Can I get sweetness without cooking the moka pot to death?

[Civic Fish Stories]

Brewer and filter: Bialetti Moka Express 3-cup; stock metal basket
Grinder, burr and calibration: KINGrinder K6; 48 mm conical burr; 92 clicks from zero
Bean, roaster, process and roast date: Ethiopia Bombe; SEY Coffee; natural; roast date 2026-06-27
Dose and water mass: 18.0 g coffee; 306 g water
Temperature and water profile: 96°C; Lotus-style remineralized distilled water, moderate hardness / low alkalinity
Pour/agitation schedule: 54 g bloom for 45 s, then two even pours to 306 g; one gentle swirl
Drawdown time: 2:35
Expected and perceived flavour: expected cocoa and red fruit; perceived cup is thin despite adequate extraction time
Changes already tested: changed filter paper and repeated the same recipe

A repeatable cup is more useful to me than a heroic cup. Here is the version I can reproduce; if you try it, please change one thing at a time and say what moved.

[Civic Fish Stories]

I am less convinced by the flavour claim than the workflow claim, but that may be because my water is different.

[Mending Dumpling]

This is exactly the kind of note I want in a forum: date, setup, what changed, and what happened. Future searchers can do something with it.

[Author]

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