I'm a little discouraged

I drink a lot of coffee, but have waited untill my late 60's to try and find something better than vacuum packed ground. I'm only about three weeks into this quest. I've found a couple of roasters within an hour drive, and have tried some undated grocery store whole beans, yuk, and have yet to make a pot of coffee that I consider better than what I have been drinking for the last 50 years.
I'm using a Bunn Velocity, The one with the tank covered in plastic, a cheap blade grinder and making a pot at a time. I do have a burr grinder on order. I have cleaned my machine per instructions. Maybe better water should be my next step. either bottled or filtered??
Suggestions for incremental steps? I wold rather crawl down this rabbit hole than fall down it.

Bill

Purists will chime in with all sorts of ocd recommendations for how to make the coffee, but I'd suggest upgrading to a French press first. That'll make even average coffee taste better.

Also, and maybe more importantly, have you defined exactly what you're looking for in a cup of coffee? Maybe your taste is just more run of the mill? No shame iin liking what you like.

What kind of grinder do you have on the way? Aside from using good quality, fresh roasted coffee, the #1 consideration needs to be the grinder. If you've been using a whirly-blade, it's not surprising your results have been unimpressive. It sounds like you're heading in the right direction, and there's really no need to jump head first into spending gobbs of money.

Once your grinder comes in, work on dialing in your grind as much as the machine allows. You'll begin tasting the difference almost immediately.

I like to reference the chart below. It was designed with espresso in mind, but the same concepts apply to brewed coffee as well. If your cup is bitter, grind a bit coarser OR brew slightly shorter. If it is sour, try grinding a bit finer OR brewing slightly longer.


It's helpful to understand how the grind coarseness AND dose quantity will impact your brewing time. Mostly, it amounts to the most heavily caffeinated experimentation process of your life!!! Have fun!

Go West Young Man said:

Purists will chime in with all sorts of ocd recommendations for how to make the coffee, but I'd suggest upgrading to a French press first. That'll make even average coffee taste better.

Also, and maybe more importantly, have you defined exactly what you're looking for in a cup of coffee? Maybe your taste is just more run of the mill? No shame iin liking what you like.

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I got a French press (now two) for my wife and she got an electric kettle. The two together greatly improved her enjoyment. She really enjoys the Le Creusset French press.

jzuzphreek said:

What kind of grinder do you have on the way?

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This http://www.bodum.com/gb/en-us/shop/detail/10903-01UK Hoping to get a handle on the grind with it. I can never even repeat my last grind with the whirly. If anyone knows my dripper, is it adviseable to try to controll brew time with the add water door?

Thanks for the encouragement

Bill

okie bill said:

This http://www.bodum.com/gb/en-us/shop/detail/10903-01UK Hoping to get a handle on the grind with it. I can never even repeat my last grind with the whirly. If anyone knows my dripper, is it adviseable to try to controll brew time with the add water door?

Thanks for the encouragement

Bill

Click to expand...

You're definitely headed in the right direction. While not the most versatile grinder, you'll certainly get better consistency for drip, pourover, or immersion brews.

While I'm not familiar with the Bunn Velocity, I don't think it's brew rate is controllable with anything other than grind coarseness and quantity. Start out by trying to get as close to a grind similar to what you would purchase pre-ground from a store. Then work from there to taste.

jzuzphreek said:

I don't think it's brew rate is controllable with anything other than grind coarseness and quantity.

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This dripper's "hook" is that it is fast because it has at least a carafe of pre heated water in it's tank at all times. It will not drip this through the filter until the add water door is closed. So, although I don't think Bunn ment this as a design feature, one is able to controll the flow of hot water into the filter with the add water door. Just wondered if anyone had used this hack before.

Bill

okie bill said:

This dripper's "hook" is that it is fast because it has at least a carafe of pre heated water in it's tank at all times. It will not drip this through the filter until the add water door is closed. So, although I don't think Bunn ment this as a design feature, one is able to controll the flow of hot water into the filter with the add water door. Just wondered if anyone had used this hack before.

Bill

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Hm... So, in essence, it can function as a fixed-point pour-over? What the heck, at least you can have some fun experimenting with it.

