First Taste for Orea V4

Properties4

Type	Recipe
Author	Diego Vicente
Tools	Orea V4
Note created	Apr 15, 2026

A diagnostic recipe for tasting a new coffee for the first time, using a small dose to save beans while inferring how to dial in the full Easy Does It brew. Based on The Dara’s structure, adapted for 11g. Uses the open bottom (its filter sag concentrates the shallow bed centrally, partially compensating for the thinner coffee layer), flat paper with the Negotiator.

Design decisions

• Same grind as planned Easy Does It: the point is to taste the coffee at your intended settings, not to produce a balanced small cup. Use your baseline (e.g. 24 clicks for washed, 26 for funky beans).
• Slightly hotter water (93ºC): compensates for the thinner bed to ensure adequate extraction for diagnostic purposes.
• Looser ratio (1:18.2 vs 1:16.25): the cup will taste thinner than the full brew. That’s expected — read the direction of the flavors, not the intensity. The strength will correct itself at the full Easy Does It ratio.

First Taste

• Coffee: 11g @ same grind as planned Easy Does It (e.g. 24 clicks of Comandante C40)
• Water: 200ml @ 93ºC

Time	Step
00:00	Spiral pour to 35g (~7s)
00:35	Spiral pour to 90g (~11s)
01:10	Spiral pour to 145g (~11s)
01:45	Spiral pour to 200g (~11s)
02:00 - 02:30	Done

Diagnostic framework

Use the Coffee Compass to interpret the result:

You taste…	It means…	For the full Easy Does It brew…
Sour, sharp, lemony	Under-extracted	Grind 1-2 clicks finer or increase temp by 2-3ºC
Bitter, astringent, drying	Over-extracted	Grind 1-2 clicks coarser or decrease temp by 2-3ºC
Weak but balanced flavors	Good extraction, low strength	Scale up as-is — the 1:16.25 ratio will fix strength
Pleasant, sweet, complex	Good starting point	Use the same clicks and temp for Easy Does It
Sour and bitter together	Channeling / uneven	Fix pour technique, ensure bed is level
Funky/fermented overpowering	Funky bean behavior	Apply [[Tips to Brew Funky Coffee Beans

Brew time as a secondary signal

• Under 1:45 → flow too fast, grind finer for the full brew
• Over 3:00 → flow too slow, grind coarser for the full brew
• 2:00–2:30 → expected range for this dose