# Bitter Coffee?



## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

OK, so I'm learning fast with very limited equipment. Currently I can make a reasonable coffee using the filter method which is just slightly bitter to drink.

Today I stopped off at a coffee shop for comparison with a hot coffee which was also slightly bitter even though it was prepared with a machine. I never use sugar, only milk.

Which led me to my question.

I plan to buy a Bodum press because I know one place that sells a variety of models plus a Hario Hand Grinder when I can get my hands on one. I live in Asia where it is almost impossible to obtain a selection of coffee making equipment.

Am I doing the right thing? My coffee intake is only about three or four cups per week.


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## HLA91 (Jul 16, 2010)

A couple of questions just to help us troubleshoot,

How much coffee-> water are you using?

What filter method are you using, ie is it a melitta filter cone with 1/2/3 holes in the bottom or is it a V60 or something else?

How long does it take you to pour in your water?

Are you pre-infusing/blooming?

What coffee are you using? I take it its pre-ground (you mentioned buying a grinder) but is it pre-ground off the supermarket shelf or ground while you wait?



> even though it was prepared with a machine


What machine?

Was it filter coffee? If so was it made right in front of you or was it sitting there keeping warm?

Keeping coffee on a hotplate can tend to make it bitter (I think)



> Am I doing the right thing?


 I would say yes, if your asking about a grinder then I assume you dont have one and just the fact of grinding your own beans makes the coffee nicer straight away. As for the Hario hand grinder, I can highly reccomend it, I bought mine from a site called coffeehit click me



> Am i doing the right thing?


 Personally yes you will probably find that as the quality of your coffee improves then your quantity will rise along with it. And if you get sucked in to the coffee idea (is that the right word) then your bank balance will fall.

Hope this helps and sorry for the interrogation but without details we can't do much.

HLA91


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## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

HLA91 said:


> A few questions, how much coffee-> water are you using?
> 
> What filter method are you using, ie is it a melitta filter cone with 1/2/3 holes in the bottom or is it a V60 or something else?
> 
> ...


Reading between the lines of your post, I think you are saying that coffee doesn't need to be bitter at all if made well.


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## HLA91 (Jul 16, 2010)

In a nutshell yes that is what I am saying.


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## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

Cheers.

I'll keep trying then.!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Bitterness can often be mistaken for sour tastes which can be naturally occurring in coffee

Temperature and time are normally the variables that affect / control bitterness

Extracting with a low temperature may not extract all flavours, and over extracting (time) may leave a bitter taste

We would need to understand the times, temperatures and volume of water in order to try and identify a cause, and often the only way is in person

Happy to assist where possible and try and identify any major causes and suggest a way forward


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## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

Appreciate your comments. I did however mention that I have only an automatic filter machine at this time. I did in fact pre-infuse the coffee but the machine did the rest, hence I had no control over the water flow or temperature. I suspect it was too hot and too fast.

Next step is to buy a Susuki filter at my local Supermarket so that I have total control of the process except the grinding for now.

I think the bitterness was indeed a slight bitterness in both examples I gave but may be the Coffee Shop coffee was just poorly made. In my case, I need better tools.


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## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

A short update on my coffee brewing improvement.

By chance I spotted a Taiwanese made French press equivalent to a Bodum that was only 40% of the Bodum price. I bought it.

Whilst I only have filter ground coffee and no grinder as yet, I watched some Videos a few times to get the hang of it!

Well, whilst I made it a bit weak at the first attempt, the slight bitterness that I reported previously no longer existed and very few small grounds escaped into the brew.

The result was quite encouraging.

The auto filter machine has now been sacked!


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