Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Techniques & Water Pouring Methods: How to Make Delicious Pour-Over Coffee?

Introduction

Pour-over coffee is essentially the process of using water to rinse through coffee grounds to obtain a delicious cup of coffee liquid. As for how to pour water to brew coffee, that's what this barista training guide will share.

How to Pour Water?

Most baristas use a circular motion when brewing coffee. This pouring method is closely related to the design of the filter cup. The widely used conical filter cups have a funnel shape, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. The purpose of using a circular pouring motion is to ensure even extraction of the coffee grounds in the filter cup while avoiding turbulence. You can try this yourself - if you use a center-pouring method when brewing coffee, as long as the water stream isn't perfectly vertical, it will create turbulence, making it difficult to ensure even extraction.

Clockwise or Counterclockwise?

Many newcomers to coffee, after learning about the circular pouring method, immediately fall into another blind spot - the direction of the circular motion. Theoretically, whether you pour in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction won't make much difference. However, the V60 filter cup is quite special because its rib structure is not symmetrical but rather extends counterclockwise from the bottom upward (outward).

Therefore, when pouring clockwise, the water flow follows the default path along the spiral ribs toward the center of the filter cup, resulting in a shorter path for water flow. When pouring counterclockwise, the water flow moves counterclockwise due to inertia, and after hitting the ribs, it follows their direction toward the center of the filter cup, resulting in a longer path for water flow. Therefore, some believe that counterclockwise circular pouring yields a higher extraction rate than clockwise pouring. But in reality, due to the interplay of various parameters, clockwise and counterclockwise pouring won't result in qualitative changes.

Controlling Water Flow Rate

First, let's define the concept of water flow rate. FrontStreet Coffee defines a flow rate of 5g/s as a normal water flow. Anything below 5g/s is considered a small water flow, while anything above 5g/s is considered a large water flow. A large water flow has strong rinsing power but short duration. Coffee brewed entirely with a large water flow will taste clean with prominent aromas. A small water flow has weak rinsing power but strong soaking ability (longer duration). Coffee brewed entirely with a small water flow will exhibit complexity and a solid mouthfeel.

In our daily brewing, we often use a combination of large and small water flows. For example, when brewing a mellow coffee, you can first use a large water flow to raise the coffee bed, then use the soaking effect of a small water flow to extract a mellow coffee. For example, to express the explosive flavors of Geisha coffee, you can first use a small water flow to brew a complex front portion, then use a large water flow to stir and enhance the coffee's aroma.

Water Distribution Strategy

What everyone focuses on most is how to distribute the water pouring strategy - how many segments, and how much water for each segment. Whether it's a single pour or two or three segments, the biggest impact is on the extraction time. In other words, when the water amount is fixed, the more segments you divide it into, the more substances will be extracted from the coffee, possibly resulting in richer flavors but also potentially introducing off-flavors; the opposite is also true.

As for choosing the water amount for each segment, we can observe the ideal extraction chart. Sweet and acidic substances tend to have a gradually slowing dissolution rate over time, while bitter substances continue to increase. Therefore, if more water is allocated to the front and middle segments, the extraction of sweet and acidic substances will be more complete, with less bitter substances. If more water is allocated to the middle and back segments, bitter substances will be more easily extracted. FrontStreet Coffee has described in previous articles that appropriate bitter substances help express a coffee's complexity and flavor profile.

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