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Hot take: The "flood" in a pour over coffee should not take 45 seconds
Was at a coffee shop in Portland last week called something pretentious. Watched the barista spend 45 seconds on the bloom phase. My cup came out tasting like burnt grass. I asked him about it and he said "that's how we extract the aromatics." I've been doing pour over at home for 3 years now and my best cups come from a 15 second bloom max. Any roasters out there want to defend the long bloom or am I just lucky with my beans?
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colethomas11d ago
Yeah quoting "that's how we extract the aromatics" is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect to hear at a place with a name like that. I've been through the whole third wave coffee thing and honestly I think people get way too into the weeds on this stuff. Like a 45 second bloom is just overcomplicating something that can work fine in 15 seconds. Unless your beans are super fresh and need the extra time, I don't see the point.
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green.noah11d ago
Got stuck in a 15 minute bloom debate with a barista at some place in Portland once. He kept saying I was "rushing the terroir" or something like that. I just wanted my damn coffee before work. @colethomas you're right that name alone screams overthinking it.
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val_shah11d ago
Honestly, I had a guy at a shop in Austin lecture me for like ten minutes about how my pour-over technique was "off-gassing wrong." I just wanted my coffee before my bus showed up, man. Ngl, that kind of overthinking just makes you not want to go back.
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