I've been french pressing for years and have my french press method down to an art form at this point (at least for my liking) and love it. But after finding out about the link with french press coffee and cholesterol recently (cafestol), I decided to change it up and get a clever dripper.

But... I'm completely lost on how to make a good cuppa with it. I've watched the James Hoffmann video on it, and have done it a few times now, tried a fine and a medium grind, wet the filter beforehand and drained, but in both cases my cup came out muddy and flat tasting, very single note, losing the flavor profile of the beans.

These are good beans too, normally fruity and a bit chocolaty. I'm using beans from Happy Mug, Ethiopian Yrgacheffe and Peru Inca Valle currently. Also have one of my favorites, Ethiopian Guji on hand, but not willing to waste those beans on a bad brew.

I think what it comes down to is I know exactly how much bean to water to do for my french press, but I haven't gotten it right yet with the Clever. But I don't understand how the brew is turning out so bad with good beans. I'm doing a 4 minute brew, which is my normal for the french press as well. I'm at high altitude as well, so the water temperature for boiling is a bit lower, but I generally bring the water to boil, wait 15-20 seconds, and then pour in.

Any tips?