# Grind size for brewing V60 1 cup vs 2 cup



## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

I use a Hario v60 - 02 for brewing, and wondering if you adjust grind size based on the amount of coffee you're brewing? For example, the extraction will take 2:30-3min for 15g coffee / 225ml water but 4-4:30 min for 26g / 400ml. Would it make sense to adjust the grind coarser when brewing more, or is this normal that the time taken is much longer? I am quite pleased with the results when brewing a single cup, but with two it seems a little off, it might be just in my head though.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

I'd stick to the same grind size.

The 400ml brew will take longer than the 225ml brew.

4:30 sounds like it might be pushing it. Maybe speed up the pour on the larger brew?

What is your pour method (all in in one go, pulse pouring).


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## James811 (May 10, 2014)

I've been doing lots of research as I've just got a chemex. I'm lead to believe to keep grind size the same but as MWJB said, slow the pour on the smaller one by possibly doing one or a combination of the following

Longer bloom

Break the pour into smaller amounts and pause between them

Slowing down how quickly you add the water if you want to keep to one pour.

This is all from reading, not doing so don't take it as gospel and probably take (definitely) MWJB's advice over my own


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

I do pulse pouring (maybe 4-5 times in total, including bloom), and try to avoid it to filling it to the brim. I will try maybe pouring at a constant speed to keep the water level quite high to try to speed up the pour. The time after the last pour seems to take quite long time with 400ml, I presume because of the amount of coffee is quite large and there isn't so much water left.


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## malling (Dec 8, 2014)

The problem with pulse pouring is that it seem to rize the TDS so you'll end up with an entirely different brew if you're just pouring in one motion -

time isn't really the most crucial aspect, I had 4m + brew with a v60 with just 300g of brew water, that tasted excellent.

It's far more important to get grind size and water/ coffee ratio right.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

malling said:


> The problem with pulse pouring is that it seem to rize the TDS so you'll end up with an entirely different brew if you're just pouring in one motion -
> 
> time isn't really the most crucial aspect, I had 4m + brew with a v60 with just 300g of brew water, that tasted excellent.
> 
> It's far more important to get grind size and water/ coffee ratio right.


You change the pour regime to suit the grind size. Finer for pouring all in one go, coarser for pulse pouring...you get the same TDS if you balance these out. Difficulties can arise if you always single pour and get a very soluble coffee, then you have to start adjusting grind...whereas if you find a setting that works over a wide range you can keep it constant, use a single filling pour for very soluble coffee & say 4 or more pours of even weights and timings to bring less soluble coffee into range. Once you have dialled in a coffee you can repeat brews with that coffee to within +/- a few seconds and within a % EY (bigger time variation between different beans).

Grind size and pour regime are intrinsically linked.

Coffee/water ratio doesn't ensure anything (beyond say 14-24% extraction) without a useful flow rate, which is governed by grind size & pour rate.

Time is about the only aspect you can convey once you have coffee & water weights. Even if you measure EY, you'll still need to give a ball-park time for that brew. When you state a brew time, it's useful to include any static bloom time (with no appreciable flow ), as different bloom times can make someone's 4:00 brew the same as someone else's 3:15 brew.

You can hit good tasting brews at atypical times, but it can make repeating them much more difficult.


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## James811 (May 10, 2014)

Just wanted to sneak in a question of my own quickly. Do you guys use hot tap water to rinse and warm your chemex/v60 or do you boil it?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

It's a good idea to boil more water than you need so it holds its heat throughout the brew time.

If using a lot of rinse/preheat water (Chemex), then I might use boiled tap water (if using bottled for the brew itself). For a V60 cone a little of the brew water at boil will usually do.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

the_partisan said:


> The time after the last pour seems to take quite long time with 400ml, I presume because of the amount of coffee is quite large and there isn't so much water left.


Yes, that's normal. Late in the brew the bed settles and provides more resistance to the decreasing weight of water. If I'm going to do 4 pours, I divide the flow time by 5, but the weight of water to pour by 4 and allow a bigger pause between last pour & brew end (skipping 5th pour interval, time-wise) to account for this.


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## Stevebee (Jul 21, 2015)

It's been my understanding that the aim is to achieve similar brew times with both sizes of brew. If the brew time is almost double for the larger brew, then the water is in contact with the coffee twice as long leading to over extraction compared to the smaller brew. You can alter pouring methods which will alter total brew time but this can be very inconsistent. I find it much more consistent, and get more similar taste profiles in the cup, when I alter the grind size for the two brews, coarser for the larger one to get similar times (2:30 to 3:00)

Once dialled in, it's simply a case of changing the dial on your grinder and doing exactly the same pouring technique for both brews. With the same contact time I find the taste more consistent between brews than altering / messing with pouring techniques


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Stevebee said:


> It's been my understanding that the aim is to achieve similar brew times with both sizes of brew. If the brew time is almost double for the larger brew, then the water is in contact with the coffee twice as long leading to over extraction compared to the smaller brew. You can alter pouring methods which will alter total brew time but this can be very inconsistent. I find it much more consistent, and get more similar taste profiles in the cup, when I alter the grind size for the two brews, coarser for the larger one to get similar times (2:30 to 3:00)
> 
> Once dialled in, it's simply a case of changing the dial on your grinder and doing exactly the same pouring technique for both brews. With the same contact time I find the taste more consistent between brews than altering / messing with pouring techniques


You can do this if you want, but you will change the flavour profile of the brew. The brew time won't be double for the larger brew it'll only be about x1.2 for the quantities we discussed, if you want to target a similar extraction & flavour profile.

I have no problem with changing grind to dial in, but there is no one right grind size and you end up doing more adjusting than brewing. Being a bit flexible on pour regime allows you to cover more options, especially if your grinder is stepped etc.


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## Stevebee (Jul 21, 2015)

It doesn't take long to get the grind size right for different brew sizes, and once found is similar for different coffees. I have found, testing both ways, that the taste in the cup for the two different brew sizes is closer by altering the grind than by changing the pour method. This is particularly true for the V60. I even blind tasted both these methods which confirmed what I thought.

With the Kalita the difference is closer, but I have tried less brews with different sizes , mainly brew for one on this method


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