Table of Contents

☕ Coffee Too Sour or Too Bitter? My Personal Practice Insights on How to Save Every Cup!

💡 Foreword: I Used to “Drink My Failures” Every Day

Hey, friend! Have you ever, like me, spent the beginning of your coffee journey doubting yourself every single day? I remember the first month I learned pour-over coffee, I probably spent 20 days questioning myself: “Oh my goodness! Why is every single cup of coffee so sour and astringent?” At one point, I even thought maybe I just wasn’t suited to drink black coffee.

It wasn’t until later that I resolved to investigate, like a coffee detective, meticulously recording every coffee brewing condition and then trying to adjust the water temperature a little here, the coffee grind size a little there. After just a few tries, it hit me! The problem wasn’t bad coffee beans or any major flaw in my pour-over technique. It was hidden in those minute details of the brewing method that I’d never paid attention to!

In this article, I’ll use my “painful experiences” and “secrets to success” to guide you hand-in-hand. We’ll figure out why coffee gets too sour and why coffee gets too bitter, and I’ll share how I gradually adjusted to save every “failed coffee.” This way, you too can brew your own perfect coffee and enjoy happy, relaxing coffee moments!

☕ Why Does Coffee Get “Too Sour”? My Real Experiences and Solutions!

📝 Reasons for “Too Sour” I’ve Personally Encountered:

The Shocking First Try: I remember the first time I bought light roast beans and brewed them pour-over style right away. The taste was so sour it was like biting into lemon peel; my face instantly scrunched up! At that time, I completely couldn’t understand why coffee would have that kind of fruity acidity!
Too Fast a Pour, Insufficient Flavor Extraction: Sometimes, I’d pour pour-over too quickly, and the coffee liquid would drip through in an instant. The entire cup of coffee tasted like water with a dash of sour flavor enhancer, completely lacking a rich coffee aroma, with only a sharp sourness.
Insufficient Water Temperature, Sweetness Undiscovered: Another situation was when I thought just using freshly boiled water would be fine. But if the water temperature is too low (e.g., around $80^\\circ C$), the sweetness within the coffee beans simply won’t be fully brought out, making the acidity even more prominent.

🔧 My Improvement Methods: Making Coffee’s Acidity More Pleasant!

After countless coffee experiments and meticulous records, I found these methods to be incredibly effective:

Changing the Starting Point: I now start practicing with medium roast or natural processed beans. I particularly love Brazilian natural process beans; their sweetness is very consistent, making the coffee rounder and achieving a good sweet-acidic balance.
Increasing Bloom Time: I’ve found that blooming is truly crucial! I usually extend the bloom time to around 30 seconds. This helps the coffee grounds preheat thoroughly and expand evenly, laying a solid foundation for subsequent coffee extraction.
Slowing Down the Pour: I now deliberately slow down my pouring speed, aiming for the entire pour-over process to finish around 2 minutes 45 seconds. This allows the coffee grounds sufficient contact time with the water, ensuring flavor compounds are fully extracted.
Learning to “Read” the Water Flow: Now, whenever I see the coffee’s flow rate is too fast, I immediately realize: “Oh no, is the coffee grind size too coarse? I need to adjust the coffee grinder finer!” This is a valuable coffee brewing technique I learned from my failures.

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🔥 Why Does Coffee Get “Too Bitter”? My Lessons Learned and Solutions!

📝 My Lessons Learned:

The Myth of “Heavier Flavor Equals More Professional”: For a while, I was obsessed with dark roast beans, thinking “the heavier the roast, the more professional the coffee.” But the result was drinking coffee every day until my mouth felt astringent, like my tongue had a film on it – it wasn’t enjoyable at all.
Grinding Too Fine + Water Temperature Too High = Disaster: I later discovered that the problem was I ground the coffee beans too finely; the coffee grind level was wrong, and the coffee brewing water temperature was also set too high. This led to severe over-extraction (all the bitterness came out), which made the coffee so bitter.

