I see what you mean, but that sour shot is usually from under-extraction. A finer grind or a bigger dose can both fix it, but they do different things. The grind size changes the flow rate, which is the real key to balancing sour and bitter.
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