Pour-Over Techniques | Volcano Pour, Meteorite Pour, Matsuya-style Pour, Zigzag Pour, Temperature-Reduction Pour-Over Method

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Advanced Pour-Over Coffee Techniques

Last time we introduced common pour-over coffee techniques: one-knife flow, three-stage method, stirring method, and point-drip method, as well as the three-temperature pour-over technique | three-stage, stirring, one-knife flow, point-drip, three-temperature.

Pour-over coffee actually has no rigid rules. Grind coarseness, powder-to-water ratio, water flow size, water flow height, brewing time, whether to circle or drip - everything can be changed according to personal preferences and habits after gaining some experience. There is no absolutely correct method or technique, only what suits you best.

Coffee made with Japanese techniques has high body, high sweetness, richness, is very smooth with distinct texture, but the disadvantage is weaker layering and flavor complexity, and it's quite difficult to maintain stable water flow.

Today we continue to introduce volcano pour, meteorite pour, Matsuya-style pour, zigzag pour, and cooling pour-over methods.

Volcano Pour

★ Creates a visual effect resembling continuous volcanic eruptions, originating from Japan, belonging to Japanese pour-over methods.

It uses single-origin beans with relatively dark roast levels, creating small circles in the center (about the size of a one-yen silver coin), causing a continuous repeated blooming process. The reason for using fresh dark-roasted beans is that dark-roasted beans can emit sufficient gas, making it easier to observe the blooming state.

This method requires a larger amount of powder to achieve the desired effect. The repeated blooming process in the early stage can last up to three minutes, which is over-extraction. The later stage will involve increasing the water flow to cause under-extraction, adjusting the over-extracted coffee liquid from the early stage. After extraction is complete, shake the server to fully integrate the front and back coffee liquids.

The advantage of this method is achieving richness and good aftertaste. However, it's worth noting that when trying the volcano pour with dark Italian-style beans, the resulting taste is both bitter and astringent, lasting for a long time, with only a slight aftertaste. But good single-origin beans are rarely very dark-roasted, making them truly hard to find.

Essential conditions for this method: 1. Fresh beans 2. Stable and fine water flow 3. High blooming requirements

Advantages: Can produce a thick, solid mouthfeel similar to flannel filter cloth

Disadvantages: High water flow control requirements, prone to over-extraction, biased flavor profile

Extraction Conditions

• Bean amount: 20g
• Water temperature: 88°C
• Extraction amount: 300ml
• Extraction time: 2.5 minutes +

1. The key is in the blooming section. The amount of blooming water should be appropriate, ensuring the injection amount completely wets the coffee powder. Always maintain injection only at the center point, don't vary the height. The key to the coffee lies in whether the first drop of coffee can be extracted in about 1 minute. The most important part of this method is the blooming section.

2. When observing that the powder surface presents a dull state, begin the second water injection. The water injection here must still be careful, completing the final water injection.

The visual effect of dark roast is better than light roast, but it's not unsuitable for light roast.

Light-roast beans made with the volcano pour method generally have higher body thickness than common one-stage and three-stage flows. Shaking the server is suitable for dark-roasted beans. When light-roast extraction is correct, it's better to drink directly. However, the difficulty of blooming and water flow size for light roast is much higher than for dark roast, but if blooming succeeds, the subsequent 1-minute water injection is stable, and later injections can be much bolder.

Meteorite Pour

★ Creates multiple meteorite crater effects, hence the name

During the water injection process, the water flow continuously pushes the central powder to the sides, creating layered effects like meteorite impact craters. After blooming, inject water until just covering the powder, neither too much nor too little, then gradually reduce the injection range until reaching the center. During this process, avoid injecting too much water that would flood the upper layer, and don't inject water after the moisture has been extracted.

