The flavor you are describing is produced by naturally processed Ethiopian beans. You can usually find them in any serious coffee shop (and some local supermarkets if you're really lucky).

"Naturally processed" is an important term here - it is the means by which coffee beans are extracted from the cherry. Most beans are "washed" because it is most economical - they remove the bean from the cherry and literally wash it. In contrast, the natural process lays the cherries out to dry in the sun. By doing this the coffee bean inside absorbs a lot of the sugar and fruit flavor. The beans are removed once the outer fruit has fully dried.

Brewing naturally processed Ethiopian beans by any method will get you much closer to what you're looking for than going Breaking Bad with your brew setup.

I don’t have anything to add but I just wanted to say these communities and discussions are exactly why I’m here. Informative, helpful, and just good vibes all around.

You never describe the origin of the beans beyond local light roast. The flavor you are chasing is something that is seen in Ethiopian and some Kenyan beans.

Regardless of the origin, I feel like 80C is way too low, going below 90C is bad idea since so much cooling occurs during the pour.

As far as I am concerned, light roasts should be brewed at max temperature eg. 100C boiling.

On the v60 I had some attempts with 85c but that's more for darker roasts.

Try boiling water and an general recipie. https://youtu.be/K_r5kpXPRYo

Don't anybody say "drink tea" by the way.

You're gonna have to try different varieties of beans and roast level. The process you're using is correct and you'll get there with some more experiments.

Since you’ve already decreased grind size, you could try colder water and decrease the amount of coffee you’re using.

Almost sounds to me like you were getting some kind of specialty, experimental very-light-roast of a natural process something-or-another. Maybe a naturally fluffier, more extractable bean?

I don't know how to do this with normal-er beans and traditional extraction methods, at any rate. Not and make it actually taste good. Because you're extracting all the acids and the sugars, otherwise you wouldn't have a balanced cup, yet you're getting a tea-like profile with no body, without it being unpleasantly weak? This is illogical and short-circuits my coffee brain. I hypothesize it involves something I have never worked with, perhaps an ultra-light roast, where some body components have not been roasted into existence yet. Maybe anyway, I'm completely spit-balling here.

Do you have a aero press? I have been able to get cups like you described by doing an upside down brew. I can't remember the recipe that I used but I was experimenting with some of the world championship brew methods.

Might be worth picking one up since they are cheap and pretty fun to play with.