Pour-Over Coffee Basics: Introduction to Fundamental Knowledge and Essential Tools

With the development of the third wave of specialty coffee, more and more people are paying attention to coffee, including how to make a cup of coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes that if you want to make coffee at home, the simplest method is pour-over coffee. The equipment required is not as large and expensive as espresso machines, and it's relatively easy to learn. As long as you practice the technique diligently, your results will become increasingly consistent. Although many people say that pour-over coffee has many points to note, from a professional perspective, the barrier is indeed not low. However, FrontStreet Coffee believes that as long as you master the most basic requirements and control them well, you can absolutely make a professional and authentic single-origin coffee. Next, based on FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over experience, we'll give you a simple explanation of pour-over coffee steps and precautions.

Equipment Required for Pour-over Coffee

Pour-over kettle, filter cup, server, grinder, filter paper, digital scale, thermometer, and powder sieve.

Pour-over Kettle

There are many varieties of pour-over kettles, and the style should naturally match your personal aesthetic. FrontStreet Coffee does not recommend the popular Hario VKB as it's not suitable for beginners. Below are several pour-over kettles that FrontStreet Coffee believes can be purchased initially.

Takahiro Shizuku, commonly known as the "cheating kettle," is named for its excellent water flow control and impeccable craftsmanship. If you can only buy one single-function kettle, Shizuku is the undisputed choice. The price of over 500 yuan might seem expensive, but it's well worth it. The 0.9L specification can handle most situations. Made of 18-8 stainless steel. It has two main disadvantages: first, the stainless steel top lid will burn those who habitually support the lid with their other hand, and second, it cannot be fitted with a flow restrictor.

Spout kettle (inner diameter 6mm or above), representative example: Bonavita temperature-controlled pour-over kettle, which is used in FrontStreet Coffee's shop. Features imported British Strix temperature control system for precise water temperature control with ±1°C accuracy, professional gooseneck narrow spout design for more effective control of water flow speed, rate, and direction. The base has temperature adjustment, heat preservation, and memory functions. High-quality kettle body construction with plastic lid, can be fitted with a throttle valve, and water flow control is better than VKB. With this kettle in hand, you need nothing else - it's an excellent choice for small cafes.

Kalita Crane Spout Kettle. Kalita is an established equipment manufacturer that embodies the consistent Japanese characteristics: fine craftsmanship and artistic-level workmanship. Although this crane spout kettle still has gaps compared to some top-tier products, if you don't have experience with other artistic pieces, using it is undoubtedly a pleasure. The handle is extremely comfortable, with upper and lower grips that make the kettle body very stable. The crane spout is also an advanced style that offers more variations and interest. The perfect combination of wood and stainless steel. It pairs beautifully with their own stainless steel filter cups. As for appearance, it depends on personal preference. FrontStreet Coffee's shop also has this pour-over kettle, bought purely for its aesthetics. For beginners starting with pour-over, you can use a narrow-spout kettle with an inner diameter below 5mm, such as the Kalita copper kettle 900.

HARIO Thunder Kettle, made of pure stainless steel with secondary matte polishing treatment to avoid minor scratches from light collisions or cleaning. The kettle body and lid are stainless steel, while the lid cap and handle are made of phenol-formaldehyde resin. The reason Hario's pour-over kettles are popular worldwide, besides their excellent craftsmanship and design, is that they are versatile kettles with controllable water flow. Compared to various "god-tier" kettles that can only use small water flows with 5mm openings, this Hario kettle can also satisfy the popular immersion brewing method in Europe and America, and can also achieve small water flows for drip methods through control.

Filter Cups

Hario V60 is the most popular, available in four materials: resin, glass, ceramic, and metal. V60 accommodates many variables in coffee making, mainly due to three design points:

1. 60-degree angle cone: This extends the time for water to flow through the coffee grounds toward the center.
2. A large filter hole: This allows us to control coffee flavor by changing water flow rate.
3. Spiral ribs: These allow air to escape upward from all sides, maximizing coffee ground expansion.

Kalita filter cup, made entirely of ceramic material. Ceramic coffee filter cups have better heat retention, uniform glaze, true colors, and a retro-style three-hole trapezoidal shape with single-sided cup ring and distinct internal filtering ribs. Coffee filtered through this filter cup is rich and aromatic, suitable for coffee beans with weak acidity and high body.