This pour method has extremely high requirements for the brewer's grasp of injection timing and amount, as well as technique. It doesn't have particularly high requirements for powder amount and extraction time. This method mainly achieves rich layering and prominent flavors. The less good aspect is that it's very difficult to master the water amount and injection timing, with extremely high requirements for the user. Too much water injection floods the upper layer and ruins the effort. Poor injection timing causes the retained liquid to flow out too early, and subsequent extraction will produce astringency.

Overall, it can be used for commercial production, but the requirements are high and it's easy to ruin. It's also more oriented toward enthusiasts.

Essential conditions: 1. Medium-dark fresh beans 2. High requirements for switching water flow height and water flow size

Advantages: Presents clean, balanced sweet, bitter, and thick consistency with strong flavor layers

Disadvantages: Powder layer easily collapses, high failure rate

Extraction Conditions:

• Powder amount: 20g
• Water temperature: 88°C
• Extraction amount: 300ml
• Extraction time: 2.5 minutes +

The extraction process consists of 4 water injections:

1. First water injection for blooming.

2. Forceful center water injection, circling outward along the outer edge of emerging bubbles.

3. Forceful center water injection for several seconds, switch water flow height, bring the kettle spout close to the coffee powder, while using small to medium water flow to draw spirals, then expand outward like digging powder. When the water column approaches the cup edge, draw spirals back to the center. Here will appear a beautiful coffee donut.

4. The final forceful water injection is only at the center point. If the remaining coffee wall after completion follows the shape of the filter cup, it's considered successful.

Matsuya-Style Pour Method

★ Requires a custom metal stand and blooming cover

Matsui Kazuyoshi

The Matsuya-style pour method was conceived around 1962, with self-developed line-seamed custom filter paper and a metal stand that don't interfere with powder layer expansion. The filter paper adopts a cone shape considering extraction water flow, while the dedicated filter paper metal stand is used to maintain the filter paper's angle.

Unlike other filter paper coffee powder placement methods, the Matsuya-style pour method puts considerable effort into water injection, blooming method, and extraction amount. For 5 servings, only extract 3 servings, with the remaining 2 servings supplemented with hot water. Even after some time post-extraction, the coffee flavor doesn't change much and won't become cloudy - this is the greatest characteristic of the Matsuya-style.

Extraction Parameters (1 serving, 120ml)

• Bean amount: 18g
• Grind setting: Medium-coarse grind
• Water temperature: Above 90°C
• Extraction amount: 120ml
• Extraction time: 4min
• Roast level: City roast
• Filter paper: Always uses line-seamed cone-shaped filter paper. Due to the seam, when extracting large amounts, it can accommodate the powder layer expansion from large water injection without breaking.
• Custom metal stand: Made of aluminum when developed 50 years ago, now uses stainless steel for increased strength.

1. Pour coffee powder into the filter paper, use a measuring spoon to create a depression, dispersing the coffee powder to the sides of the filter paper, making the powder thickness at the bottom and sides even.

2. Inject a small water flow into the center of the coffee powder. Water temperature about 95°C, inject water from the pour-over kettle at about 30cm above the powder surface, imagining inserting hot water into the coffee powder. Due to uniform thickness, the center is easily penetrated by hot water.

3. Inject water into the center, and when the hot water has wet about half of the coffee powder, start circling the water column along the boundary between wet and dry powder until all coffee powder is wetted, then stop.

4. After all coffee powder is wetted, cover with a lid for blooming for 3 minutes. During this time, the coffee powder will expand, and the filter paper will expand with it. Since the optimal temperature in the coffee powder is 80-82°C, if the water temperature in the pour-over kettle drops, you can heat it during blooming.

5. After blooming ends, again inject hot water in a fine, slow manner. From center to outside, from outside to center, pour until reaching 120ml, then remove.

Zigzag Pour Method

★ Uses flannel as equipment, no blooming step

This is an innovative pour method researched and created by Mr. Tahara Shizun from the Japanese Ran-Kan. The extraction time is 40 seconds, with original values of 16g bean amount and 150ml extraction amount. It bases extraction on three stages with different effects, with water amounts increasing sequentially from small-medium-large.

