What's the Difference Between Pour-Over Coffee and Espresso Coffee? Detailed Guide on How to Make Pour-Over Coffee

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Cafe Style (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

Introduction

The now increasingly popular pour-over coffee, compared to the espresso that everyone is familiar with—what are the differences between these two forms of coffee? For many coffee lovers, the distinction between the two can be somewhat unclear.

Coffee Beans

Pour-over Coffee:

Typically uses single-origin coffee beans as the brewing base, with roast levels ranging from light, medium to dark roast. Usually, this involves a roast level between approximately 9-13 on the scale shown in the image below.

Espresso:

A coffee shop's espresso blend is called House Blend, which is typically used extensively in espresso-based beverages such as cappuccino, Americano, and latte. Most are roasted darker to complement milk and hot water. Making this coffee requires using a professional grinder, which is also an important foundation and key to producing quality espresso.

Espresso beans typically have a roast level between approximately 13-16 on the scale shown above.

Brewing Methods

Pour-over Coffee:

Basically, pour-over coffee mostly uses a drip cup, meaning extraction is performed under atmospheric pressure (one bar). Even when using brewing equipment like moka pots or AeroPress, the extraction pressure at most reaches about three bars of atmospheric pressure.

Espresso:

Uses an espresso machine for extraction, where the machine's pressure reaches nine bars of atmospheric pressure during extraction. The coffee puck in the portafilter bears about 133 kilograms of pressure, causing it to release a large amount of coffee substances. The result is a thicker texture, suitable for making lattes with milk or Americanos by adding water.

Volume Differences

Pour-over Coffee:

Typically served in portions of about 150-300cc. (Varies depending on the water-to-coffee ratio)

Espresso:

Typically served in portions of about 30-60cc. (Varies depending on the water-to-coffee ratio)

Caffeine Differences

Under the same conditions of coffee amount and grind size, because caffeine is a water-soluble substance, the longer the brewing time, the more caffeine is released.

Single-origin coffee typically brews for 1-3 minutes, while espresso typically brews for 20-30 seconds. Therefore, under the same conditions of coffee amount and grind size, single-origin coffee has higher caffeine content.

From this, we can see that long-extraction coffees like cold drip and cold brew have much higher caffeine content than other coffees.

As you can see, the coffee liquid produced by pour-over and espresso methods differs greatly in concentration. When single-origin coffee is mixed with milk, the milk covers the coffee's original aroma and flavor, making it less suitable for such combinations.

Conclusion on Differences

Can single-origin coffee be brewed with a machine? Yes, but all brewing parameters need to be adjusted. Finding suitable brewing parameters to pair with single-origin beans can also produce good quality single-origin espresso.

Can espresso beans be pour-over brewed? Yes, that's also possible. However, with darker roasted espresso beans, parameters like water temperature and grind size need to be adjusted.

Please remember, all brewing methods and equipment exist to provide better coffee—coffee exists for people! Coffee can make everything possible.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473