Just realized my pour over timer was lying to me

I used to just guess when my bloom was done, figured 20 seconds felt right and moved on. Then I actually timed it with a cheap kitchen timer and found I was only waiting 12 seconds most days, and that changed the whole cup in Denver where the altitude messes with extraction. It took me 3 weeks to rebuild my routine around a real 30 second bloom and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else caught their own timing shortcuts messing with their coffee?

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thomas2919d agoMost Upvoted

Man, this hit home hard. I did the exact same thing with my V60 for months, just counting out loud like "one one thousand, two one thousand" and calling it good. Turns out I was barely hitting 15 seconds on a good day, and my coffee always had this sour bite I blamed on the beans. Finally broke down and used my phone's timer after watching a James Hoffmann video, and it was embarrassing how off I was. The fix for me was cold brew in the fridge for when I'm in a rush, but when I actually want a good cup, I set a real timer and walk away from the kettle. Now my bloom gets a full 35 seconds at my elevation, and the sweetness came back in a way no grinder change ever gave me. It's wild how we trust our brains for something a $3 gadget does better.