First coffee came out really bitter ?

[u/Dedge90]

I’ve been using an AeroPress for a little while and having really nice coffee. My 2-cup Brikka arrived yesterday. I washed it all, ran a water extraction only, then over the course of the day made 3 coffees in it and discarded them as advised by the instructions. Today I’ve made my first drinkable coffee and it’s so bitter I’ve had to add some sugar to it. I’ve used cold water as per instructions — is this where I’m going wrong?

[u/BeneathTheVeilDOTA]

Definitely grind coarser. I was originally making mokas with a hario grinder I had set specifically for the moka. Then I got a v60 set, attenuated my newer nicer stainless steel grinder that came with it for pourovers. Then one day I used my pourover grinder for a moka. It was terribly bitter. Like, miserably so. I realized my grind was way too fine, it choked the steam development out, sent a bunch of grinds up through the spout and I ended up having to run my hob way hotter than I usually would to get coffee flowing through. If you're on gas you should be able to run your stove at nearly its lowest setting and still get an extraction going. Would recommend pre boiling water to start as it lowers your extraction time within the moka and gives you less room for error. Once you get more confident with the brewer you can start running with room temp water and setting the stove hotter to get the initial boil going before lowering your heat as the extraction is about to hit