Master Pour-Over Coffee: Essential Techniques and Key Elements

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FrontStreet Coffee has said it directly before: making a cup of coffee is easy, but making a good cup of coffee is difficult. Everyone knows that many factors are involved in brewing a good cup of coffee. Bean freshness, water temperature, grind fineness, pour-over effects, and more are all key factors. They are all interconnected, so it's no joke—truly wanting to brew a delicious cup of coffee is not easy!

Seven Factors Affecting Pour-Over Coffee

1. Coffee Beans

High-quality coffee beans are the foundation of a good cup of coffee. Generally, pour-over coffee uses single-origin beans, which are coffee beans from a single origin that can better reflect the unique flavors of the growing region. Good coffee beans are directly reflected in flavor, defect rate, and roasting freshness. Defective beans will directly affect the overall flavor of the coffee. Additionally, it's best to choose freshly roasted coffee beans, as the optimal tasting period for coffee beans is generally 4-30 days.

Freshly roasted coffee usually needs a 4-7 day resting period. After this resting period, the coffee flavors will reach their optimal state, after which the flavors will gradually diminish.

2. Water Temperature

The optimal water temperature for pour-over coffee is closely related to the roasting depth of the coffee beans. If the temperature is too high, over-extraction will bring out more bitterness from the coffee beans, while if the temperature is too low, the taste will be too sour and lack aroma. Therefore, the most suitable temperature requires continuous experimentation. Generally, lightly roasted coffee beans need higher temperatures to stimulate their aromas, with 93°C-95°C being more suitable; while dark roasted coffee beans require slightly lower water temperatures to prevent the aroma from dissipating instantly, with 85°C-88°C being more appropriate.

3. Grind Size

Good coffee needs to be paired with the appropriate grind size to maximize its flavor potential. The most common reference for grind size is sugar, which indeed has some comparability. Generally, the grind size for pour-over coffee has a particle value of 600-800 microns, which is similar to the coarseness of sugar. The finer the grind, the larger the surface area of coffee in contact with water, resulting in higher extraction efficiency; the coarser the grind, the smaller the surface area of coffee in contact with water, resulting in lower extraction efficiency.

It's recommended to start with sugar-sized particles as a reference, then make fine adjustments to the grind size after brewing and tasting. For example, if the coffee is too weak, you can slightly adjust to a finer grind.

4. Water Quality

Over 98% of a cup of pour-over coffee is composed of water, so the quality of water directly affects the quality of a cup of coffee. Generally, the basic requirements for water quality are TDS: 150 mg/L, no chlorine, and a pH value of 7-8. It's recommended to use filtered purified water or mineral water (you can check the mineral water label). Generally, water with smaller TDS values will dissolve more substances.

5. Coffee-to-Water Ratio

The ratio of coffee grounds to water directly affects the concentration of the coffee. Currently, the most commonly used coffee-to-water ratio is 1:15. This is not an absolute rule, just a reference. Personal tastes vary greatly, so you can adjust appropriately to suit your own preferences. Those who prefer a richer taste can choose 1:13; those who prefer a lighter taste can adjust to 1:16.

6. Pouring Technique

The pouring process varies according to different schools of thought. There are various approaches, including completing the pour all at once to achieve extraction in one go, or dividing it into multiple pours to allow the coffee to extract different flavors in the early, middle, and late stages. However, what remains unchanged is the method of pouring water in circular motions from the center outward to ensure even distribution. The ratio of water to coffee grounds is approximately 13:1 to 15:1. It's important that during the pouring process, the water flow should not touch the filter paper wall, while also evenly moistening all coffee grounds during the circular motion. This is the most challenging aspect of pour-over coffee, testing experience and technique.

7. Time

Brewing time involves many influencing factors, such as grind size, amount of grounds, coffee-to-water ratio, filter cup characteristics, pouring technique, and more. Therefore, it's impossible to give an exact time. However, typically, brewing a cup of pour-over coffee (15-20g of grounds) takes approximately 1 minute 30 seconds to 3 minutes (excluding special brewing methods like Japanese-style brewing).

Conclusion

The above parameters are intricately interconnected and complementary. Coffee bean quality and water quality are the most important factors affecting whether a cup of coffee is good or bad, while grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, time, and pouring technique complement each other. Finding a balance point among them (one that belongs to you) is key. This is a cumulative process that happens over time. Gradually, you will also summarize a set of brewing methods that belong to you.

Pouring techniques can be roughly divided into five types: single-stage pour, three-stage pour, four-six method, drip pour, and volcanic pour.

Important Notice :

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