4 Major Pour-Over Coffee Techniques | How to Practice Making Your Own Pour-Over Coffee? Single-Origin Pour-Over Coffee Bean Recommendations

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FrontStreet Coffee has previously shared many factors that affect coffee flavor. Besides the five important objective factors (dose, ratio, temperature, grind size, equipment), there's also one subjective factor - yes, that's your hands (brewing technique). This article from FrontStreet Coffee will share the essential techniques to pay attention to when brewing coffee.

Brewing coffee is simply pouring water into coffee grounds, and brewing recipes tell you how to properly pour water into coffee grounds to get the best-tasting coffee. This can be broken down into understanding: [water distribution, pouring technique].

Water Distribution

With all objective parameters unchanged, water distribution becomes the most significant part of many brewing recipes. What we commonly call single-pour or three-pour brewing are essentially water distribution schemes.

Single-pour brewing means continuously pouring all remaining water after the bloom.

Three-pour brewing means pouring the remaining water in three stages after the bloom.

Let's take single-pour and three-pour brewing as examples. Both recipes use the same total water amount, but the difference is that single-pour brewing creates a higher water level, resulting in a faster extraction time compared to three-pour brewing. Therefore, when comparing the two, the former appears cleaner and thinner, while the latter appears more complex and mellow.

If water distribution in multi-stage brewing is not evenly allocated, different results will also occur. Take light roast coffee as an example: if the first stage has a larger water proportion, the entire cup will have more acidity and less sweetness. If the later stages have a larger water proportion, the entire cup will have more sweetness and less acidity, but careless operation may lead to bitterness.

Pouring Technique

Pouring technique also includes multiple factors such as bloom technique, circling speed, pouring height, flow rate, and circling range.

Bloom Technique

The bloom can be said to be a crucial step that determines the success or failure of coffee brewing. The most basic operation of blooming is complete wetting and degassing. If the coffee grounds absorb water unevenly, degassing will naturally be uneven as well. Then extraction within the coffee bed becomes a matter of luck - which areas are over-extracted, which are under-extracted, leading to the inevitable production of astringency.

Regarding bloom water amount and time, the most commonly discussed approach is 2x water amount with 30 seconds bloom time. If you're at a basic stage, there's no need to understand the reasons behind this. But since this is an advanced discussion, let me explain: simply put, it's twice the coffee grounds' saturated water absorption capacity, and most coffee beans within their optimal tasting period can release active gases within about 30 seconds when encountering water.

However, it's worth noting that depending on the coarseness of the coffee grounds, large coffee particles cannot achieve complete saturated water absorption during the short bloom pouring time. Therefore, if you quickly pour 2x the water amount in a short time, water will drip from the dripper. So if you're confident in your water control, you might try blooming with 1.5x water amount. So what happens if you use more than 2x water for blooming? The answer is that it will be more acidic than normal. The reason is simple: excess water will drip into the lower pot before fully extracting coffee compounds, leading to an overall lower extraction rate, and the early coffee liquid contains more small-molecule acidic compounds.

A short bloom time may result in incomplete gas release, affecting subsequent extraction efficiency. A long bloom time will cause subsequent water to more easily extract compounds from the coffee, including large-molecule bitter compounds.

Regarding circling speed, pouring height, flow rate, and circling range, FrontStreet Coffee has also conducted several corresponding experiments.

Circling Speed

When circling quickly with stirring, water flow is enhanced, maximizing coffee grounds agitation and thereby increasing extraction rate. The brewed coffee will be more mellow and aromatic, with relatively preserved aroma, but there's also a risk of over-extraction.

When circling slowly for pouring, as long as the water stream's force scours the coffee bed, some coffee grounds won't be agitated and remain in a static state, resulting in relatively lower extraction rate. The brewed coffee's taste and aroma will be relatively lacking. Overall, it's more balanced and gentle.

Pouring Height

A high water column will have a lower extraction rate than a low water column. It's generally recommended to maintain a brewing water flow height of 6-7cm.

Flow Rate

When using a large water flow for pouring, the liquid level rises, reaching the short ribs, causing more water to flow down along the edge ribs, reducing contact time with coffee grounds. When using a small water flow for pouring, the liquid level won't rise too high, the coffee bed is thicker, and contact time between water and coffee grounds will be slightly longer.

Using a large flow with fast pouring results in shorter brewing time, more prominent aroma, but the flavor tends toward singularity and cleanliness. Using a small flow with slow pouring to extend extraction time can fully extract coffee flavors, thus having an advantage in richness and layering, but there's a risk of over-extraction.

Circling Range

Circling in small circles will concentrate the coffee's flavor, highlighting the sweetness of light roast coffee, and the mouthfeel will also be more solid. Circling only in large circles will present more acidic flavors, with mouthfeel tending toward freshness and thinness. Actually, when brewing with conical drippers, although it appears on the surface that the outer circle brewing doesn't touch the filter paper, the water stream has impact force and can actually hit the ribs at the edge of the coffee bed. Water will then flow along the ribs, causing incomplete extraction.

Of course, this requires extensive practice to accumulate brewing experience. FrontStreet Coffee shares several single-origin coffee beans with distinct regional characteristics to help with brewing training.

FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Washed Yirgacheffe

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Yirgacheffe
Altitude: 1800-2000 meters
Variety: Local heirloom varieties
Processing: Washed
Flavor: Jasmine, berries, lemon, citrus

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia with an altitude of 1700-2100 meters, one of the world's highest altitude coffee-producing regions and synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lakes Turkana, Abaya, and Chamo bring abundant water vapor to this area. Represented by the Misty Valley, the rift valley is perpetually shrouded in mist, with spring-like year-round conditions, gentle breezes, cool and humid weather, where thousands of coffee trees thrive and multiply, nurturing Yirgacheffe's unique terroir with intertwined floral and fruity aromas and ever-changing characteristics. The so-called Yirgacheffe flavor refers to rich citrus and lemon fruit acids, intense jasmine floral aroma, light and elegant mouthfeel with tea-like notes, drinking like refreshing and clean lemon tea.

