I'm a newcomer to this forum, but I've been roasting for many years.
However, I've have had inconsistent results through all of these years.
I've never been able to consistently produce a good pot.

The problem I'm having is a harshness/bitterness to the cup. In general
I feel that I'm overextracting the beans. I've used electric drip pots,
French press, Melitta with gold filtering, and Melitta with paper. I
have finally settled on a very course grind in my Capresso (not very
uniform particle size) of 32 g for 16 oz water and using a press pot
for 10 minutes at 185 F. Higher temperatures with shorter times come
out more harsh. This has made the brew more uniform, but I still feel
that the coffee could be better, so I'm beginning to believe the
quality of my beans is not as good as could be.

I don't roast and drink that much coffee--only a couple of cups each
morning is pretty typical--so it takes me a good while to go through 5
pounds of green beans, and I usually have about 5 varieties around, so
it takes me a long time to compare one source of a particular variety
to another source.

One more observation, the second of two cups of coffee in each brew (30
minutes later sitting on the counter top cooling and then reheating
slightly in the microwave) is generally better (sweeter?) than the
first cup I pour.

I think my source of problems is getting less than top quality beans. I
feel like my roasting is actually very consistent and in very small
(160 g) batches. I have roasted to lots of different levels on each
bean and though the character of the brews are remarkably different
with these different roasts, it doesn't seem to account for the
harshness I've been having.

My water is fairly soft, city-supplied, and I haven't done much with
changing the water, although I'm sure I did some experiments with the
water a long while back that didn't produce anything significantly
different.

Does anyone have any recommendations of how I can go about sorting out
why I can't get as good a cup as what the commercial coffee shops
offer?

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA

I think one; is those places have blended beans, they aren't using just one  
kind.  Ever notice on the bag it says some mouth watering catch phrase  about
being perfectly blended over so many years or what ever.  Also you  could be
right about the beans, where are you getting them from so I can avoid  that.  I
have noticed on line some places will sell you the already blended  beans you
just have to roast them that takes the guess work out, whew!  and  have you
tried different methods of roasting or lighter roasts?  Not too  light though,
I thought a real light roast would be so good, but wow what a sour  punch it
had, strong but sour in the same essence.  I also read once after  roasting
them, soak them in cold water over night, I did for two days to try it,  I think
it uses more beans, but it is an interesting flavor, kind of like a  light
roast, but it seemed to really draw out the flavors so much more.  It  was a neat
little experiment,  and it let me really taste the true flavor  of the bean.