(For comparison purposes, I usually use 30g coffee, 1:17, grinder at 19, V60, 205F water. Most of these I can fiddle quite a bit with before you really notice, but the grinder setting really matters)
For my 25g, 1:16, I typically use around a 12 grind setting (can change +/- 1 depending on the density of the coffee), and typically see around a 3m15s total brew time including a 30 second bloom.
I typically brew light roast, and brew at a whopping 100C (212F), also at the suggestion of James Hoffman - Info here: https://youtu.be/K_r5kpXPRYo
I do 25g, 1:14 w/ a bit of water to taste at 205 F, coarseness at 21 +/- 1 on an Encore with a V60. The reason I'm asking about your pour is I seem to get a sludgy sediment for my final pulse if I do anything < 20, and even then my extract time exceeds 3m unless I agitate with a stick.
I'm fairly certain nothing is wrong with my grinder (in fact I had an unrelated reason and got it back from their repair center last week) and it's still doing this so I'm betting it's my technique that's flawed.
I've been there, so maybe you made the same mistake that I made when I had that problem: When you clean the Barratza and take out the white plastic thingamabob, it goes back in two different ways, smoothly. But if your little orange marker isn't towards the front, on the right hand side, your grind will be much too fine :)
I usually do an initial pour to allow the grounds to outgas - about 70-90 grams, pouring from the middle out, in a spiral.
Then two separate pours of ~220g, slow, outside in - I essentially use the water to agitate the grounds a bit by rapidly pouring the last half in tight circles at the center.
And for the people reading this and think "those coffee peeps are weird" - yes, we are. The taste differences are minute. Can't speak for others, but I mostly do it because I like a ritual, I'm happy with any number of pour styles as long as I get my coffee ;)
The reason I picked this particular ritual is because a) I swear it tastes just a tiny bit better, and b) I learned it in a tiny coffee shop in Colombia that I loved to pieces, and so every time I make coffee I'm reminded of that trip.
Indeed, even among grinders that are the same grinder; I just replaced burrs on my Vario and it’s a different machine. I wouldn’t be surprised if disassembling/reassembling the machine, without replacing any parts, might affect the performance depending on how much you squint.
God, I'd kill to just hang out in a coffee shop and sample through all the different approaches with a bunch of coffee lovers. (Sorry, cabin fever speaking ;)
