Learn Coffee Brewing Q&A: Pour-Over Coffee Beginner Questions Summary

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Hello everyone, many friends buy coffee equipment and coffee beans to make pour-over coffee at home. I often receive various pour-over coffee questions, and everyone's enthusiasm for discussion is quite high. So today, I'm going to share several common beginner questions with you all and provide unified answers.

First Question: During Pour-Over Coffee Blooming, Water Isn't Draining?

Let me tell you, this is actually the correct operation!

The purpose of blooming is to allow hot water to slowly penetrate into the center of the coffee grounds, letting the substances in the coffee grounds dissolve in the hot water first to form high-concentration coffee liquid. During the second brewing, using the physical phenomenon of concentration, the high concentration (blooming coffee liquid) moves toward the lower concentration (hot water) to achieve balance (consistent concentration).

Therefore, if there's too much blooming water and a large amount of coffee liquid drips down, the situation is that the falling water doesn't linger but directly carries out substances from the exterior of the coffee grounds. When the components of the outer layer of coffee grounds are dissolved, the inner layer is still dry. When hot water penetrates into the inner layer of coffee grounds, the bitter and astringent tastes from the outer layer also begin to dissolve. Coffee brewed this way will be both weak but have over-extracted bitter flavors.

If there's insufficient blooming water with no water droplets falling, this means the coffee grounds haven't absorbed enough water, and some coffee grounds haven't released enough gas, which will cause under-extraction.

So How Much Blooming Water Should Be Used for Pour-Over Coffee?

Generally speaking, there are 2 calculation methods:

① Use 1.5-2 times the amount of coffee grounds. For example, if using 15 grams of coffee grounds, the blooming water amount should be about 23-30 grams. For light roast coffee, you can use slightly less.

② Use 1/10 of the total extracted coffee. For example, to extract 240 milliliters of coffee, use 24 grams of blooming water. Similarly, for light roast coffee, you can use slightly less.

Therefore, the correct blooming state is when several drops of water fall - this is best, but the premise is that as shown in the image above, the blooming water injection is complete and evenly distributed on the coffee grounds, ensuring every coffee ground can absorb water.

Second Question: Where Does the Acidity in Coffee Come From?

Coffee is one of the plants with the highest chlorogenic acid content in the plant kingdom. Chlorogenic acid is a strong antioxidant. Additionally, coffee contains acidic chemicals such as formic acid (oxalic acid), citric acid, and malic acid. During green bean processing, acetic acid (vinegar acid) and lactic acid are produced. Finally, during roasting, although certain acids will decompose with heat, generally, citric acid, malic acid, lactic acid, and acetic acid will be largely retained. Therefore, coffee always has acidity - after all, coffee is a fruit.

Thus, even medium-dark roast coffees like Blue Mountain and Mandheling will still have acidity, just relatively lower compared to medium and light roasts. Additionally, coffee flavor is a complex state where the four tastes of sour, salty, bitter, and sweet both enhance and suppress each other. For example, a certain amount of sweetness has the effect of suppressing acidity, while a certain amount of saltiness can highlight sweetness, etc. Also, when we judge coffee's acidity, besides acidity level, we should also consider acidity quality - that is, the quality of the acid.

For example, medium-dark roasted Blue Mountain, we say it's a very balanced coffee with moderate acidity, but it has excellent acidity quality. This statement means Blue Mountain coffee has gentle acidity and high-quality acid that makes one's mouth water when drinking.

Another example is Kenyan coffee's bright berry acidity and citric acid. Although highly acidic, good Kenyan coffee's acidity can transform into a sweet and sour fruit sensation, which is also excellent acidity quality.

But if it's low-quality acidity, such as high acidity that only makes one grimace, or low acidity that is dull and lifeless, it cannot be considered excellent acidity quality.

Third Question: How Should One Control the Water-to-Coffee Ratio for Pour-Over Coffee?

To be honest, I think when brewing coffee, as long as you like it, it's good! Some people prefer strong coffee, others prefer weak coffee.

But what I want to explain here is why we always recommend a water-to-coffee ratio between 1:14-1:16?

First, let's talk about the water-to-coffee ratio we use for cupping - 1:18.8

This ratio is to ensure the coffee's concentration and extraction rate fall within the Golden Cup range, which means: 1. Extraction rate between 18%-22%. 2. Coffee concentration within 1.2%-1.45% range.

As for the water-to-coffee ratio for pour-over coffee, it's the recommended ratio to make your coffee "tastier"! Because friends who have done cupping know that cupping coffee is relatively weak, which is to better analyze the various flavors of coffee. Moreover, a cupping round takes about 20 minutes, and the coffee grounds are completely soaked, allowing flavors to be fully released. Pour-over, on the other hand, extracts coffee contents within 2-3 minutes using water, so to achieve the same extraction effect, you need to reduce the water-to-coffee ratio to 1:14-1:16 (depending on coffee roast level). With this ratio, as long as there are no "god-level operations" during the brewing process, it generally won't taste too bad.

Of course, there are exceptions to everything. I personally like to brew Esmeralda Special Natural Red Label Geisha at a 1:18 ratio to showcase the complete floral and fruity aromas. You can also use 1:13 or even 1:12 ratios to brew Blue Mountain or Mandheling to extract only the front and middle flavor segments.

As for the various pour-over coffee techniques, my suggestion is: as long as the brewed coffee tastes good, who cares how you brew it!

Last Question Today: How Long Should Ericha Coffee Beans Be Aged?

Friends who have read our article "FrontStreet Coffee Teaches You Coffee | The Importance of Fresh Coffee — Bean Aging Chapter" will know!

Ericha coffee is a light roast. Light roast coffee beans release gas relatively evenly and slowly, so they need more time to complete maturation. Aging for 5-7 days is normal. If your storage environment temperature is relatively low, aging for 8-10 days is no problem.

Conclusion

The above is just a small portion of beginner pour-over coffee questions. If there are any omissions or inaccuracies, everyone is welcome to supplement and discuss! If you have other coffee-related questions, you're welcome to communicate with us, and we'll do our best to answer!

Looking forward to the next coffee beginner Q&A! Let's work together to improve our professional level!

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