Washed Processing

Selected coffee cherries are placed in a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp; coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage are placed in water for about 24 hours of fermentation; after fermentation, coffee beans with parchment are placed in flowing water channels to wash away pulp and mucilage; after washing, coffee beans are dried or dried using dryers until moisture content reaches about 12%; finally, the parchment is removed from the coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee specifically considers that washed processing can better reflect the clean mouthfeel and pure flavor presentation of coffee. Therefore, when analyzing the specific flavors of a coffee-producing region, FrontStreet Coffee uses washed beans from that region as reference. For every beginner who hasn't tried Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee will first recommend washed Yirgacheffe to help form an understanding of regional flavors. Later, when trying natural, honey, and other processing methods of Yirgacheffe, they'll have a basis for comparison.

Although this washed Yirgacheffe is grade G2 (Ethiopia grades by defect rate; G2 allows 4-12 non-serious defective beans per 300g of green beans), FrontStreet Coffee conducts two rounds of manual sorting to remove defective beans before roasting to ensure the quality of each roast batch.

FrontStreet Coffee's roaster chose a light-medium roast level for this bean to preserve the bright citrus acidity and floral characteristics of washed Yirgacheffe. Bean-in temperature 200°C, yellowing point at 5'35, first crack begins at 9'08 at 182.1°C, developed for 2 minutes, dropped at 195°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Water Temperature: 90-91°C
Grind Size: EK43s grinder setting 10 (fine sugar size / 20-mesh sieve 80% pass-through)
Ratio: 1:15
Dose: 15g

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: First pour 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), completing in about 1 minute. When water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), completing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete drip filtration at 1'55''-2'00'', remove dripper, finish extraction.

Brewing Flavor: Jasmine aroma, berry juice sensation, lemon and citrus acidity, overall bright, clean, and fresh.

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Tarrazu

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazu
Altitude: 1500 meters
Variety: Caturra, Catuai
Processing: Washed
Flavor: Sweet orange, honey, toffee, nuts

Costa Rican coffee has always been famous for its balanced flavor, rich chocolate notes, and smooth mouthfeel. Tarrazu is located south of the capital San Jose and is one of Costa Rica's most valued coffee-growing areas. Tarrazu coffee beans are full-bodied, with rich BODY, smooth mouthfeel, intense chocolate and nutty aroma, moderate acidity, and an enticing fragrance.

Washed Processing

Washed processing places selected coffee cherries in a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp. Coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage are placed in water for about 24 hours of fermentation. After fermentation, coffee beans with parchment are placed in flowing water channels to wash away pulp and mucilage. After washing, coffee beans are dried or dried using dryers until moisture content reaches about 12%, then the parchment is removed from the coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Water Temperature: 90-91°C
Grind Size: EK43s grinder setting 10 (fine sugar size / 20-mesh sieve 80% pass-through)
Ratio: 1:15
Dose: 15g

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: First pour 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), completing in about 1 minute. When water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), completing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete drip filtration at 2 minutes 3 seconds, remove dripper, finish extraction.

Brewing Flavor: Sweet orange acidity at entry, prominent nutty and chocolate flavors in the middle, lasting caramel sweetness, with some cedar aroma, overall balanced.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia Lintong Mandheling

Country: Indonesia
Region: Sumatra, Lintong
Altitude: 1100-1600 meters
Variety: Typica, Caturra
Processing: Wet-hulled
Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, caramel, pine, herbal

Mandheling doesn't actually refer to a specific coffee variety or coffee-producing region name, but rather a tribal name that was mistakenly thought by the Japanese to be the coffee bean name, and has been used ever since.

Lintong Mandheling comes from the Lintong mountainous area in north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. Lintong Mandheling is the regular version of Mandheling. Lintong Mandheling also uses the conventional wet-hulled method, creating its characteristic low acidity and high body. However, the wet-hulled method can cause situations where semi-hard, semi-soft moist green beans are easily bruised when the parchment and mucilage layers are hulled off. The beans crack open like sheep hooves, commonly known as "sheep hoof beans." These aren't defective beans but can be considered a very distinctive characteristic of Mandheling.

Coffee Processing

Wet-hulling is a rapid method for processing coffee beans. The coffee cherry's skin and pulp are removed, followed by brief fermentation and drying, then removal of mucilage and parchment layers, continuing the final drying until moisture content reaches 12%. Wet-hulled Mandheling coffee beans clearly show varying degrees of compression cracks, with bean color tending toward dark greenish.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee uses a Kono dripper for brewing Mandheling coffee. The Kono's ribs extend less than halfway up the dripper height - this design actually ensures that when the filter paper is wetted, it clings tightly to the dripper wall, restricting airflow. This increases the water absorption time of coffee grounds, resulting in more uniform overall extraction and enhanced mellow mouthfeel. Additionally, the concave skeleton at the bottom of the Kono dripper is a key design that enables subsequent brewing to produce a siphon effect.

Recommended Water Temperature: 87-88°C
Grind Size: EK43s grinder setting 11 (coarse sugar size)
Ratio: 1:15
Dose: 15g

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, pour with small circular motion to 125g then segment, when water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g then stop. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is 2'00''.

Brewing Flavor: Herbal medicinal notes at entry, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473