I finally stopped fearing pour over after a $9 plastic cone

Three years ago I bought a cheap ceramic pour over at a garage sale in Ohio and gave up after one bitter cup. Last month my neighbor in Portland showed me her setup, same $9 plastic cone from the grocery store, and her coffee tasted like berries and caramel. She told me my grind was way too fine and my water was too hot, so I tried again with a coarser grind and a 30 second wait after boiling. The difference was night and day, no bitterness, just clean flavors I never got from my machine. I used to think pour over was for snobs with fancy kettles and scales, but now I see it's just about the basics. Has anyone else had a cheap piece of gear flip their whole routine around? What was your turning point?

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scott.alex17d ago

wait so what water temp did you end up landing on? cause i tried the 30 second wait thing and my coffee still came out kinda sour...