Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Time Guide: How Long to Brew a Perfect Cup

What is the optimal pour-over brewing time?

If you simply want to know whether your coffee brewing time is correct, FrontStreet Coffee will give you a direct conclusion: using a #01 filter with 15g of coffee grounds as a benchmark, the total time should be controlled within 1 minute 50 seconds to 2 minutes 30 seconds for an ideal brewing range.

What we commonly call "making coffee" is professionally expressed as coffee extraction—the process of using hot water as a carrier to dissolve flavor compounds from coffee grounds. This process requires time. Typically, the longer the extraction time, the more substances are extracted from the coffee, but not all soluble compounds in coffee are desirable. Therefore, we need to control the extraction duration.

Generally, for drip coffee, soluble substances are rapidly released from the coffee grounds within about 2 minutes, achieving an extraction rate of 18% (18-22% is considered an excellent extraction range within the Golden Cup Standard); after 5 minutes, over 80% of soluble substances will be dissolved (accounting for over 24% of the coffee bean's weight).

To put it another way, when we use normal brewing parameters, if the coffee extraction time is much shorter than 2 minutes, you may experience insufficient flavor, thinness, and a watery taste. Conversely, if the extraction time is much longer than 2 minutes, you may encounter the bitter, burnt, and astringent flavors caused by over-extraction.

Therefore, controlling the extraction time between 1 minute 50 seconds and 2 minutes 30 seconds will yield better coffee flavor. To skillfully master coffee flavors, we need to understand at least several factors that can affect the timing.

What factors affect coffee extraction time?

1. Coffee Grind Size. The coarseness of coffee grounds affects water flow speed. Coarser coffee grounds allow water to pass through more quickly, resulting in relatively shorter extraction times; finer coffee grounds slow down water flow, leading to relatively longer extraction times. If you want to control extraction time around 2 minutes, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a grind size with 75-80% pass-through through a #20 mesh sieve.

2. Filter Dripper. Using drippers with many flow channels like V60, Ice Phoenix, or Tricolate will result in slightly faster water flow; using Kono or fan-shaped drippers will result in slightly slower water flow. The difference can be around 20 seconds.

3. Pouring technique also affects extraction time. For example, extraction time with large water flow pouring will be shorter than with small water flow pouring.

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Important Notice :

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