Drip filter coffee machine - educate me!

ivrytwr3

ivrytwr3

ivrytwr3

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We used to always have a drip filter, but moved to a pod machine - we've now gone back to drip filter. However, the coffee tastes like nothing special and we've bought some decent stuff :(

Bought this: https://www.melitta.co.uk/products/...k-iv-therm-timer-filter-coffee-machine-black/

We top up the machine with water to 6 small/4 large and add 2 scoops of coffee. There's an 'intense' dial on the top of the machine which is turned down.

I know coffee is personal taste - but how would you set your machine and how many scoops?
 
Use weight. More consistent. Weigh the amount of water you're using. Use 60g of coffee per kilo of water. Give the coffee and little shake to level it out as well.

If you're using a paper filter, rinse it though with water before adding the coffee.
 
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Which coffee are you using? Is it ground already or do you buy beans to grind yourself?

If it's already ground it could be too fine or too coarse for the ideal filter brew.
 
Cadder said:
Which coffee are you using? Is it ground already or do you buy beans to grind yourself?

If it's already ground it could be too fine or too coarse for the ideal filter brew.
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Ground already - last order was from Hormozi, their house blend and a few others.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
Ground already - last order was from Hormozi, their house blend and a few others.
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I see they offer coarse ground or fine ground. Which did you purchase?

Some blends are more suited to one type of coffee than another. I made an espresso and a pour-over coffee with the same bean blend (fine and coarse ground respectively) yesterday morning and we both found the pour-over tasted better.
 
Cadder said:
I see they offer coarse ground or fine ground. Which did you purchase?

Some blends are more suited to one type of coffee than another. I made an espresso and a pour-over coffee with the same bean blend (fine and coarse ground respectively) yesterday morning and we both found the pour-over tasted better.
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Coarse.
 
Sounds like you're doing everything right - just check your coffee:water ratio against the advice from others in this thread.
 
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We have a coffee filter machine that gathered dust for about a year as no one liked the crappy bitter coffee it made no matter what brand we tried. I saw this thread back in July and only now just got around to making a batch using 65g per litre of water and it's so much better than what the manual suggests. It's still a strong coffee but much of the bitterness is absent.

If I want a weaker coffee should I decrease the amount of coffee or water?
 
That's a sign you're going on the right direction. Be mindful that the beans will play a big role in this. If they're dark roasted or oily they will always be some bitterness. Dark roasts are more soluble and they offer up their stuff easier so over extraction and bitterness is easy to do.

My question to you would be what do you mean by weaker? If you mean less intense then just dilute your end brew.

If you mean extract less then increase your dry coffee dose but use the same amount of brew water. This will reduce your overall extraction levels, could reduce bitterness further but go too far and you risk introducing under extraction and the associated sour taste notes.
 
gazref said:
That's a sign you're going on the right direction. Be mindful that the beans will play a big role in this. If they're dark roasted or oily they will always be some bitterness. Dark roasts are more soluble and they offer up their stuff easier so over extraction and bitterness is easy to do.

My question to you would be what do you mean by weaker? If you mean less intense then just dilute your end brew.

If you mean extract less then increase your dry coffee dose but use the same amount of brew water. This will reduce your overall extraction levels, could reduce bitterness further but go too far and you risk introducing under extraction and the associated sour taste notes.
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Dilute the end brew is what I did, more milk. So instead I was thinking adjust the ratio.
 
I have this brewer and use it daily. In my experience its all about the quality / freshness of the beans. I generally fill to 5 on the large number (for filling a flask I take to work) and I combine this with 21g of coffee. At the weekends I'll fill to 8 and use 31g. I tend to have the intensity dial about 2/3 of the way towards intense.

For me the biggest changes I found were using fresh beans and grinding only what I need. Whilst I originally ground the night before and used the timer so it was ready in the morning this makes a worse cup than grinding fresh in the morning by far. There's also a direct correleation to the freshness of the beans. I tend to buy 250g bags and the beans day 1 taste better than the beans on day 12 or so as I finish off the bag, but theres not much you can do about that.

I also have the melitta burr grinder and whilst this has a mark on it for this kind of breiwing I find I get better results having it a little bit finer than the recommended coursness.

I've also found improved results by switching to the gourmet paper filters from melitta instead of the standard one.

The biggest change for me though after bean freshness was using filtered water instead of tap. That makes a huge difference and gives a much nicer cup though I am in a hard water area.

In short, go slightly finder on the grind, more intense on the dial, fresh ground beans, and filtered water, that should get a much better cup.
 
If you use coffee beans, the fresher it is, the better the coffee flavour will be in quite a big way, i know this from my newbie trial and error experience.

For 1 cup i use 1 table spoon full of coffee beans or 2 tea spoons to be put in a grinder and then put that in a coffee filter to drip.

Once you get used to the freshness you will know it tastes better than coffee beans that have lost their freshness over a period of 12-24 hours so i can echo this like post above is to only grind the coffee you need and use.
 
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If a small office the pod machines aren't half bad tbh. A good few roasters offer speciality coffee in pod form. Cheap machine but costly pods , plus limited milk options. You'd want to be grinding fresh for a batch brewer so would rule that out because you need a grinder.

If the office is larger or higher volume a full on bean to cup is where I'd go. They tend to have these at conferences and do a better job that most high street chains imo. I could live with one. Great milk options, grinds fresh and easy as push and go. Prices would be north of 1k so it's a serious investment Vs a £20 pod machine.
 
Another tip, i would recommend you buy coffee beans in 200 g bags they come in, because over time bigger bags lose freshness which is key for the best possible coffee flavour, but with 200 g bags you know your coffee will be more fresher and when you have used all coffee beans in 200 g bag you open another with that lovely fresh aroma again.

200 g bags for me makes about 20 cups of coffee.

Unless you put your coffee beans in an air tight container.
 
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