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Overheard a barista say something about bloom time that made me question everything
I was at a local shop in Portland last weekend and this barista told a customer that the standard 30 second bloom is way too long for light roasts. He said it actually makes the coffee taste flat. I always thought you needed the full 30 seconds minimum. Tried cutting it to 15 seconds with my usual beans this morning and honestly the cup had more brightness to it. Has anyone else messed with bloom times based on roast level?
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wade_hall28d ago
Light roasts need a shorter bloom since they're denser and don't absorb water as fast. 15 seconds works better for preserving those bright acidic notes.
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simonbell28d ago
Huh, I always thought denser beans needed more time to soak in, not less. But @wade_hall, that thing you said about preserving bright acidic notes really clicked for me. I tried a 15 second bloom this morning with an Ethiopian light roast and the cup was way cleaner than usual. My old 30 second bloom was probably over-extracting those delicate flavors. Gonna stick with this from now on.
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