Finally figured out why my pourovers were always tasting flat
Been chasing a good cup for about eight months now, mostly Kalita Wave, and no matter what I did the coffee always tasted kind of muted and one dimensional. Fresh beans, good grind, decent water, still flat.
Turns out my kettle temp was way off. I was eyeballing "just off the boil" instead of actually checking, and my gooseneck apparently loses heat fast because of the thin walls. Got a cheap thermometer last week just to see what was going on and I was pouring at like 178F instead of the 200-205F range I thought I was in.
Dialed it in properly this weekend with a washed Ethiopian I've had sitting around and it was like a different bag of coffee. Actual florals showing up, more sweetness, way more definition between sips instead of everything blurring together.
Feels obvious in hindsight but I really thought temp was the variable I could fudge a little since everyone talks so much about grind size and ratio. Lesson learned, guess I'll actually use the thermometer instead of leaving it in the drawer.
Anyone else had one variable turn out to be the hidden culprit after ignoring it for way too long?