How Should You Brew Pour-Over Coffee? What Factors Affect Pour-Over Coffee?

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When brewing coffee at home, you might experience unpleasant flavors without understanding why they occur or how to adjust them. That's why FrontStreet Coffee recommends documenting your brewing parameters and the flavors you taste each time, then making adjustments accordingly.

What Factors Affect Coffee Flavor?

1. Water Temperature

Higher water temperature results in higher extraction, producing coffee with a rich, full-bodied taste. Lower water temperature leads to lower extraction, yielding a cleaner, more delicate style. Temperature significantly affects coffee extraction rates. Bitterness and burnt flavors typically appear in later extraction stages. If your coffee tastes bitter, burnt, or astringent, you should lower the extraction water temperature. Conversely, if your coffee tastes watery or weak, it means many flavors remain in the coffee grounds, so you might consider increasing the temperature for better extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee suggests: For light roast: use water temperature between 89-92°C; For dark roast: 84-88°C is sufficient.

2. Grind Size

If the grind is too fine, extraction rate increases; if too coarse, extraction rate decreases. The coarseness of the grind also affects flow rate. Too fine, and water flow slows, causing the coffee in the filter to continuously extract and potentially over-extract. Too coarse, and water flows too quickly, leaving insufficient time for proper extraction and causing under-extraction. Another scenario is uneven grinding or excessive fine particles. Uneven grinding easily leads to inconsistent extraction. While appropriate fines can enhance complexity, too many fines become a source of undesirable flavors.

If you have too many fine particles, buying a flour sifter can mostly solve the problem. However, if grinding is uneven, this author still recommends purchasing a new grinder.

3. Bloom Technique

Surprisingly, even the bloom technique can affect a coffee's flavor. While astringency usually results from excessive extraction time, the bloom can still be a source of astringency. This type of astringency persists from entry to swallowing, making flavor flaws particularly noticeable. Bloom-related astringency mainly manifests in two aspects:

1. Uneven Water Distribution

When water absorption in the coffee bed is uneven, degassing naturally becomes uneven as well. This means extraction in the coffee bed becomes random – some areas over-extract while others under-extract, naturally leading to the development of astringency.

2. Too Gentle Water Application or "Spreading Water"

When water application is very gentle, or using the so-called "spreading water" technique where water is lightly placed on the coffee surface to allow complete absorption, there isn't much problem. However, special attention is needed: excessively long bloom times can cause astringency. This is because during gentle water application or spreading, water sits on the surface without enough force to penetrate the coffee bed, relying only on gravity and diffusion to gradually moisten the grounds. This means water and coffee contact time becomes longer than with more forceful pouring. Combined with extended bloom times, this can lead to over-extraction and astringency.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends testing several times to determine the maximum bloom time limit. Not exceeding this time will basically prevent astringency. Also, apply water with slightly more force, or control water flow more freely. With added water force, it won't remain in the coffee bed too long. By then exploring the bloom time limit, you can achieve a balance between water gentleness and bloom duration.

However, FrontStreet Coffee suggests changing only one parameter at a time. If too many parameters are changed at once, it becomes unclear what specifically affected the coffee extraction. With more practice, you'll be able to brew excellent coffee!

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, offering both famous and lesser-known beans, plus online services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473