# Don't know where I'm going wrong? Help!



## KatJ80 (Jun 24, 2019)

Hello! I'm a complete newbie to brewing coffee at home and have always used a tassimo machine (don't judge me) so I have been gifted a drip machine, blade grinder and some lovely high quality coffee beans from The Barn in Berlin. After reading about the grinder being wrong and practicing on some cheaper beans I reaslised I need a Burr grinder. So I took the beans to a specialist coffee shop and they kindly ground them for me for my device. My coffee tastes awful! Its not the beans they smell amazing, it's not the grind either. I have googled a variety of ways to measure the water coffee ratio and tried adjusting but it still tastes bad ?Any ideas on where I'm going wrong? I'm considering just purchasing an espresso machine instead .Help gratefully appreciate!


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

What are you currently doing with the machine in terms of volume of water (maybe type of water also) and amount of coffee?

Tastes bad in what way, what does it taste like and what are the beans?

They would have been guessing at grind size, as they are unlikely to have the same machine.

Trust me, buying an espresso machine does not make it simpler! You'd want a capable grinder above all other things - in my opinion the best return on investment for tasty coffee.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Do you know what temp the Swan is brewing at? If it is dumping near boiling water on to your coffee, the extraction won't be good - it will accentuate unpleasant bitter notes. Also, leaving freshly brewed coffee on a hot plate is a no no. If you have a cafetiere, try your beans with that. Water needs to be around 93-95c max, so let the boiled water cool a little before pouring on to the grinds.

If you're up for a challenge, buy a V60 brewing kit with papers - can pick one up for around £10.00 including papers. You can put the V60 brewer on jug or whatever you have to hand. Follow the following YouTube clip for 'how to' brewing instructions. The coffee will be in another dimension. Word of caution, you might get hooked on a whole new world of coffee enjoyment.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Hopefully this might help, but life may be easier if you use paper filters inside the supplied filter...


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