Fine or Medium Grind for Pour-Over Coffee? What to Do When Your Coffee Is Ground Too Coarse? How Coarse Should Faqia Coffee Be Ground and How to Brew It?

Come, let me see, who forgot to adjust the grinder setting before grinding coffee beans, resulting in a grind size that doesn't belong to it?

Oh, it's me! Never mind then! FrontStreet Coffee believes many friends occasionally encounter the above situation of forgetting to adjust the grinder in their daily routine. Without timely adjustment of the grinder setting, coffee beans that should have been finely ground end up being ground coarsely, or vice versa. The coarseness of coffee grounds determines the surface area in contact with water, and in drip extraction, it also affects the penetration speed of hot water. Therefore, we can understand that the appropriate coarseness of coffee grounds is crucial for brewing.

When the coffee grind size differs from the setting specified in an extraction formula, the overall extraction efficiency will be affected, and the brewed coffee will be difficult to taste good. Last time, FrontStreet Coffee shared how to handle coffee grounds that were ground too finely, so today FrontStreet Coffee will share what to do when coffee grounds are ground too coarsely~

What to Do When Coffee Grounds Are Too Coarse?

Compared to coffee grounds being ground too finely, there are many solutions when grounds are ground too coarsely. For example, the double grinding method that FrontStreet Coffee shared a couple of days ago is a good improvement method. By re-grinding the coarsely ground coffee particles through the grinder, you can achieve the target particle size.

However, this method has several limitations: it's more suitable for hand grinders, and it produces more fine particles. Relatively speaking, it's indeed a good solution. Some friends have coffee grounds that were pre-ground by merchants and don't have a grinder at home to make improvements. In such cases, we need to adjust other brewing parameters to correct the coffee's extraction efficiency.

How to Make Adjustments?

Two aspects! One is water temperature, and the other is time. Both the level of water temperature and the duration of time can affect extraction efficiency, so we can correct the extraction efficiency lost due to coarser coffee grinding by increasing water temperature and extending extraction time. However, water temperature that's too high can easily dissolve negative substances in the coffee, so FrontStreet Coffee doesn't recommend increasing the water temperature too much at once. An increase of 2°C-3°C based on the original temperature is sufficient, depending on how much coarser the grind is compared to the original.

There are many ways to extend extraction time. First, you can choose to switch to a slower-flowing dripper. In today's headline article "Four Major Differences Between Drippers," FrontStreet Coffee detailed that some drippers are designed with slower water flow speeds. These drippers often feature small drain holes and less prominent ribs, such as Kono, Infinite drippers, etc.

In addition to changing drippers, we can also choose to increase the number of pour segments. By increasing the number of segmented pours, we can effectively extend the extraction time, while the hot water will have higher extraction efficiency due to concentration refreshment. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate how to brew a delicious cup of coffee when the coffee grounds are ground too coarsely!

Brewing Demonstration

For this brewing demonstration, FrontStreet Coffee used Guji Flower Queen 8.0, a popular light-roasted Ethiopian bean. Normally, FrontStreet Coffee uses these parameters: 15g coffee, EK43 setting 10 (80% pass-through rate with #20 sieve), 92°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, V60 dripper, three-stage pouring, with a total time of 2 minutes (hot brew parameters). If the grind setting is accidentally adjusted to EK43 setting 11 (70-75% pass-through rate with #20 sieve), then FrontStreet Coffee will change the water temperature parameter to 94°C, with a duration between 2 minutes 5 seconds to 2 minutes 30 seconds, while keeping the coffee-to-water ratio and dripper unchanged.

First, we use 30ml of hot water (twice the amount of coffee) for a 30-second bloom.

Then, using a small water stream in large circles, pour 100ml of hot water; when the hot water has completely penetrated, we again use a small water stream in large circles to pour 50ml of hot water; similarly, after the hot water has fully penetrated, we still use a small water stream to pour 45ml of hot water, this time in small circles. Next, we just need to wait for the hot water to finish penetrating, and then we can remove the dripper to end the extraction.

The extraction took 2 minutes and 15 seconds. The taste of the Flower Queen was no different from that brewed with the conventional method. The aromas of strawberry, citrus, and cream were all distinctly displayed, with a clean and full mouthfeel, balanced flavor, and a long aftertaste. Measured with a concentration meter, the extraction rate was 20.6%, which is a very sufficient extraction.

This parameter is the result of multiple tests by FrontStreet Coffee and is very reliable. So when everyone accidentally grinds their coffee too coarsely, why not try this method? With just slight adjustments based on the original parameters, you can save the fate of these coarsely ground coffee beans~

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