Pour-Over Coffee Three-Stage Extraction: Timing, Ratios, and Flavor Adjustment

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What is the Three-Stage Pour-Over Method?

This is a relatively common brewing method. Simply put, it divides the entire pouring process into 3 parts. This includes the first stage bloom pour, which is also a brewing method favored by FrontStreet Coffee. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Huilan washed Caturra as an example, FrontStreet Coffee uses the following parameters: 15 grams of coffee grounds as standard, a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, water temperature of 88°C, medium-coarse grind size, with a 65% pass rate through a #20 standard sieve.

Brewing Process

First, make all preparations (warm the filter cup and server, grind coffee, prepare water at the appropriate temperature), then pour in the coffee grounds. Begin the first pour while starting the timer. Pour 30 grams of hot water from the center outward in a circular motion. The coffee grounds will slowly absorb water and expand, forming a puffed-up "coffee burger."

Stop pouring when you reach 30 grams of water and wait for a 30-second bloom time. Starting from the 31st second shown on the electronic scale, begin the second pour. Pour water from the center outward in a circular motion, keeping the water flow stable and vertical. When the water column impacts the coffee grounds layer, foam will appear. This brewing stage allows the coffee foam to release and spread across the entire surface of the grounds. The liquid level rises to the base of the filter cup's ribs. This stage uses 100 grams of water.

When the liquid level drops to the halfway point, begin the final pour. This stage also pours 95 grams of water from the center outward in a "smelling" circular motion. The original dark brown foam transforms into light yellow coffee foam, and the liquid level returns to the same height as the second pour. After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the server, remove the filter cup to complete extraction.

How to Determine When to Pour Again?

The three-stage pour has two re-pouring points: the second and third stages. The timing for the second pour is very easy to grasp - typically 30 seconds after the bloom. The third pour is more difficult to master because there is no fixed time point. FrontStreet Coffee usually waits until the water level drops to 1/2 or 2/3 before pouring again.

When the water level drops to 1/2 or 2/3, the filter cup won't accumulate too much water, nor will it expose the coffee bed due to excessive water level drops, which would lead to uneven extraction of upper and lower coffee grounds.

After the water level drops, the water flow can directly penetrate the accumulated water to stir the lower grounds layer. If the water level is too high, the impact force of the water column will be insufficient, causing over-extraction of the upper coffee grounds while the lower coffee grounds are under-extracted.

What are the Advantages of Three-Stage Extraction?

Enhanced Coffee Flavor

During extraction, it can more fully extract the flavor compounds from coffee, enhancing the layered complexity of the coffee.

Strong Compatibility

It can effectively express the flavors of most coffees from different origins and roast levels.

For the brewer, if you initially pour too much water and notice the water level rising too quickly, you can adopt a staged approach, extending the brewing time to allow the water level to drop before continuing to brew. This can avoid under-extraction caused by water flowing too quickly.

In fact, the staged method also allows for better identification of the flavor characteristics of each coffee liquid segment, enabling adjustment of brewing recipes. FrontStreet Coffee divides one cup into three segments: front, middle, and back, then compares their respective flavors to find the suitable ratio for personal preference.

For this demonstration, FrontStreet Coffee selected FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Rose Valley, keeping the brewing method as consistent as normal hand-pour brewing. The brewing parameters are as follows:

Coffee amount: 20g
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Medium-fine (78% pass rate through #20 standard sieve)
Water temperature: 91°C

You also need to prepare 3 identical servers of the same specification to better observe the color of the coffee liquid. This time we used 20g of coffee grounds, so the corresponding proportion should inject 300g of water. According to previous Coffee Laboratory experiments, 20g of coffee grounds will absorb approximately 40g of water, so the actual brewed coffee liquid is about 260g. Divided equally into 3 portions, each portion is approximately 86.6g.

Now, pick up your pour-over kettle and begin the experiment. First, pour 40g of water for a 30-second bloom. Then reset the electronic scale to zero and pour 86.6g of water. Wait until all the coffee liquid flows into the server, then switch to a new server and reset the scale to zero. Continue pouring 86.6g of water, wait until all coffee liquid flows into the server, switch to a new server and reset the scale to zero. Finally, pour the last 86.6g of water and wait until all coffee liquid flows into the server.

This way, we obtain 3 equal portions of coffee liquid. Observing the colors of these three portions, we can clearly see that the front, middle, and back segments of coffee liquid gradually change from dark to light, with concentration naturally going from strong to weak.

The following are personal tasting notes from this experiment bean, for reference only:

Front segment: Concentrated, stimulating, sharp acidity, rich
Middle segment: Gentle fruit acidity, honey, cocoa, overall very light
Back segment: Watery, sugar water, sweet aftertaste, faint floral aroma

It's clear that the front segment extracts most of the coffee's flavors, but the concentration is too high to distinguish the taste, with an overall acidic tendency. The middle segment is more complex, containing acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, with sweetness as the dominant note. The back segment is basically watery with a subtle taste of water, but it highlights the aroma.

In addition to tasting each portion individually, you can also mix the front and middle segments, front and back segments, or all three in fixed ratios to achieve your preferred flavor, thereby adjusting your pour ratios. For example, when I mixed these three portions in a 1:1:1 ratio, I obtained a complete Rose Valley flavor.

The difference between this experiment and normal brewing is that after each pour, you must wait for all coffee liquid to flow out before continuing to pour. Therefore, the brewing time will be longer. However, this method allows you to clearly judge the coffee flavor after each pour, enabling you to adjust your pour distribution scheme. Besides helping you formulate brewing recipes, this method can also help you identify which segment contains defective flavors. If you use your usual brewing method to brew a bean and detect defective flavors, you can use this method to divide it into several portions and identify which segment contains the defects, then adjust your brewing accordingly.

For more specialty coffee beans, add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473