Heard a barista mention bloom time and realized I've been rushing my pour over for months

I was at a coffee shop in Portland last week and this barista told a customer that skipping a 30 second bloom on light roast is like skipping the preheat on an oven. I always just poured water and went for it, figuring hot water is hot water. Tried a proper 30 second bloom this morning on my v60 at home and the flavor was way more balanced, less sour. Anyone else have a basic step they ignored for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

leep8928d ago

Oh man, my buddy used to brew his coffee in like 90 seconds flat and wondered why it tasted like battery acid. He finally watched a James Hoffmann video and realized he was skipping the bloom the whole time lol.

ray32427d agoTop Commenter

Wait what @leep89, he skipped the bloom entirely?? Man that hurts just to read. Like that whole first 30-45 seconds where the gas escapes is not optional, it changes everything. Without it the water just channels through dry grounds and you get that sour bitter mess. I had a similar thing happen to me back in college where I used to just dump water in and press the aeropress after like 60 seconds of total contact time. Thought coffee was supposed to taste like burnt rubber lol. Hoffmann honestly saved my coffee life too, the man is a legend for breaking down simple stuff people miss.