# Size 2 V60 for one cup?



## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

Hi,

Just a quick one about the size of a V60... If I'm only making one cup of coffee and I'm using a size 2 V60 does it matter? Should I be using a size 1?

I just made a cup with a size 2 and 18g of coffee and it tasted a bit 'papery', would this be because the filter is too big for the amount of coffee i'm using?

thanks

Rory


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## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

I should have been a bit more patient and looked this up before I posted, I feel theres a lot on info on this. The general consensus seems to be size 02, is this right?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

The papery taste has nothing to do with the size of the filter, stick to the white Dutch & Japanese Hario papers (doesn't matter which, but don't chop & change between them).

Cone size has more to do with how much water is going to be sitting above the bed at any one time, the 02 will hold more in one go, but you can make a single mug with either, depending on your pour regime.


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## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

Okay thanks!

So should I add all the water in one go or add it in batches?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

rgoodcoffee said:


> Okay thanks!
> 
> So should I add all the water in one go or add it in batches?


Personally, I'd add it in batches, but balance this with grind setting to steer brew time. The more batches you pour, the coarser you will need to grind.

18:300g isn't an easy amount to split up on the fly, try 16.5g to 275g. Bloom with 35g then you have 240g left to pour, divides up nicely between multiples of 3 or 6, or even pulses of 25g if you really need to stretch out the brew.

E.g. bloom 30sec with 35g, stir to wet the dose, then add 60g every 30sec., or 40g every 20sec. Maybe 3:30-ish total brew time until a dry bed, then leave for 30-60seconds for drips to slow up.


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## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

Thats great, thank you! Will give it a go and see how I get on. I've just put an order in for the white filter papers too because I had the brown ones before, maybe not as good as the white ones?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

rgoodcoffee said:


> Thats great, thank you! Will give it a go and see how I get on. I've just put an order in for the white filter papers too because I had the brown ones before, maybe not as good as the white ones?


Brown ones often taste papery, good white papers don't.


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## Syenitic (Dec 1, 2013)

MWJB said:


> Brown ones often taste papery, good white papers don't.


Whilst I respect your undoubted experience with brewed coffee, I don't think I ever got papery notes from any filter. Maybe because I rinse with an excess of water before I add the grounds? Or maybe I have limited perception. I try to steer clear of all unnaturally white things because they inevitably got so white from unnatural chemicals and processes e.g. flax linen, is naturally beige / brown, but I can buy it unnaturally brilliant white.

Maybe this has been discussed before, or perhaps I just do not know what the brown papers are made from? But would be interested to hear the beliefs (from experience) of other V60 users?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Nowadays good white filter papers are oxygen bleached rather than with chlorine. I don't buy papers that need any rinsing at all, it wastes time, water & energy.


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## Hibbsy (Jan 8, 2017)

I have only ever used the white filters from Hario. Never had an issue with paper taste with or without rinsing. I do tend to rinse them slightly as also helps warm cup or server.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Hibbsy said:


> I have only ever used the white filters from Hario. Never had an issue with paper taste with or without rinsing. I do tend to rinse them slightly as also helps warm cup or server.


Absolutely rinse them. Try pouring some water through one and then tasting the water.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Scotford said:


> Absolutely rinse them. Try pouring some water through one and then tasting the water.


Tried that the other day with a Melitta basket filter, no adverse taste at all, in fact the girlfriend preferred the sweeter "paper taste". If your paper tastes bad (some do), change it for one that doesn't, there are plenty out there.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

The instructions included with my Hario V60 dripper makes no mention of rinsing the filter.

The only white filters I have found so far that really need rinsing are Chemex.

That said I do generally rinse filters as part of pre warming the brewer.

With my Brewista dripper, the instructions do say to rinse. I find it helps the basket filter to expand and settle down into the brewer but it doesn't seem to add much heat at all.


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## Elcee (Feb 16, 2017)

MWJB said:


> Personally, I'd add it in batches, but balance this with grind setting to steer brew time. The more batches you pour, the coarser you will need to grind.
> 
> 18:300g isn't an easy amount to split up on the fly, try 16.5g to 275g. Bloom with 35g then you have 240g left to pour, divides up nicely between multiples of 3 or 6, or even pulses of 25g if you really need to stretch out the brew.
> 
> E.g. bloom 30sec with 35g, stir to wet the dose, then add 60g every 30sec., or 40g every 20sec. Maybe 3:30-ish total brew time until a dry bed, then leave for 30-60seconds for drips to slow up.


