# Blooming Bitter



## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

I tried the following tonight with the Bonavita immersion brewer: 15g/200ml of Hasbean Finca La Ilusion (current IMM)

Opened valve (i.e. let fluid through) and bloomed with 45ml water

After drips had subsided i changed cups and did a pourover of the other 155ml but closed the valve at the end while the water was still above the bed and decanted this to another cup.

Resulting brew was good - sweet & strawberry juicy with clarity but a bit lacking in mouthfeel for my preference. It was uniform tasting from start to finish. Usually i find the first few sips of a brew different from the rest (usually stronger in taste & less sweet)

Bloom discard was rank - bitter (probably not more than 10ml with the rest soaked up by the expanding grounds), final discard of 15ml or so was OK tasting - not unpleasant at all, but didn't have the depth of flavour as the main cup.

I think i'll experiment with this further. So, if i want a stronger mouthfeel using this technique presumably i need to dose up a bit as i must be losing something with the discard?

How would you get rid of the bloom bitters with a chemex or V60? Maybe you can discard the same way you pour off the filter rinse water while holding down the coffee bed? Sounds tricky...

OR is it the case that the bloom and final stage are required to add balance and proper extraction to the overall brew?


----------

