Dialing in the grind

Grind size is the setting I touch most often. A finer grind exposes more surface area and slows the water down, so more flavor is extracted. A coarser grind does the opposite. Because both effects push in the same direction, small changes go a long way.

Reading the cup

If a cup tastes sour, thin, or a little salty, it is usually under-extracted, and I go one step finer. If it tastes bitter, dry, or hollow at the finish, it is often over-extracted, and I go one step coarser. When a cup is sour and bitter at the same time, the extraction is probably uneven, so I look at my pouring before blaming the grinder.

One change at a time

I keep the dose, the water, and the pouring pattern the same and only move the grinder. For a single cup of about 15 grams, my total brew time usually lands between two and a half and three and a half minutes. Time is a clue, not a target: if the bed drains much slower than usual, a very fine grind or a lot of fine particles may be clogging the filter.