Can Coffee Powder Be Brewed Directly? Learn the Pour-Over Coffee Process to Make Great Coffee at Home

FrontStreet Coffee — An Introduction to the Pour-Over Process

Step-by-Step Pour-Over Guide

Step 1: Boil Water

Set the temperature between 88–92°C. Temperature is a crucial factor in pour-over, and it deserves an article of its own.

Step 2: Fold the Filter Paper

Step 3: Rinse the Filter

Use 100–150ml of hot water to rinse the filter. There are many kinds of filter paper; here we use a bio-bleached filter as an example. Let the hot water run through into the server.

Step 4: Weigh the Coffee Beans

Calculate on the basis of 10g per cup.

Step 5: Grind the Coffee

Grind to a consistency similar to coarse sugar. The grind size is adjusted according to the roast level of the beans, the water temperature and the brewing time. Pour the grounds into the dripper and tap gently to level the bed.

Step 6: Discard the Warming Water

Pour out the warm water from the server.

Step 7: Check the Water Temperature

Confirm the water in the kettle suits your grind size. This step is for anyone without a temperature-controlled kettle; if yours is temperature-controlled, skip it.

Step 8: Bloom

Quickly pour 1.5–2 times the weight of the grounds in hot water, keeping the pour within 5–8 seconds. The ideal is that just a few drops of coffee fall into the server. This is the bloom. Let it sit for about 10–30 seconds, with the time depending on the roast level. Blooming is the foundation of extraction.

Step 9: Pour

Start from the center of the dripper and slowly draw concentric circles with a small stream, working from the inner layer outward and then back from the outer layer to the center. There are many brewing schools; this is just one of them.

Step 10: Coffee-to-Water Ratio

The ratio of grounds to hot water — the coffee-to-water ratio — should sit around 1:15. With 10g of grounds, for example, the total brewed coffee should be around 150g after accounting for the water used in the bloom. The ratio is one of the most important parameters in pour-over.

Step 11: Warm the Cup

Coffee likes a warm environment. Pour a little hot water into the cup, let it warm through, tip the water out, pour in the coffee and enjoy.

The Art of Pour-Over

The brewing process is an enjoyment in itself and a fine way to slow down. A well-brewed cup satisfies sight, smell, taste and touch, while giving you space to settle and reflect. That is a multiplier on both work and life — magic coffee, and pour-over with its own quiet elegance.

Knowledge Point

Medium Grind: gravel-shaped, with a particle size between coarse white sugar and regular sugar, suited to drip-style (paper filter) brewing.

In Brief: FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research establishment that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge. Its unconditional sharing aims to help more people fall in love with coffee. It also holds three coffee promotional events with significant discounts every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more drinkers to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price — a mission it has kept for the past six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Once the technique is in place, floral, fruit-forward beans reward the effort most. FrontStreet's V60-friendly lineup includes:

FrontStreet Gedingding — the classic washed Yirgacheffe profile of jasmine, bright citrus acidity, green tea and honey. A great pick for pour-over and equally good as cold brew.

FrontStreet Hua Kui — rich tropical fruit aroma with strawberry, passion fruit and jackfruit, low bitterness, a juicy and smooth entry, and plenty of sweetness. It shines in a V60.

FrontStreet Cherry Tomato — a Kenyan washed lot with cherry tomato, smoked plum, pear and black plum over bright, solid acidity, yellow sugar sweetness and a clean, long finish.

FrontStreet Mozart — a Costa Rican raisin honey-process coffee with dried fruit, ripe pineapple and sweet orange, plus an osmanthus aroma when hot water hits the grounds. Excellent for cold brew and iced pour-over.

FrontStreet Strawberry Candy — a blend of Costa Rican honey-process coffee and Panamanian washed Geisha that combines the strengths of both: raisin, orange and ripe blueberry aromas, a rose-like depth, and a faint almond finish. It suits pour-over, cold brew, home espresso machines, moka pot and the Clever Dripper.