Totally Dependent on Gram Scale which just failed

[peter]

Your middle name is Zen, yes?  I am one with the coffee, I am one with the process...

[John F]

Your middle name is Zen, yes?  I am one with the coffee, I am one with the process...

That is a nice way to say it another way is to say that when I'm not paying attention there will be a spill on the counter.

[staylor]

Hmmmm, I wonder if some of the best pourover brewers in the world should get rid of their scales?

http://new.livestream.com/worldcoffee/BrewersCup2012Finals/videos/1566404

Perhaps the winner was geeking out when he was creating a custom water hardness from locally available water, maybe he should have guessed at approx 12-14gms for his ground coffee instead of the 11.8gms he determined was best, maybe he shouldn't have removed the fines before extraction, or modified his pour, or...

If he couldn't use a scale, would his coffee suffer? I think so.

Like I tell my boys, if you are going to do something do it right. Think like a pro and act like a pro, even if you aren't a pro. Brewing a world class cup of coffee requires precision and attention to detail. I might not be brewing at a world class level but I don't like brewing coffee with mediocrity in mind. Using a scale improves my pourovers.

It's not an inconvenience to use a scale, nor is it expensive, the scale I've been using for the last few years cost me less than $20 and even though it is battle scarred it still works perfectly.

I'm not trying to convert anyone into a scale brewer, if you are happy with your system, rock on.

(Don't miss the bonus Melitta brewing history lesson from 2nd place Andy Sprenger)

[John F]

Why do I suddenly feel like sending my Dad a lump of coal next Fathers Day?   

There can be no logical argument against striving for perfection.

Measuring an exact 11.8 grams is superior (as an example of course) to guessing at 12-14g by eyeballing the levelness/roundness of a scoop.

Sifting fines and engineering the water are also improve the cup I'm sure.

There isn't even a way from my yet to be caffeinated mind I can figure to say something else witty to defend the eyeballing a 12-14g scoop....

End post.

[milowebailey]

With an old lever espresso machine (CMA) I find each pull doesn't always dispense the same amount of water, actually neither does my Achille.  Coffee doesn't extract the same day to day due to the age of the beans.   I used to use a scale when I first started using the CMA, but I still have to watch the extraction.  I found the best for my machine was a level portafilter ground from my grinder and tamped to what I think is 30 lbs (that probably varies day to day, shot to shot too).  But weighing the beans or water isn't always going to be the same extraction.

Now with pour-over I use the same measuring scoop, same grind, same kettle, same pourover, into the same cup and I stop at the same point.  Is it a good cup?  Most of the time it is.  When it's not it's mostly the difference in coffees (I use this for cupping).  Could it be better?   hmmm now I'm thinking.........

I guess I agree with John and Shaun's point.... maybe it's time to re-think my pourover and weigh.  Why shoot for second best.... I guess you can teach an old dog an old trick...

[rasqual]

...maybe he shouldn't have removed the fines before extraction...

I went through a phase of doing that; can't remember why I lost interest. Just tried it again. My screen is larger than .25mm, but it only passes what I would call fines.

Awesome cup. I know this coffee, and it clearly made a difference. I introduced the fines into the Clever about 30 seconds before topping the cup with it.

I also did a liter pot. Weighed the coffee this time. For the screen I'm using, I ended up with "fines" comprising about 1/6 of my overall grind.

Maybe I ought to resurrect some of the ideas I once batted around.

For now I have a mason jar shaker; not quite a good orbital vibration. Maybe I'll duct-tape a sander to the side of the darned thing.   ;-)

[grinderz]

Why do I suddenly feel like sending my Dad a lump of coal next Fathers Day?   

There can be no logical argument against striving for perfection.

Measuring an exact 11.8 grams is superior (as an example of course) to guessing at 12-14g by eyeballing the levelness/roundness of a scoop.

Sifting fines and engineering the water are also improve the cup I'm sure.

There isn't even a way from my yet to be caffeinated mind I can figure to say something else witty to defend the eyeballing a 12-14g scoop....

End post.