🔧 My Correction Methods: Making Coffee’s Bitterness More Appealing!

After identifying the problems, my coffee brewing immediately took a turn for the better:

Adjusting Grind to Medium-Coarse: I would adjust the grind level of my coffee grounds back to medium-coarse, with particles similar to sea salt. This allows for more balanced coffee extraction, so the coffee bitterness isn’t as pronounced.
Letting Water Rest After Boiling: I now always let the water rest for about 45 seconds after boiling, allowing the water temperature to drop to around $90^\\circ C – 92^\\circ C$. This coffee brewing water temperature is ideal for medium roast beans.
Choosing “Friendly” Coffee Bean Types: I switched to “medium roast, honey process” Colombian coffee beans (because this coffee flavor tastes like cocoa with a hint of fruit sweetness, very smooth).

Now, even with some affordable coffee beans, as long as the brewing conditions are stable, I can brew smooth, non-astringent coffee with a captivating coffee aroma!

ALT Tag Suggestions: “Reasons for bitter coffee,” “Dark roast coffee over-extraction,” “Incorrect coffee grind size,” “Overly hot coffee brewing water temperature”

📊 My Coffee Record Table (You Can Do This Too – It’s Your Coffee Diary!)

Creating a dedicated coffee record table is absolutely the most important “learning notebook” on your coffee journey! Record every coffee brewing session, and you’ll find yourself improving incredibly fast!

Date	Coffee Beans	Coffee Grounds	Water Ratio	Grind Size	Water Temp.	Brew Time	Taste Rating	Adjustment Notes
7/20	Colombia Medium Roast	20g	1:15	Medium-Coarse	$91^\\circ C$	2:45	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Acidity balanced after increasing water temp.
7/21	Natural Brazil	20g	1:16	Medium-Coarse, slightly fine	$90^\\circ C$	3:00	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Super sweet and smooth, no bitterness!
7/22	Kenya Light Roast	20g	1:14	Coarse	$88^\\circ C$	2:10	⭐⭐	Too sour, consider higher temp. for next try.

匯出到試算表

📥 You can also create your own Excel or Notion record table. After just a week, you’ll clearly be able to identify the optimal coffee brewing parameter combination that suits your taste! This is a very effective coffee learning method.

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💬 Newbies Often Ask Me: Should I Use Medium Roast? My Sincere Advice!

Many coffee beginners ask me: “Which coffee roast level should I start with? Should I go straight for medium roast?”

My answer is always: “Absolutely! I’d recommend you start with medium roast coffee beans to really master the basic pour-over techniques, including water control, grind level, and brewing time coordination. Once you’re stable with these fundamentals, then go experiment with light roast or dark roast. You’ll have a better feel for it and more confidence then!”

Light Roast: Its acidity will be more pronounced. Brewing requires more precise control over water flow and temperature, so pour-over skills are more demanding.
Dark Roast: While its forgiveness level is relatively high (because its strong flavor makes it harder to ruin), it also has more bitterness. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to over-extract, and it might taste too heavy.

💡 So, medium roast is the perfect starting point for learning. Its balanced sweet and sour coffee flavor will make it easier for you to appreciate the beauty of coffee, while also solidifying your pour-over foundation!

✅ Conclusion: Understanding Your Own Coffee is the Most Important Progress

Looking back at my own coffee practice journey, I found that the most important thing wasn’t whether I got a perfect coffee right on the first try, but rather that “I started to understand the reason behind each failure.” When you learn to analyze and solve problems, that in itself is the biggest progress.

So, my friend, it’s the same for you! As long as you’re willing to record and make small adjustments, every coffee brewing session will bring you closer to the coffee flavor you love. This process of exploration is a joy in itself.

👉 If you’d like to read more to enrich your coffee journey**:**

ALT Tag Suggestions: “Coffee beginner progress,” “Coffee brewing problem solving,” “Coffee learning insights”