All I know is I have yet to get a consistent cup of coffee. Thought moving from ground to whole bean would help, then from drip to pour over. From manual grinder to electric. With all other variables the same, I still have not been able to make a consistent cup. Getting rid of fines has made the biggest impact on consistency, how I have poured, in my opinion, has made the least.
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It’s easier to be more consistent with a immersion brewing method compared to percolation. The only variable in immersion brewing would be grind size and water temperature.
It's all placebo effect. That James Hoffman guy is the worst. "In our taste tests..." Are your taste tests double blind? I highly doubt it.
"You gotta jiggle it three times after 36 seconds then add 13 drops of 210.3° water between the filter and the brewer. Equally spaced, of course."
The worst part is the pseudoscientific rationalization about what each step does to the final product.
"This step balances the acidity and oxygenation."
It's hilariously ironic that the example you use is the one guy using actual science. The OG with a caffeine analyser, refractometer, particle size analyser and who will strap temperature and pressure probes to anything and everything to measure how they perform.
If you haven't had the opportunity to try different coffees prepared different ways, then that's unfortunate for you. If you have and you can't taste the differences, maybe that's on you? The only people I've ever met with so little ability to distinguish tastes were smokers.
I do believe blooming is good, the first pour should be gentle and get the grounds wet, and the second pour should be from higher up, to agitate the grounds. There are probably other ways to get the same results. People tend to mess around with whatever techniques they can, do something that makes a better cup, and settle on that as the way to do it. There's more than one good way.
My go to coffee is Vietnamese coffee and if you don't bloom the grounds in the phin before filling it the coffee comes out watery and weak. I'm not even that particular about my coffee either, but blooming makes a massive difference in how coffee tastes.