Grinding for drip coffee is not as "critical" as grinding for espresso where a "smigin" makes the difference between a fine cup and one you share with the sink.

Any burr grinder should be able to give you a consistent enough grind for your brew method.

I would look online for your local municipalities water quality report to see what is in that wet stuff so that you can decide what you need to do.

If your water taste good (as in you go for another glass every time because it is so nice) it should work good in your brewer.

Bunn makes some pretty nice brewers. I've owned nothing but Bunn brewers for decades and have never been disappointed with the coffee they make.

Don't worry about finding a roaster near by. With the internet you can get beans from the best roasters in the nation delivered right to your door. The runner up for Roast Magazine's roaster of the year is right here in my little town.

If you want a couple of recommendations of "reliable" roasters that will ship same day roasted beans send me a PM. as I don't want to seem to be "promoting" anyone but I can make personal recommendations based on first hand knowledge of the roaster and their business.

For auto drip coffee the order of importance is....

beans
water
grinder
brewer

Fancy fresh/custom roasted beans are less important than the grind. Some store bought beans are actually quite good, even though they are not freshly roasted. I use 8 O'Clock Columbian which is very cheap and also quite good. Give it a try.

Hand grinders seem to be coming down in price and up in quality, lately. Lots of good offerings out there. I still like my brass antique-looking grinder I got in Turkey probably 30 years ago. The design is omnipresent in the shops and bazaars, and in fact, all over the middle east, too. Right out of the shop it grinds way too fine for anything but Turkish or maybe espresso, but a little work on the burr cone with a bench grinder to increase the clearance and I got perfect french press grind. I think it cost me about $5. But Hario, Kyocera, Zassenhaus, all have decent hand grinders for well under $50. My ex GF has one of these, or very similar.
https://www.momastore.org/museum/mo...8I1tDnVTGF5UsP5Mn77gDEcanHKGPCtN1oaAiql8P8HAQ

If you like to experiment you might want to try a pour-over. I have seen them for about $3 at the grocery store. It is a cone filter holder that sits on top of your mug. Heat water. Put pourover on mug, add cone filter. put coffee in filter. Pour water into coffee. Water passes through coffee and extracts, then drips into mug. You control grind, water temp, dose, pour speed, everything. It is cheap and travels well. It makes a very nice coffee. It is accessible for thorough cleaning. It only makes a mug at a time. Did I mention cheap? I like a FP but it is not as convenient to clean as the pourover.

These days I favor my Delonghi Magnifica superautomatic espresso machine. Makes a very nice cappuccino. I take my specially selected mug and fill it to my special mark with milk, stick it under the wand and put a particular thickness book under it, and let it froth milk while I pull on socks and drawers etc. Then I clean the wand and stick the mug under the twin spouts and hit the button for 2 shots, and pull my jeans and tshirt on while the machine thoughtfully grinds, doses and tamps, extracts, and ejects the puck for me. I hit the button again and stick my feet in my boots, grab hat and radio, make sure my knife and flashlight are in my pocket, while the machine makes two more shots and spits them out into my mug of frothed calf food. I admire the colors through the glass mug for a bit, hit the off button and the machine cleans itself and gets ready for the next time I need it, read this forum, sip my cappa which I guess is really closer to a latte, and all is right in the world until time to start work. Its good to be me, I tell ya. The machine is mostly self cleaning. I have to keep it filled with water and beans, and empty the puck bin once in a while, and sometimes give it a thorough cleaning and descaling. Super convenient. I dont have time to do the artisan coffee thingie, but I like a nice cappa. I dont even know how long I have had this one... 2 or 3 years I guess, and never a hiccup. Dont remember what I paid... maybe just south of $600.

A Moka pot is another option. Makes a great near-espresso. Doesnt cost much, lasts basically forever. A staple item in Italian kitchens. It works sort of like an upside down percolator, except it bubbles up only the clear water, forcing it through the ground coffee, and the coffee stays up top. A very cool way to do coffee. With a milk frother you can make a fair approximation of Cappuccino.

I think I would address grind, then brewing method, before going down the artisan-roasted bean rabbit-hole. And then, you may just decide to roast your own.

Slash McCoy said:

Fancy fresh/custom roasted beans are less important than the grind.

