Does Pour-Over Coffee Also Have Channeling Effects? What Causes Slow Water Flow and Water Pooling in Pour-Over Coffee?

Why Pour-Over Coffee Drains Slowly: Common Causes and Solutions

Thanks to the internet, there are countless pour-over coffee tutorials available online. Many friends learn hand-pour coffee by watching these videos. Some even go so far as to break down videos frame by frame, precisely timing the start and end of each water pour, and mimicking the pouring movements.

However, when they start practicing themselves, they discover that although they can precisely control the timing of starting and ending water pours, the subsequent drainage speed doesn't match what's shown in the videos. Water accumulates in the filter cone, draining very slowly, naturally making the entire brewing process longer than demonstrated in the videos. As for why this phenomenon occurs, FrontStreet Coffee believes it's mainly due to these typical reasons.

1. Not Finding the Right Video

For beginners who are just starting to learn about coffee, they haven't yet summarized the logic behind brewing methods and don't have sufficient understanding of coffee beans. You should know that coffee beans with different roast levels and hardness behave differently in the coffee grounds layer during brewing. For example, light roast coffee has higher particle density and tends to sink to the bottom during brewing, making it more prone to water accumulation than dark roast coffee.

Similarly, coffee beans that have mostly released their gases (less fresh) are also more likely to show water accumulation during brewing. Therefore, if the coffee beans you're brewing differ from those demonstrated in the video, the resulting coffee bed state will certainly be different. That's why FrontStreet Coffee particularly advises against some friends fixating on just one video. If you're really learning from videos on your own, first identify what coffee beans you're brewing, then search for brewing videos of those specific beans. Remember to watch several different videos and find the common points - never mimic by precisely timing every second.

2. Grind Size and Fines

The second point is the most common issue with grind size and fine particles. The speed of water drainage is related to the coarseness of the coffee grounds - if the coffee grounds are too fine, they will obstruct water flow. Generally, the grind size for pour-over coffee should be about the size of coarse sugar. If using a #20 sieve, about 70-80% of the coffee grounds should pass through.

But we all know that coffee grounds can never be absolutely uniform - they will inevitably contain a mixture of coarser and finer particles. Usually, when water accumulation occurs during coffee brewing, it's because the grinder's quality is too poor, producing too many extremely fine particles. During brewing, these fines will block the drainage holes, causing water to flow down very slowly (or not at all).

3. Pouring Technique

The third point involves pouring technique. Let's look at the difference between the following two pouring methods.

The first method uses a "push powder" pouring technique. As you can see, after the bloom, pouring starts from the center in small circles. Coffee foam emerges, causing the original coffee "puck" to open up, and the coffee grounds are pushed to the edges, forming a powder wall. This makes the coffee bed relatively thin, allowing for smoother drainage.

The second method is conventional circular pouring. Compared to the first method, only the first pour after the bloom differs. This initial pour circles a larger area, bringing out all the foam but simultaneously thinning the powder wall, resulting in a thicker coffee bed. Therefore, the overall drainage speed will be more than 20 seconds slower than the first method.

If you usually feel that your coffee drains slowly, why not try the "push powder" brewing method?

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