Something I struggle to reconcile is Scott Rao's recommendation to avoid pulse pouring as it leads to a lower brewing temperature. I find when I pulse pour I end up with for lack of a better descriptor more "bitter", less "sweet" brews. I also find that the water drains faster earlier in the brew and slower after more pulses. This leads to some grounds being exposed. Are these concerning?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Grind coarser to get the sweetness back, minimise agitation after initial bloom & stir.

It's normal for the bed to compact & the drain to slow as the brew progresses, this is not of concern.

"Grounds being exposed"? There should be minimal grounds stuck to the filter wall, just a flat bed in the brewer. The pours should create a gentle spin, if not swirl, or stir the very surface of the brewer after the last addition of water (water level should be highest here, as the flow is slowing).

I do brew by getting all the water in quickly with some brewers (Melitta, Kalita Wave, Brewista Smart Steeping Brewer as drip) but I didn't find this worked so well for me with V60 (wider variation in brews). I'm sure Scott's recommendations work fine with V60, commercial grinders & time pressed baristas, but I haven't found it translates well with the wider distribution of a hand grinder. The sweetest brews I have ever had, had the widest difference between start temp & end of brew time.


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

MWJB said:


> Tried that the other day with a Melitta basket filter, no adverse taste at all, in fact the girlfriend preferred the sweeter "paper taste". If your paper tastes bad (some do), change it for one that doesn't, there are plenty out there.


Isn't that a contradiction?

If you are brewing coffee *any* taste added from your equipment must be "adverse" - and if your girlfriend (or indeed anyone) can distinguish water passed through paper (vs not having passed through) then it is adding something (that shouldn't be there).....

Not withstanding wether the taste is preferred or not..... if I filtered through candy-floss it would be sweeter :-(


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Drewster said:


> Isn't that a contradiction?
> 
> If you are brewing coffee *any* taste added from your equipment must be "adverse" - and if your girlfriend (or indeed anyone) can distinguish water passed through paper (vs not having passed through) then it is adding something (that shouldn't be there).....
> 
> Not withstanding wether the taste is preferred or not..... if I filtered through candy-floss it would be sweeter :-(


Filtration changes the flavour of coffee. It removes small, non-dissolved particles, which are usually bittering (or at least flatten the brew) if in large quantities. Folk often comment on not liking silty French press brews...should we tell them to just suck it up & carry on drinking something they don't like because equipment to remove the silt is bound to have an "adverse" effect?

I brew coffee because I want a tasty, often sweet, juicy, representative expression of the beans & roast. Everything we do when making coffee affects the taste, it never occurs naturally, you can only make it with "equipment". So make it how you like it...and concentrate on the things that steer it to & maintain your preference. I have found that rinsing white Japanese V60, white Kalita Wave, Filtropa white & Melitta white basket filter papers has no perceptible influence on my preference.

'Should/shouldn't be there' is perhaps too much of a dictum, I mean, what is the datum of what should/shouldn't be there & why would it trump the very thing you might like?

Candyfloss would melt and you'd end up with added sugar (which I'm avoiding) and silt in the brew (which I'm also avoiding).


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

MWJB said:


> Tried that the other day with a Melitta basket filter, no adverse taste at all, in fact the girlfriend preferred the sweeter "paper taste". If your paper tastes bad (some do), change it for one that doesn't, there are plenty out there.


It's not whether they taste bad or not, more that some have a taste at all. Even with oxygen bleached papers there is a taste that can be imparted.


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

I have no issue at all with - "Drink what you like, made how you like......"

Many of the previous posts were along the lines of "... rinse the filters before you use them.... because not doing so affects the flavour...."

You contention was (I quote)

"Nowadays good white filter papers are oxygen bleached rather than with chlorine. I don't buy papers that need any rinsing at all, it wastes time, water & energy." followed by "Tried that the other day with a Melitta basket filter, no adverse taste at all"

But then you said:

in fact the girlfriend preferred the sweeter "paper taste".

&

If your paper tastes bad (some do), change it for one that doesn't, there are plenty out there.

The fact that your girlfriend can taste the difference (irrespective of if she prefers it or not) it a pretty good indication that rinsing the papers first might affect the brew.........


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Scotford said:


> It's not whether they taste bad or not, more that some have a taste at all. Even with oxygen bleached papers there is a taste that can be imparted.


If it doesn't taste bad, why fret?

If it "can" be imparted, is it always, what is it, how do you definitely remove it, how are you sure you have removed it, what is the cost in time water & energy in removing a taste that isn't bad? Genuine questions I have, not trying to be difficult. 20yrs ago it was probably a much more tangible issue, but I just keep hearing received wisdom on the subject, rather than anything tangible.

By the way, I always rinse the Hario papers in my Chemex when preheating it, so I'm not some "no rinse zealot", just not finding it an issue with plastic & steel drip cones.


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