The Relationship Between Pour Over Coffee Flow and Circling Speed? How to Brew Hanayotsuki Coffee?

Introduction

In the process of pour-over coffee brewing, water flow rate and pouring speed are often unavoidable topics. FrontStreet Coffee previously tested the individual effects of water flow and pouring speed on coffee when exploring brewing techniques!

When other factors remain constant, a small water flow prevents the liquid level from rising too high, resulting in a slightly thicker coffee bed, a slightly longer contact time between water and coffee grounds, slightly higher concentration, and a richer body. A large water flow utilizes greater impact force, raising the liquid level higher, resulting in a slightly thinner coffee bed, slightly faster water drainage, shorter brewing time, and a cleaner, more singular taste profile. The aroma will also be more prominent.

When other factors remain constant, a fast pouring speed creates stronger water impact force, thereby increasing extraction rate. When the pouring speed is slow, the water's impact force is weaker, and the extraction intensity won't be as strong.

So we can easily conclude that a small water flow with fast pouring speed can maximize extraction efficiency, while a large water flow with slow pouring speed can minimize extraction efficiency. So what would be the performance of a small water flow with slow pouring speed versus a large water flow with fast pouring speed?

Brewing Experiment

This experiment continues to use FrontStreet Coffee's Huayueye Colombia from our bean menu as the test coffee. Under the same ratio conditions, we brewed using small water flow with slow pouring speed and large water flow with fast pouring speed respectively.

Parameters

Coffee amount: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Fine grind (80% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)

Water temperature: 91°C

Small Water Flow with Slow Pouring Speed

First, use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Pour at an average rate of [4g/s] in a circular motion from center to outer edge and back to center at [4 seconds/circle], stop pouring at 125g. When the coffee bed drops to halfway, continue pouring in the same manner to 225g, then stop. Remove the filter cone after all coffee liquid has flowed into the server. Total brewing time: 2 minutes.

Large Water Flow with Fast Pouring Speed

First, use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Pour at an average rate of [6g/s] in a circular motion from center to outer edge and back to center at [1 second/circle], stop pouring at 125g. When the coffee bed drops to halfway, continue pouring in the same manner to 225g, then stop. Remove the filter cone after all coffee liquid has flowed into the server. Total brewing time: 1 minute 40 seconds.

Flavor Comparison

Small Water Flow with Slow Pouring Speed

Concentration: 1.37%. Rich strawberry aroma, sweet notes of strawberry jam, creamy mouthfeel, with a finish reminiscent of liqueur-filled chocolate. Overall very rich and full-bodied.

Large Water Flow with Fast Pouring Speed

Concentration: 1.28%. Fermented notes, light berry sweetness and fragrance, with a refreshing black tea finish in the aftertaste. Overall quite refreshing with a lighter mouthfeel.

The small water flow with slow pouring speed method is essentially an even immersion extraction process, which results in a more mellow mouthfeel and rich flavors. The large water flow with fast pouring speed method is overall a powerful agitation extraction process. However, because the coffee particles are relatively coarse for this method, water drainage will be faster, resulting in slightly lower extraction rates. Therefore, the grind size can be adjusted finer.

Important Notice :

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