u/Legitimate-Activity6

So happy for him. Made all the right choices and it paid off.

I'm looking for advice from people who remember being at this stage of the pour-over journey.

I've been a coffee drinker for 40 years. Until a month ago, coffee was mostly caffeine and morning ritual for me. My flavor reference point was Peet's Major Dickason's from Costco: dark, roasty, strong coffee. I wasn't really thinking about origin, processing, terroir, or extraction.

Last month I was in Costa Rica and had my first real exposure to specialty pour-over. I didn't necessarily love what I was tasting, but I was fascinated by how much I realized I didn't know.

When I got home, I did what many of us seem to do on r/pourover. I went down the rabbit hole: V60, Switch, Mugen, Neo, scale, K6 grinder, YouTube, way too much reading. At first I mostly learned how to recreate the richer, sweeter profiles I already liked.

Then this week I had an "aha" moment.

I randomly bought La Mill Velvet, brewed it on the Switch, and my reaction was, "This is boring." Muted. Flat. Uninteresting. A month ago I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

I was actually considering returning the bag.

Instead, I went coarser, from 89 to 93 clicks on my K6, and brewed on the v60 instead of the Switch using immersion. Suddenly the coffee came alive. Not mind-blowing, but interesting. For the first time I genuinely understood what people mean by brightness, acidity, juiciness, and clarity. Those weren't abstract words anymore.

The funny part is that a month ago I probably would have disliked those qualities. Now I'm actively chasing them.

My guess is many of you remember this stage of the journey. Maybe it's the coffee equivalent of moving from green runs to blue runs.

For those who remember this stage, what would you recommend I explore next? Specific coffees, origins, processing methods, brewers, techniques, or lessons that helped expand your palate?

Can anyone confirm whether the Evergoods CAP 0.5 fits securely in one of the bottle pockets on the AER CPP2 24?

I usually carry just one water bottle and don’t use an umbrella, so I’m considering using the second pocket as a dedicated spot for the CAP 0.5.

Curious if it fits cleanly or if it feels tight / forced given the structure of the pouch.

Open to other ideas for using that second pocket as well.