Pour Over Coffee Beginner's Guide: Professional Barista's Recommendations for Equipment Pairings

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As a former barista, I'm delighted to see more and more people around me beginning to understand specialty coffee. However, I've also noticed a problem - many casual observers seem to think that specialty coffee must be expensive, and that drinking pour-over coffee at cafes or taking selfies at Starbucks are both acts of showing off... hehe~ Then there are those who buy commercial beans to brew at home, only to complain that pour-over coffee is too bitter and unpleasant... hehe~

Well, if you love coffee (whether instant or specialty) and are interested in pour-over methods, then continue reading this article, as this is a sincere recommendation from a FrontStreet Coffee practitioner. I'll explain in a straightforward manner how to make specialty coffee at home, hoping to help beginners who truly love pour-over coffee.

Please remember first: coffee itself isn't just bitter - it can have citrus acidity and honey-like sweetness.

The Difference Between Commercial and Specialty Coffee

Understanding the difference between the two will greatly help in selecting beans, which I'll discuss later.

Promise me, don't buy Starbucks beans in bulk for pour-over at home - it will make you miserable~

The Origin of Pour-Over Coffee

Pour-over coffee uses the typical drip brewing method, which is currently the most common filter paper drip brewing method for home use. It was invented in 1908 by German housewife Melitta Bentz and became widely popular due to its simple operation. In reality, making a consistently high-quality cup of pour-over coffee requires repeated practice.

Factors Affecting Pour-Over Coffee Flavor

① The size of coffee grounds: Generally, larger particles result in more pronounced bitterness during extraction, without affecting acidity;

② The contact time between water and coffee grounds: The longer the pouring time, the more pronounced the bitterness;

③ The temperature when water contacts coffee grounds: Lower water temperature reduces the proportion of bitterness in the coffee.

Today's Focus: How to Make Pour-Over Coffee at Home

Step 1: Preparation

Basic necessities: coffee grinder, pour-over kettle, filter cup, and serving pot. Other accessories: electric kettle, timer, electronic scale, and measuring spoon. For more advanced setup, you can add a thermometer.

Step 2: Grinding Beans

Before brewing coffee, you need to grind the beans into powder. Before纠结 how to choose a grinder, you should first understand the grind fineness of coffee powder and suitable tools.

○ Coarse grind: Particles larger than granulated sugar, suitable for French press;

○ Medium grind: Particles the same size as fine sugar, suitable for pour-over and siphon;

○ Fine grind: Between granulated sugar and fine sugar, suitable for pour-over and hang-drip bags;

○ Very fine grind: Smaller than fine grind, suitable for espresso.

How to Grind Beans?

Two methods: 1. Let the shop grind it for you - advantage is professional service, disadvantage is reduced freshness; 2. Buy beans and grind at home - this requires preparing a grinder, generally divided into electric and manual types, which can be chosen based on personal budget and usage environment (number of people/frequency).

HARIO Manual Grinder

Manual Grinder

Advantages: ① No residual odors - uses ceramic grinding core without metallic taste, can be washed directly with water without worrying about flavor transfer between different coffee beans; ② Controllable capacity - basically full capacity is 24g, enough for two cups; ③ Space-saving - convenient for storage and portable; ④ Freely adjustable grind size - directly observe powder coarseness and adjust through nuts to meet different bean needs.

Disadvantages: Suitable for single variety grinding; smaller capacity; requires manual effort.

Hero Electric Grinder

Electric Grinder

Advantages: ① Fast grinding speed with powerful motor and high power; ② Suitable for various ingredients - stainless steel material is quite effective, can grind spices and grains; ③ Large capacity; ④ Time and labor saving.

Disadvantages: Mixed ingredient grinding easily transfers flavors; not suitable for small batches.

Grinding Tips

1. Confirm the desired grind size: Most grinders come with test beans - adjust the scale and speed to confirm the output state. Once you've adjusted the scale, try not to change it;

2. Difference between dark and light roast: Dark roasted beans can be ground coarser - too fine can easily extract bitterness;

3. Clean immediately after use: Clean after use! Especially when changing beans!

Step 3: Wetting the Filter Paper

After grinding the coffee, place the prepared filter paper in the filter cup. Pour hot water evenly over the filter paper until it's completely wet and tightly attached to the filter cup, then pour out the hot water from the serving pot. This step helps the filter paper fit better, removes any paper taste, and warms the cup.

Step 4: Pouring Water

After wetting the filter paper, measure the water temperature according to the coffee bean's brewing recommendations, then pour when the temperature is appropriate. Pour hot water in a circular motion, avoiding pouring in one direction, to ensure even extraction.

How to Choose a Pour-Over Kettle?

Water temperature and flow rate both affect coffee flavor, so the kettle spout design should have a certain curvature, divided into narrow-spout kettles and kettles that are wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.

Hero Pour-Over Coffee Kettle

Stainless Steel Narrow-Spout Kettle

Advantages: ① Stable flow control - curved narrow spout allows even water flow extraction with 90° vertical pouring; ② Durable and sturdy - stainless steel Teflon material is scratch-resistant and easy to clean; ③ Compact size for easy carrying.

Disadvantages: Small capacity, suitable for single person enjoyment.

Japanese Kalita Pour-Over Coffee Kettle

Enamel Long-Spout Kettle

Advantages: ① Beautiful appearance - enamel porcelain is lovely, especially popular among women; ② Fine and sturdy texture - unique crane-beak spout design effectively controls water flow speed and volume, much more stable than expected; ③ Large capacity, convenient for sharing.

Disadvantages: Not suitable for carrying out; enamel porcelain detailed workmanship is somewhat rough.

