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Espresso vs Single-Origin Coffee: The Distinctive Characteristics of Pour-Over Coffee Highlighting Terroir

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). FrontStreet Coffee - Differences and characteristics between pour-over and Americano coffee. The coffee world can be broadly divided into two main categories: espresso and filter coffee. So, what exactly are the differences between these two brewing methods? This article will discuss both from aspects including flavor and preparation methods.

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

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to the Differences and Characteristics of Pour-Over and Americano Coffee

The coffee world can be broadly divided into two categories: espresso and filter coffee. So what exactly are the differences between these two brewing methods? This article will discuss the differences from aspects such as flavor and preparation methods.

What is Espresso?

For Italians, Espresso means the fastest way to consume caffeine. This word expresses one of its most important characteristics - speed. This is indeed the case: quick preparation, quick consumption, and quick caffeine effects.

Besides being "fast," what other characteristics does Espresso have? It's extracted with extremely hot water, where pressurized water flows through very finely ground coffee powder. The resulting coffee liquid has greater density and higher concentration than filter coffee.

That said, Espresso is likely to leave you with a strong and stimulating impression. But Espresso isn't just a small cup of coffee meant to be downed in one gulp; it's also the base for various Italian coffees, such as Americano, latte, flat white, cappuccino...

Theoretically, espresso and filter coffee are two sides of the same concept, because their basic principles are identical - pouring hot water over coffee grounds, where the water passes through the coffee layer and some form of filter, extracting coffee liquid that eventually falls into the cup.

However, the key difference between filter coffee and espresso is that the water used in filter coffee is not propelled by pressure but flows through the coffee grounds solely by gravity. Therefore, to obtain a sufficiently delicious cup of coffee, its extraction process requires slightly more time.

Because of this, filter coffee requires a larger water-to-coffee ratio. With the same 20 grams of coffee grounds, making Espresso might only require 40 grams of water, while making filter coffee would need 300 grams (under normal circumstances, not considering special recipes) or even more water.

Other equivalent terms for filter coffee include "pour-over coffee" (which will be used in the following text instead of "filter coffee" as it's more familiar), "drip coffee," etc. This method tends to extract more flavor compounds from the coffee, making it more suitable for brewing single-origin coffee beans to highlight the "regional flavors" from their place of origin.

Unlike the richness and complexity of espresso, pour-over coffee pursues cleanliness, clarity, and consistency.

Knowledge point: According to the combination of coffee beans, Arabica and Robusta varieties are divided into single-origin coffee and espresso blends.

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation just to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three coffee discount events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest prices - this has been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for the past 6 years!