A small discovery that surprised me more than it should have.
I recently made an unusual discovery—one that I myself had trouble believing at first. I bought some Brazilian dark roast beans, most likely imported post-roast, and they turned out horrible when I brewed them in a pour-over using my Hario V60. The aroma reminded me of charcoal, and the brew tasted like nothing more than a hot, bitter liquid.
It was difficult to accept that I’d paid a hefty price for beans that produced such unpleasant coffee. With only 100 grams of the purchase, at least I'm happy that I don't have to deal with the left over for too long.
Yesterday, I tried brewing the same beans using the Aeropress. I kept everything the same—grind size, bean quantity, water amount, and water temperature at boiling point. To my surprise, the coffee didn’t taste nearly as bad. In fact, it was noticeably better. I wondered if mentally preparing myself for a harsh brew somehow softened the experience, but the differences felt too distinct to dismiss.
With me running out of aeropress papar filters today, I used the V60 once more and realized the pour-over was just as bitter and unpleasant as the first attempt.
So I started wondering why the was Aeropress better. When I thought about it, a few possibilities came up.
With the Aeropress, the coffee sits in immersion mode for a shorter duration—likely under two minutes in all including the slow push if plunger —while the pour-over takes about 3.5 minutes in all. That difference should have led to weaker extraction in Aeropress based on time alone. However the immersion way of brewing helps extract more. But there is another factor. The Aeropress also applies pressure through the plunger, even if mild, which is fundamentally different from gravity-based extraction of a V60. Perhaps that extra force helps the water pull along more coffee surface as it passes through the grounds. So in this case, i think I got a stronger extraction overall, from the Aeropress. I guess in a way, Aeropress process emulates an Espresso mchine to a small degree.
Whatever the reason, the result was clear: the Aeropress extracted something redeemable from those beans, while the pour-over exposed the flaw of darker roast in the periphery of the bean. It’s interesting how small changes in technique can transform a bad coffee into something drinkable.
Maybe this is simply another reminder that brewing method matters far more than we assume.
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