The Brew Time Myth
The number one mistake people make, whether brewing some type of pourover or espresso, even when following a good recipe, is ignoring the fact that there is no target brew time! Good recipes will give you a range of expected brew times, but it is very common to see people adjusting their grind size or pouring sequence in order to make a brew time be what they think it should be, rather than following the correct dialing in process.
What’s the correct dialing in process? Pick a reasonable brew ratio to start, perhaps 1:17 for a pourover or 1:3 for espresso. Guess a starting grind size - what you’ve used in the past with good results is a good starting point. Brew a cup. Taste it. If it tastes underextracted, grind finer. If it tastes channeled/overextracted, grind coarser (for more on this, check out our Practical Guide to Dialing In Pourover Coffee blog - note that we don’t even mention brew time at all!). Once grind is dialed in, if you aren’t quite satisfied with the strength of your brew, you can adjust brew ratio a bit and then make further tweaks to grind size if needed. We recommend keeping your pouring sequence & speed the same as much as possible.
When you’ve reached this point, the coffee is dialed in, and now you should make note of what the brew time is/was. This brew time still isn’t a target though. It is now just a useful metric that you can use to check your pouring consistency (if you pour faster, you get more agitation, and the fines clog your filter more, which increases brew time), and how the beans behave as they age (you’ll likely want to change your grind a bit as the beans age in order to keep the coffee tasting its best, and you’ll know it may be time to do this if your brew time becomes significantly different from what it was when you first dialed in). The flavor in the cup was the target. It doesn’t matter if the recipe says brew time should be 2:45-3:15 and your best-tasting brew takes 4:00. Your grinder, your water composition, and your flavor profile preference will dictate what brew time is best for you.
