Comprehensive Guide to Three-Stage Pour-Over Coffee Extraction - How to Perfect Three-Pour Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Technique

Understanding Three-Stage Pour-Over Brewing

In pour-over coffee brewing, the three-stage extraction method involves dividing the total water volume into three separate injections throughout the entire extraction process. This includes the first bloom stage and the subsequent two extraction pours, also known as the "three-pour technique." This method involves two interruptions between pours, allowing the barista to control the water volume in each stage to adjust the flavor balance between the beginning, middle, and end portions, ultimately creating a harmonious and balanced cup of coffee.

Why Use Segmented Pouring?

You'll often notice baristas pausing during pour-over brewing, waiting for the water level to drop before adding more water. This is precisely what we call segmented extraction.

The first stage involves injecting a small amount of hot water to wet the coffee grounds, with the purpose of releasing internal gases that could interfere with subsequent extraction stages. This step is called the "bloom." The most common blooming method is to pour twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds and let it bloom for 30 seconds. For example, with 15 grams of coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses 30ml of water for blooming—this is also the most manageable "blooming formula" for beginners. Segmented pouring is calculated based on whether there are pauses after the blooming stage. If the post-bloom pouring is divided into two stages, plus the bloom, it becomes "three-stage pouring." If there are no pauses after blooming and it's completed in one continuous pour, it's called "single-pour brewing."

Baristas adopt segmented extraction because during the pour-over process, different components in coffee extract at different rates. The order of flavor release when exposed to hot water is: sour, sweet, then bitter. In segmented pour-over extraction, besides the bloom stage, with the same coffee-to-water ratio, the more stages you divide the pouring into, the less water per stage, but the more times you rinse and stir the coffee bed, resulting in a higher extraction rate.

Additionally, increasing the number of stages extends the total extraction time. The more coffee compounds released in each stage, the richer the flavor layers will be. However, FrontStreet Coffee wants to remind everyone that the more stages you use, the longer the operation time, which increases the risk of over-extraction. In the later stages, larger molecular compounds in coffee are more easily released, potentially masking the sweetness.由此可见，可见可见并非并非段段注水越好注水。那么应该怎么计算呢？

The Versatile Three-Stage Pour-Over Method

Based on extensive brewing experience, FrontStreet Coffee recommends that beginners adopt the three-stage pouring method. Three-stage extraction helps to more fully dissolve flavor compounds during extraction, enhancing mouthfeel complexity while avoiding over-extraction that can result from prolonged immersion. For 15 grams of coffee with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio and 225ml total water, the three stages would be: 30ml, 95ml, and 100ml, with the scale showing: 30g, 125g, and 225g.

For this demonstration, FrontStreet Coffee selected their house-roasted FrontStreet Coffee washed Yirgacheffe Guodingding Cooperative coffee beans, brewed using an Hario V60 dripper. The V60's spiral rib design allows the coffee grounds to degas more effectively, maximizing the release and dissolution of acidic aromatic compounds. Since FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe uses light roast, the coffee beans are relatively hard and require hot water at 92℃-93℃ to bring out the floral and fruit notes.

For grind size, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a medium-fine grind (78% pass-through rate on China's standard #20 sieve), similar to the coarseness of fine sugar. Grinding too coarsely won't extract the rich, rounded flavor compounds, resulting in a thin coffee; grinding too finely can easily lead to over-extraction at high water temperatures, producing bitter and astringent coffee.

For brewing ratio, FrontStreet Coffee believes that 1:15 to 1:16 are both acceptable. If you want a richer mouthfeel, use 1:15; if you want to more clearly perceive the floral and sweet notes, use 1:16 to allow the flavors to disperse more.

First, place the folded filter paper in the dripper and ensure it fits snugly. Pour 15 grams of ground coffee into the dripper and zero the scale.

For the first stage, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Start timing as you begin pouring, using a gentle water stream starting from the center and spiraling outward, making sure to wet the entire coffee bed.

After 30 seconds, begin pouring the second stage of 95g water with a slightly larger, steady stream. The goal is to lift the entire coffee bed. The water stream needs to be poured vertically and evenly. At this point, the scale should show 125g, and this pour should be completed in about 55 seconds.

When the water level drops to about halfway, begin pouring the third stage of 100g using a small water stream in small circles. Try to control the water stream so it doesn't spiral too widely, as this can easily disrupt the coffee bed and cause under-extraction. The final water amount should total 225g, with the complete dripping time around 2 minutes. After removing the dripper, shake the coffee in the sharing pot evenly before tasting.

The water volume for each pour is not fixed. We can adjust it based on accumulated pour-over experience and our understanding of the coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes there are thousands of ways to brew a delicious cup of coffee. As long as we continue learning and practicing, mastering the various parameters of pour-over brewing is not difficult.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473