But how does one consistently determine that 11.8 is superior to 12 or 13 ounces for THIS pour? The coffee is probably a day older than it was the last time I brewed it and I didn't experiment with half a dozen plus pours the day before to nail down the "best" variables for these beans. Since most of the time I'm going by my gut to determine the variables so it seems that adding more precision is merely adding precision to an educated guess.

I'm not panning folks who measure and record but for me, the ritual aspect of preparation is fairly secondary to the drinking experience.

[Tex]

I'd never weigh my beans, but when I want to weigh something to 1/10th of a gram I use my trusty Uline jewelry scale. It self-calibrates with a 400g weight.

[staylor]

For now I have a mason jar shaker; not quite a good orbital vibration. Maybe I'll duct-tape a sander to the side of the darned thing.   ;-)

If you get that design into a production state and make it with sexy stainless steel and chrome duct tape it could be the next big thing at SCAA 2013. Just remember us little people when it becomes mainstream. ;-)

[staylor]

Why do I suddenly feel like sending my Dad a lump of coal next Fathers Day?   

There can be no logical argument against striving for perfection.

Measuring an exact 11.8 grams is superior (as an example of course) to guessing at 12-14g by eyeballing the levelness/roundness of a scoop.

Sifting fines and engineering the water are also improve the cup I'm sure.

There isn't even a way from my yet to be caffeinated mind I can figure to say something else witty to defend the eyeballing a 12-14g scoop....

End post.

But how does one consistently determine that 11.8 is superior to 12 or 13 ounces for THIS pour? The coffee is probably a day older than it was the last time I brewed it and I didn't experiment with half a dozen plus pours the day before to nail down the "best" variables for these beans. Since most of the time I'm going by my gut to determine the variables so it seems that adding more precision is merely adding precision to an educated guess.

I'm not panning folks who measure and record but for me, the ritual aspect of preparation is fairly secondary to the drinking experience.

I suppose the World Champion determined that 11.8gms dose based on a full morning of experimentation on the morning of the competition. He also had the advantage of (presumably) calibrated palates surrounding him that he could gain feedback from and validate his weight.

How do I determine my weight for my coffee? Well I tend to use a constant so that I can observe the changing nature of the coffee on a day to day basis, the constant weight of the coffee dose helps eliminate the variable of weight guesswork, by eliminating as many variables as possible I can get out of the way of the coffee and just let the coffee do its thing. What I'm trying to say is, every time I allow a variable to impact the coffee I'm accepting that I am affecting the result, every time I clamp down on the variables I'm trying to let the coffee show itself. Eventually I find a point with each coffee where I will try to let the coffee do its thing while simultaneously imprinting my interpretation of what the coffee should be doing - by tweaking a variable.

Since coffee isn't my full time job I don't spend every morning brewing dozens of cups and doing lots of cross-comparisons. But the guys who are doing it at a high level (pro) are doing a lot of that hard work for me, all I have to do is track the trends and experiment with it myself and see if it is creating a better cup (for me). As long as I don't have to set my left pant leg on fire I will absorb any technique/routine that allows me to create a better cup.

[staylor]

Pretty easy to do.

[staylor]

Replace that yellow tape with some chrome tape and I think you've got a retail hit.

[grinderz]

I suppose the World Champion determined that 11.8gms dose based on a full morning of experimentation on the morning of the competition. He also had the advantage of (presumably) calibrated palates surrounding him that he could gain feedback from and validate his weight.

I guess my half formed point is that 11.8 grams is going to be "wrong" more times than not, from one day to the next, based on that "world championship" criteria. Is it going to be "wrong enough" alter my enjoyment/perception of the cup? Probably not... which I guess is sort of my point.

[John F]

Somewhere when 11.8 grams is wrong my 12-14 gram scoop is dead on. 

[rasqual]

Somewhere when 11.8 grams is wrong my 12-14 gram scoop is dead on. 

For some reason, I have this intuition that a lot of coffee geeks might swoon at the 11.8 grams but would sniff indifferently at the fines separation.

Tell you what, the fines separation makes a heckuva lot more difference than whether that 11.8 is ±1 g.