I just found out my whole coffee routine was making my brew taste sour
For years I thought my light roast beans were just supposed to be super acidic. My friend came over last Tuesday and watched me make a cup. He pointed out I was grinding way too coarse, like for a French press, and only brewing for about 2 minutes in my V60. I tried his method with a finer grind and a 3:30 brew time the next morning. The difference was insane, it actually tasted sweet and fruity like the bag said. How did I miss something so basic for so long? What's the one thing you guys messed up for ages before figuring it out?
You know what, I had almost the exact same thing happen with my pour over setup. I was on a YouTube rabbit hole one night and watched a video that said water temperature matters just as much as grind size. I'd been using water straight off a rolling boil for months, probably around 212 degrees. That was burning my lighter roasts and making everything taste bitter and flat. Once I started waiting about 30 seconds after boiling, letting it cool to around 200 degrees, the whole flavor profile opened up. I could actually taste the berry notes the roaster talked about instead of just burnt toast. Did you tweak your water temperature too or just stick with the grind change?
My old roommate used to complain our tap water made tea taste flat. I argued with him for months until he brought a test kit over. The mineral content was practically zero, so there was nothing for the flavors to stick to. I started using filtered water and it was like a whole new world, lmao.