Realized I'd been mixing mortar WRONG for 6 years

I was at a job site in Mill Woods last week and an old mason watched me for a minute. He said "you're putting the water in first, aren't you?" and I felt like an idiot. Turns out dry ingredients first then water makes it way stronger and less crumbly. Has anyone else been doing basic stuff backwards their whole career?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonh746d ago

Hang on, you were putting water first this whole time?

nancy4755d agoMost Upvoted

Simonh74, I actually used to do the same thing until a coffee snob friend set me straight haha. I switched to putting coffee grounds first and pouring hot water over them, and it made a huge difference in taste. The water first method always seemed to leave my coffee weak or unevenly mixed. Since I started doing grounds first, my morning cup tastes so much richer and I swear it wakes me up better.

emery_young135d ago

Yeah same thing happened to me actually. My brother was a barista for a while and he watched me dump water in first then add grounds and just shook his head. He said the water cools down too fast that way and you don't get the full extraction. Now I always put the grounds in first, pour just enough water to cover them and let it sit for about 30 seconds before filling the rest. That little bloom makes all the difference, coffee goes from tasting flat to actually having some depth.