KONO filter cup's ribs do not extend from the bottom all the way to the top, but stop at less than half the filter cup's height. This height design ensures that during the dripping process, the filter paper can adhere closely to the filter cup wall after absorbing water. Once the exhaust space is restricted, air flow is also limited, which increases the water absorption time of coffee ground particles.

Cake filter cup, also called wave filter cup. The bottom of the filter cup is flat, and the flat bottom design allows water to flow evenly, increasing extraction rate. Additionally, there are only three small holes at the bottom, so the flow rate is relatively slow, allowing coffee grounds to be fully soaked, resulting in more balanced coffee extraction. The use of folded filter paper that doesn't directly adhere to the filter cup creates the maximum extraction area. On one hand, this helps concentrate extraction, allowing hot water to filter down evenly and smoothly; on the other hand, it also slows down temperature loss.

Grinder

Good pour-over coffee requires a good grinder. There are three types of grinders on the market:

1. Ghost tooth grinder
2. Flat burr grinder
3. Conical burr grinder

Ghost tooth grinders grind coffee beans into particles through grinding, producing mostly round-shaped coffee powder with good balance and body in single-origin coffee flavor; Flat burr grinders produce mainly flake-shaped particles that can increase coffee concentration and extraction rate in a short time, and coffee aroma can be extracted quickly. Short extraction time is needed, as long extraction times can easily cause off-flavors and astringency. Suitable for short extraction times. Conical burr grinders grind coffee by crushing into particles, producing more block-shaped particles with rounded and complex coffee flavors.

Common grinders on the market include Small Flying Eagle grinders, Small Fuji grinders, Baratza Encore grinders, and Huijia grinders. FrontStreet Coffee uses the Baratza Encore grinder.

Thermometer

Thermometers are used to measure coffee water temperature. Thermometers on the market include Tiamo thermometers, Hero thermometers, and Cafede Kona thermometers.

Digital Scale

Digital scales allow us to better control the coffee-to-water ratio during brewing, reducing unstable factors and increasing adequate error tolerance. Digital scales range from several hundred yuan to as low as tens of yuan. Available brands include Yami digital scales, Hero smart scales, and Timemo digital scales.

Filter Paper

Filter paper comes in bleached and unbleached varieties. Bleached filter paper appears whiter, while unbleached filter paper appears light brown. Filter paper's function is to use extremely dense fibers to retain ground coffee powder while filtering extracted coffee into the cup. When buying filter paper, choose the corresponding paper for your filter cup. Available options include Japanese Sanyo V60 filter paper, Hario filter paper, Kalita filter paper, and Kono filter paper.

Powder Sieve

Mainly used to determine grind size. Each coffee bean has a suitable grind size for pour-over coffee. Through continuous experimentation, FrontStreet Coffee has determined that 80% passing through a Chinese standard #20 sieve is the appropriate grind size for pour-over.

Server

The server is actually optional. If you're drinking alone, you can skip the server and filter directly into a mug. For brewing multiple cups, you'll need a server. The server's graduated markings and transparent material make it easier to understand and control the extraction process, making the server more than just a serving vessel. FrontStreet Coffee recommends the HARIO V60 Cloud Server and Kalita Server.

Pour-over Coffee Steps and Techniques

To brew a good pot of coffee, start with these six aspects: water temperature, grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, water quality, coffee beans, and brewing technique.

Water Temperature

The higher the water temperature, the stronger the extraction ability, resulting in more bitter coffee with intense flavor; lower water temperature has weaker extraction ability, making coffee more acidic with mild and light flavor. Pour-over temperature should be adjusted according to the coffee's roast level. Light to medium roasted beans are recommended at 90-91°C, while medium to dark roasted beans are recommended at 85-87°C. FrontStreet Coffee basically adjusts within this range. A customer once questioned this brewing temperature, so FrontStreet Coffee used Golden Mandheling coffee beans (dark roast) and brewed with 90°C water. The result was a taste that could almost "rival" espresso.

Grind Size

Refers to the size of coffee particles. Grind size affects the contact time between coffee and water. If coffee grounds are finer, water can extract more substances in the same amount of time, but fine grinds can easily lead to over-extraction during the brewing process. Conversely, coarser coffee grinds result in less extracted material in the same time, but coarser grinds can easily lead to under-extraction. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 80% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve as the pour-over grind size. This was determined through multiple taste tests. It's worth noting that different coffee beans require different grind sizes, so when pour-over flavor seems off, check if the grind size is problematic.

