Shoutout to the barista who warned me about light roast water temps

I had a guy at Blue Bottle in Portland tell me I was brewing my light roast Ethiopian beans way too hot. He said to drop to 195 instead of 205 like I always did. I tried it at home and the sourness completely disappeared. Has anyone else gotten game-changing advice from a random barista like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan71917d ago

Man I feel attacked because I was definitely that guy brewing everything at 205 like a caveman. My first bag of light roast tasted like battery acid and I just thought that's how coffee was supposed to be. After a barista in Austin told me to try 195 I felt like an idiot for burning my beans all those months. Now I keep a thermometer on my kettle and check it every single pour like a crazy person. What other basic mistakes do you think casual home brewers make that we don't realize?

richardknight17d agoMost Upvoted

@ryan719 grinding too fine and waterlogging the whole thing.