I think I would address grind, then brewing method, before going down the artisan-roasted bean rabbit-hole. And then, you may just decide to roast your own.

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there is a school of thought out there that for auto drip machines, an inconsistent grind is better than every particle exactly the same size (i.e a few chunks and dust makes it taste better)

I'm not in that school of thought but I can see their point.

Running brew temp water over grounds, then through a paper filter, the grind is not all that critical.

Since the OP is after better tasting coffee from their Bunn auto drip machine.....

The hack sounds like a way to extend the brewing time, which would tend to highlight more of the bitter flavors. You should be able to simulate that by grinding your coffee a little finer, so that the brewing process is more repeatable and you don't need to futz with opening the door every time. I can see why some people would find that step useful, since even though a 3 minute brewing time is about right (at least for my tastes), it might be a little short when using the typical auto-drip grind. Especially for the person who likes to add cream and/or sugar and wants more of those bittering flavors to balance against the extra sweetness being added after brewing. With your burr grinder, I expect you will be able to dial in the grind size as well as the coffee/water ratio to your tastes.

Grind is very important but it isn't really necessarily the consistency that is key. For drip, basically, most people simply *massively* overgrind their coffee. Starbucks does too, and so does Peets, which is sad because they should know better.

You actually want a relatively coarse grind for filtered drip, especially if using a gold filter. You don't want powder or even sand-like; you want coarser than that.

I've gotten to where I can reliably grind even in a whirly grinder - I actually prefer them now - mostly because I know when to stop and how to keep them consistent. But I have been doing this for decades, and until you know what kind of grind to look for the burr grinders can't be beat.

I just ran across this and related to this thread it has one excellent tidbit; a very nice description of the desired grinds for various filter types, with pictures of the grind:

https://prima-coffee.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-pour-over-coffee-brewing

It's a specific article for pourover but is applicable to drip as well, related to the various filter types.

Kind of what I was getting at above, that level of coarseness is what you should really shoot for when doing drip coffee. Even the grinds they label as "fine to medium" are way more coarse that what you get buying bagged ground coffee at, say, Starbucks. I generally prefer a chemex-like grind even with much thinner paper or metal filters, myself - I like my coffee less bitter and more sweet. YMMV.

http://www.bodum.com/gb/en-us/shop/detail/10903-01UK

That is the grinder I use, as it was the best within my budget. I use a press and it works just fine. Though I'm sure I would get less fines in my cup with something a little better, it doesn't bother me. I've used it every single day for almost 4 years now without ever having an issue. That being said, coffee grounds do tend to get stuck in the shoot so I always give it a little tip and knock or blow it out. So not to have any left to get stale for my next grind. But again not a big deal for me.

That's a way nicer grinder than I use. I just use a cheapo Melitta whirly, and love it

It's been a while since I did french press, but for drip, the key for grinders isn't really the tool, once you are used to it. It's knowing how fine to stop the grind. If yours has a good automatic setting, no need to change, ever. As Turtle noted, a little variance in drip grind isn't a big deal (like it is for espresso).

okie bill said:

I've found a couple of roasters within an hour drive, and have tried some undated grocery store whole beans, yuk, and have yet to make a pot of coffee that I consider better than what I have been drinking for the last 50 years.

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If you like what you've been drinking the past 50 years then why are you looking for "better"? Coffee is a very subjective thing (better is always highly subjective regardless of topic). If you like vacuum packed ground then enjoy it. Don't rely on someone else's definition of "better". Go with what you like.

okie bill said:

I'm using a Bunn Velocity, The one with the tank covered in plastic, a cheap blade grinder and making a pot at a time. I do have a burr grinder on order. I have cleaned my machine per instructions. Maybe better water should be my next step. either bottled or filtered??
Suggestions for incremental steps? I wold rather crawl down this rabbit hole than fall down it.

Click to expand...

The grinder stands to have the biggest impact. If you can't get significant changes from the factors with major impact then there's probably not much point to tweaking the factors with smaller impact. Stick with focusing on beans, grinder and grind for now.

However, as stated above, it would help to understand what you're specifically looking to improve.

Most home drip brewers do not get the water hot enough to brew properly. Consider doing your own pour over or try a french press.