Dialing In
Dialing-in is the process of figuring out how to get the best possible flavor out of the coffee beans that you have. I learned this expression from my friend who was starting up a coffee shop and was learning his new grinder, espresso machine, and beans. In the shop, he would pull shots throughout the day to make sure that he was getting the shots exactly how he wanted them. Over the course of the day, the beans could dry out and change the dynamics of the shot, so this was not-quite an hourly process, but at least 4-5 times per day.
For home drip brewing, we don’t need to be quite so precise, but we do want to get good extraction, and make some adjustments to new coffee or even as we go through a bag of coffee. Please read this piece about extraction.
For example, that same friend just sent me some fresh beans from Honduras, which I made for Morning Coffee today, as well as Late Morning Coffee. This is a different bean than I usually brew; I am mostly drinking home-roasted Kenyan beans these days. This morning, I used my usual settings and ratios (Baratza Virtuoso at 18, Bonavita Drip Machine, 38 grams of coffee 585 g of water), and the coffee was a bit underwhelming. It was nutty, but the flavors were not intense, and the coffee seemed dilute.
For my next batch, I kept everything the same except went one click finer on my grinder, and now the coffee is singing! Gorgeous nut and chocolate and some nice acidity as the cup is cooling. In general, I do like my coffee a bit more concentrated than some people (15:1 ratio is always my starting point), so going finer to increase extraction at that ratio was the simplest adjustment (With a drip machine, I can’t adjust water temperature or agitation much.).
When I am making pour-overs, I have a bit more flexibility, so I typically follow this procedure, which I don’t have a great name for, but let’s call it the Plus One Method. Here’s how it works:
Make a pour-over with a 15:1 ratio as normal into a big mug, which we will call Mug #1. For example, 300g of water to 20g of grounds. I use the James Hoffmann pour-over method.
As it it draining, put your kettle back on the heat to get it back to your original temperature.
When the pour-over has slowed to almost no flow, move the cone to another mug, Mug #2, and add one more weight of the beans worth of water (i.e. 20 grams of water if you started with 20 grams of coffee). This is water makes your total ratio 16:1, Plus One from where you stated. This process can be repeated for Mug #3 if you desire.
When the dripping into Mug #2 has stopped, taste that coffee. It won’t be strong, but you are tasting for “delicious” or “bitter/gross.” If it’s gross, toss it and keep that brew ratio. If it’s delicious, pour the rest of it into Mug #1 and extract more in your next batch (more water or finer grind). You can iterate as well, so your next batch at 16:1 may still have some room to get closer to 17:1! It’s pretty uncommon for great percolation coffee to be outside 15-18:1.
As an experiment:
If you are new to brewing, consider doing the Plus One starting at a very low ratio, say 12:1 so you can taste the progress of the brewing process. You could even set up 8 mugs and taste each 2:1 pour from the beginning to the end.
Further options:
If you are struggling with your brewing, here are two more options:
Check out the Coffee Compass! This is a really cool graphic which has lots of adjectives and suggestions about what adjustments to make. Super helpful.
Try cupping your coffee. Cupping is a standard method for evaluating coffee beans. It’s not a great brew method as it leaves you slurping out of spoons, but it is great at showing what good extraction will taste like for your beans and help you understand what you are shooting for when brewing. If your coffee is not tasting good, it might well be the beans! This is also a fun activity for developing your palate if you have a few different coffees.
There are lots of cupping guides online, but the basics are as follows:
Use bowls of similar size and shape.
Keep ratio around 16-17:1, but make sure that you are consistent if you are using different coffees.
Use very hot water.
10g of coffee in each bowl. Smell the coffees dry.
160g of water in each bowl, smell each coffee wet.
After 4 minutes, break the crust at the top of each bowl, smell again.
Using two spoons, remove and discard any grounds or foam that are floating in each cup.
Allow the coffees to cool (at least a few more minutes, up to 15 minutes) and taste each by slurping from a spoon. This allows the coffee to mix with air and hit all the spots in your mouth.
It’s much easier to taste some flavors as the coffee cools. Good coffee is often awesome at room temperature.