Fine-ground coffee has higher concentration, higher extraction rate, and higher body (easily over-extracted).

FrontStreet Coffee fine grind demonstration

Coarse-ground coffee has lower concentration, lower extraction rate, and lower body (easily under-extracted).

FrontStreet Coffee coarse grind demonstration

FrontStreet Coffee recommends medium-fine grind for pour-over coffee (like granulated sugar size).

FrontStreet Coffee medium-fine grind demonstration

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

The coffee-to-water ratio refers to the proportion of coffee grounds to brewing water, affecting the coffee's concentration. It can be 1:10, 1:13, 1:15, or 1:16. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a 1:15 ratio, which is relatively moderate in both concentration and taste. Of course, everyone pursues different coffee flavors, so when brewing coffee, you can adjust your ratio according to your desired strength.

Water Quality

A good cup of coffee certainly离不开 good water quality. In daily life, don't use tap water directly for brewing coffee. It's recommended to use filtered water or purified water for brewing coffee. Of course, mineral water is also fine. However, using the same brewing parameters with different types of water will produce slightly different flavors. FrontStreet Coffee conducted experiments for this purpose. (This experiment wasn't to prove which water quality is better for brewing coffee, but to demonstrate how different water qualities affect extraction flavors, providing reference for everyone.)

Water Quality Test Results

FrontStreet Coffee used [FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo Guji Coffee Beans] to demonstrate the experiment results:

Water quality directly affects all coffee's taste, aroma, consistency, and other health elements. The key influencing factor is the mineral composition in water. Mineral ions such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium in water affect coffee's thermodynamic extraction ability, thereby causing changes in coffee flavor.

Fresh Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee believes that pour-over coffee can use both single-origin beans and espresso beans, but if you want to experience the charm of pour-over coffee, it's recommended to choose single-origin beans with detailed information (origin, variety, processing method) to taste the flavor characteristics of a single producing region. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee introduced the daily bean series, aiming to let everyone buy beans that can express their origin flavors at relatively affordable prices, such as Yirgacheffe's citrus acidity, Mandheling's herbal notes, and Brazil Colombia's nutty chocolate flavors - these are basic origin flavors that can all be reflected in the daily beans. Also, when buying freshly roasted coffee beans, the flavor of roasted coffee beans will gradually diminish over time. When you receive freshly roasted beans, they need a resting period of 4-7 days, at which point the coffee flavor will be at its best. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee beans you receive are generally roasted within a week or 3-4 days, so you can use this coffee immediately upon receipt. After a month, the bean flavor will become much blander, so it's recommended not to store a bag of beans for too long - it's best to finish within a month.

FrontStreet Coffee coffee beans from various producing regions

Brewing Technique

There are various brewing techniques: three-stage, single-pour, drip method, etc. FrontStreet Coffee recommends beginners use the three-stage pouring method for brewing. This technique is suitable for light roast, medium-light roast, and medium roast coffee beans. The segmented extraction method of three-stage pouring can clearly express the front, middle, and back flavor segments of coffee, better ensuring flavor presentation.

First Pour: Bloom (helps degassing)

Coffee beans undergo a series of chemical reactions and physical changes during the roasting process from green beans to roasted beans. After reaching a certain roast level, coffee beans accumulate large amounts of gas (mostly carbon dioxide).

Generally, the fresher the beans and the closer to roasting, the more bubbles during blooming. Dark roasted beans also release more gas during blooming than light roasted beans. FrontStreet Coffee's beans are freshly roasted, so we generally recommend customers rest the beans for three days first, allowing the coffee beans to release carbon dioxide first, avoiding instability and under-extraction during brewing.

After blooming releases gas, coffee particles can absorb water evenly, allowing for more uniform extraction later. Good blooming allows coffee powder to quickly, fully, and evenly release gas while also enabling coffee powder to fully and quickly contact water, helping the coffee powder to be extracted evenly.