Extraction Conditions:

• Bean amount: 18g
• Grind: Coarse grind
• Water temperature: 85°C+
• Extraction amount: 180ml
• Extraction time: 40s

1. Move the kettle spout as shown in the image above, first injecting a small water flow. This is the first stage of the three-stage extraction, aiming for even injection to prevent uneven extraction. (Since only the flavors where hot water flows through will be extracted, you need to circle through all coffee powder)

2. Pour hot water all over, and when the extracted liquid dripping from the flannel becomes concentrated, increase the water amount. Since the bean cells are in an open state, there's no need for blooming.

3. When the color of the extracted liquid dripping from the flannel becomes light, increase the water amount again. The final extraction is for flavor harmonization.

Cooling Pour-Over Method

An advanced technique using HARIO V60 ceramic dripper for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, avoiding the bitter and astringent flavors from the later extraction stages!

1. Stepwise cooling to reduce tail extraction rate. Disadvantage: Overall flavor will be lighter, mouthfeel thinner.

2. Directly abandon part of the tail extraction liquid. Disadvantage: Overall concentration will increase, flavors will be more complex.

3. Large water flow stirring and dilution in the tail section. Disadvantage: Powder-to-water ratio easily deviates, poor handling can instead enhance tail astringency.

Pour-Over Parameters:

• Roast level: Medium-dark roast
• Grind: Medium grind
• Coffee powder 16g, extraction liquid 240g
• Powder-to-water ratio 1:15
• Blooming and first stage water injection temperature: 88°C
• Second stage water injection temperature: 78°C
• Third stage water injection and final large water flow stirring temperature: 68°C

Below are the specific brewing techniques:

Blooming: 25g water, bloom for 20 seconds

First stage water injection: Water temperature 88°C, 50g water, fine water flow circular injection method

First cooling stage - After first stage water injection, pour 80g of cool water into the pour-over kettle to cool down. The ratio of hot water to cool water is a secret technique and also an operation that requires personal exploration. Students with sensitive thermometers should find this not difficult to achieve.

Second stage water injection: Water temperature 78°C, 50g water, water flow slightly larger than first stage, still circular injection.

Second cooling stage - After second stage water injection, pour 80g of cool water into the pour-over kettle to cool down. You might really need a sensitive thermometer. However, as long as you act quickly, adjusting the temperature before the extraction surface drops is no problem.

Third stage water injection: Water temperature 68°C, 70g water. This time you can clearly feel the water flow is larger (look at the tilt angle of the water column~). And for the three water injections, the circling speed of each stage is faster than the previous one. All of this is for more even extraction~

Key explanation: Final large water flow stirring - People who have watched Taiwanese baristas brew will generally be familiar with this operation. (To say again, it's really not about rushing time) This is after the third water injection, before all water has flowed through, using large water flow to stir and tumble the coffee powder, accelerating filtration speed, avoiding too-slow filtration in the final stage that causes over-extraction.

Many students will encounter this situation: in the first two water injections, because the coffee powder releases gas and expands, the gaps between particles are larger, so flow rate is quite fast. By the third water injection, the coffee powder has basically finished releasing gas and settles at the bottom of the filter cup (especially fine powder). Moreover, because the filter paper is clogged by fine powder, the filtration speed immediately drops, causing tail over-extraction and bitter coffee.

This is why some brewing tutorials have "no tail section" - of course, abandoning the tail section is equivalent to reducing the powder-to-water ratio and increasing concentration.

References for Some Images and Content:

"Experts Teach You to Make Good Pour-Over Coffee"

An essential good book for pour-over enthusiasts, a practical coffee guide for professional cafes, the authentic Taiwanese book "Experts Teach You to Make Good Pour-Over Coffee," with 23 popular Japanese café masters personally teaching, imparting the most unique pour-over coffee techniques, with different pour-over methods like filter paper, flannel, metal mesh filters, all for brewing a good cup of coffee.

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