Pouring Tips

1. Pay attention to flow stability and temperature control: Just like different tea brewing methods, water flow speed and temperature have significant effects on coffee flavor;

2. Don't draw circles randomly: The pouring circle motion should be steady, draw circles at uniform speed in the same direction, try not to go too far to the sides;

3. Learn timing: Different coffee powders have different brewing times due to different roast levels - generally marked, try to follow the recommended time for optimal extraction flavor.

Step 5: Blooming

When pouring water into the coffee grounds, a lot of "foam" will appear. This gas that makes the coffee grounds expand is carbon dioxide produced during coffee bean roasting. During the first bloom, keep pouring until the powder is fully expanded; when the expanded powder settles, perform the second pour before the water in the filter paper has completely drained; estimate the number of pours based on the coffee bean's brewing recommendations - generally twice; don't wait for the coffee to finish dripping before removing the filter paper.

How to Choose a Filter Cup?

Common filter cup (drip rack) materials include ceramic, stainless steel, and heat-resistant glass. They use built-in filter paper or flannel filters. Japanese old cafes prefer using flannel filter cups, paired with handmade narrow-spout kettles and home-roasted beans - absolutely cool! And delicious! But personally, I recommend beginners start with filter paper cups.

Filter cup hole size and brewing effect: Small holes (1 hole) filter slowly, less affected by pouring method, stable extraction quality; Large holes (1 or 3 holes) filter quickly, coffee grounds easily dissolve unevenly, avoid pouring hot water into the filter cup edges.

Chemex Drip Coffee Pot Filter Paper

Glass Filter Cup with Filter Paper

Product features: ① V-shaped design gradually increases coffee ground height for full extraction; ② Filter paper is disposable, filter cup can be disassembled for easy cleaning; ③ Durable and easy to clean.

Disadvantages: Sometimes there are gaps between filter paper and cup walls, improper operation can affect blooming; some filter papers may shed fibers or have odors.

HARIO Drip Flannel Coffee Pot

Flannel Integrated Filter Cup

Product features: ① Retro appearance, originating from Japanese craftsmanship aesthetics; ② Flannel material provides more stable blooming, resulting coffee has richer aroma and smoother texture than filter paper brewing.

Disadvantages: Cleaning and storage are troublesome - used filter cloth must be cleaned with clear water, soaked in water and stored in refrigerator.

Blooming Tips

1. Pay attention to fit: When using filter paper cups, pour hot water over the filter paper before adding coffee grounds to make the paper fit the cup walls, press coffee grounds evenly for full blooming;

2. Pay attention to material: Filter paper choice - natural paper is organic but has flavor, needs hot water rinse to remove odor; bleached paper has relatively less odor, but pay attention to processing quality;

3. Pay attention to flow rate: If coffee extraction is too fast or gets stuck, consider if it's a filter cup opening size issue - you can trim the filter paper;

4. Pay attention to bubbles: Dark roasted or fresh grounds easily produce bubbles - if worried about too many bubbles affecting extraction, let freshly ground powder sit for a day.

Step 6: Sharing

After blooming is complete, you can pour the freshly extracted coffee into cups and share the deliciousness with friends according to preference (add ice)~

How to Blind-Select Coffee Beans?

What factors affect the final flavor of a cup of coffee? Generally speaking, bean variety accounts for 60%, roasting method accounts for 30%, and extraction brewing method only accounts for 10%. For beginners who haven't tried many beans, you can blind-select based on coffee bean processing methods. Let me briefly introduce three common processing methods.

Natural Process

Flavor characteristics: Natural processing completely preserves the fruity aroma and rich pectin of coffee fruit, with lower acidity and more natural mellow flavor.

90+ Candamda Sidamo Natural Coffee Beans

Characteristics: Sidamo coffee beans from Ethiopia's producing region, natural processing and light roasting preserve the bean's freshness and mellowness, possessing high sweetness and body. As a G1 grade 90+ Candamda, you'll clearly notice lively berry and pineapple aromas, along with a hint of golden rum fermentation wine aroma.

Brewing recommendations: Grind setting 6-6.5, water-to-coffee ratio 1:16, water temperature 92°C, brewing time approximately 1'45".

Washed Process

Flavor characteristics: Presents multiple flavors of coffee beans, with lively and bright acidity.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere

Characteristics: This Kochere comes from the famous specialty coffee producing region Yirgacheffe. After washed processing and light roasting, it retains rich floral and apricot flavors, not only possessing bright acidity but also outstanding sweetness, which is even better when cold brewed.

Brewing recommendations: 13g powder, water ratio 1:16, water temperature 91-94°C.

Honey Process

Flavor characteristics: Better restores the inherent sweet flavor of coffee beans, prominent caramel notes, with unique red wine aroma, making it very suitable for espresso extraction.

Hartmann Estate Red Wine Process Coffee Beans

Characteristics: This bean comes from one of the most famous estates in Panama's Volcán producing region, using unique red wine processing methods to showcase red berry and red wine aromas, with relatively gentle acidity and overall clean, balanced taste.

Brewing recommendations: 15g powder, 240ml water, temperature controlled at 92°C, brewing time 2'30".

Pour-Over Hang-Drip Coffee Set

If you're too lazy to buy beans and want to drink pour-over coffee at the office, I recommend getting a hang-drip coffee set. FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over kettle works quite well, good for both hang-drip bags or coffee powder extraction, with just right water flow speed and volume control. This set includes 5+ different flavored hang-drip coffees, convenient for both home and office.

Summary

I usually prefer buying beans at local cafes - it's such a joy when you catch freshly roasted beans! For online shopping, I suggest finding stores with physical locations - they basically all include brewing instructions, just follow the steps. Once you've mastered basic pour-over skills, why not try cold brew or ice drip coffee - you'll discover the different charms of coffee beans.

If you also love pour-over coffee, welcome to share your favorite single-origin beans and experiences!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473