Pay attention to these four points during blooming:

1. Before pouring for bloom, level the coffee powder first.
2. Pour gently during blooming.
3. During blooming, the extracted liquid dripping down should be as minimal as possible; when too much liquid appears in the lower pot, reduce the pouring amount or pay attention to grind size. (If there's too much bloom water and a large amount of coffee liquid drips down, the falling water doesn't停留 but directly carries substances from the outside of the coffee powder - the off-flavors and astringency from the outer layer begin to dissolve. Coffee brewed this way will be weak but have over-extracted off-flavors. If bloom water is insufficient with no water drops falling, it means the coffee powder hasn't absorbed enough water, and some coffee hasn't fully degassed, causing under-extraction.) Based on this situation, FrontStreet Coffee conducted multiple bloom experiments and found that pouring twice the amount of water as the coffee powder weight during bloom is most appropriate.

4. Bloom time should be about 30 to 40 seconds. When the coffee powder surface expansion ends, you'll see the coffee surface start to shrink, which indicates bloom completion and you can start pouring. (If bloom time is too long, coffee easily becomes bitter and astringent; if too short, soaking is insufficient, and coffee might be under-extracted or not fully expressed.) Generally, bloom end time varies for each bean, but FrontStreet Coffee found this不利于新手操作, as beginners focus on standardization and ease of use. Therefore, while ensuring coffee beans are still freshly roasted, FrontStreet Coffee recommends 30 seconds bloom time. Of course, experienced users can adjust the time themselves.

Second Pour

The second pour starts from the center, injecting a small water column to the bottom of the powder layer. To concentrate the water column's penetrating power, keep the circular movement range small, about the size of a one-yuan coin, then spiral outward. Starting from the second pour, pay attention to water amount - try not to exceed the height of the powder layer, meaning when the water column approaches the filter paper, you can stop pouring.

Regarding pouring issues, FrontStreet Coffee always tells customers to pour gently, don't break the water flow during circular pouring, control the water flow well, keep it steady without large and small variations. Why? There are two main reasons: water flow size affects the agitation of the powder layer and controls extraction time through water flow.

1. Water flow size affects powder layer agitation

When you pour with larger water flow, coffee grounds are stirred more vigorously, so extraction time shortens. Conversely, when water flow is small, coffee grounds are stirred less, so extraction time extends.

When using large water flow, the powder bed is stirred vigorously, water level in the filter cup rises rapidly as if water will overflow the filter paper, drainage accelerates, easily causing too short extraction time, leading to under-extraction where coffee flavor cannot be expressed.

Using small water flow is the opposite. Although the water level isn't high, overly gentle small water flow pouring means the water column force cannot penetrate the powder layer, only stirring the surface of coffee grounds, and extraction time is significantly extended, making coffee easily bitter and with off-flavors, greatly affecting coffee taste.

2. Control extraction time through water flow

Longer extraction time = stronger flavor, higher concentration, more pronounced sweet, sour, and bitter sensations

Shorter extraction time = milder flavor, lower concentration, less pronounced sweet, sour, and bitter sensations

Third Pour

As the originally thicker powder layer near the filter paper becomes heavier from water absorption and slides down and thins as water level drops, you can start the third pour when the water level drops to halfway.

Starting from the third pour, observe the rate of water level decline. Again, start pouring in circles from the center, keeping water amount below the powder layer height. At this point, you'll also observe that foam proportion fills the surface. The third pour needs to increase the tumbling of coffee particles, rolling all settled particles to dissolve soluble substances.

The rolling particles will begin to settle when water addition stops. At this point, rely on the flow rate caused by the falling water level to create friction between coffee particles. Once water addition stops, coffee ground particles sink down, causing blockage, so pay special attention to the rhythm of water addition. If water is broken too many times, it's equivalent to letting coffee particles continuously soak in water, which will cause the tail section of coffee extraction to produce astringency and off-flavors.

Example with [FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Coffee]

Region: Yirgacheffe, Altitude: 1700-2200m, Grade: G1, Variety: Heirloom, Processing: Washed

Brewing Parameters

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using Hario V60 filter cup, 90°C water temperature, 15g coffee amount, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size BG#5F (80% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

Brewing Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, using 30g water for 30-second bloom, then small circular pouring to 125g for segmentation, continue pouring to 225g when water level is about to expose the powder bed, stop pouring, and remove filter cup when water level is about to expose the powder bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is 2 minutes.

Flavor Description

Obvious floral notes, bright lemon citrus acidity, with some tea-like sensation in the finish.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: 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