Can You Save Your Pour-Over Coffee with Bypass? A Pour-Over Coffee Bypass Tutorial

By pass, which literally means "bypass," is commonly used as a technical term in network security equipment (referring to when a network security device fails, requiring bypass to maintain network connectivity through physical connection). When By pass is applied to pour-over coffee brewing, unexpected results can occur!

By pass ≠ Adding water to coffee

If you encounter some baristas who add water to their coffee after brewing and call it bypass. Regarding this, FrontStreet Coffee thinks of a saying: "This is By pass, but not entirely By pass."

By pass, hereafter referred to as "bypass" for easier understanding. If we consider brewing a delicious cup of coffee as our goal, then the brewing method is the route plan to reach this destination. Naturally, we first think of methods like "single-pour," "three-pour," or "46 brewing method." However, these methods can all be considered "main paths," where all the hot water we pour passes through the coffee grounds and extracts coffee substances.

If we take an alternative route, not letting all hot water pass through the coffee grounds, but instead allowing some water to flow directly into the coffee liquid without passing through the coffee grounds, this water that doesn't pass through the coffee grounds is called "bypass." Of course, the essential purpose of using the bypass method is to obtain a better-tasting cup of coffee, not simply to dilute the coffee with water.

When you encounter these situations, By pass can save your coffee!

① Coffee becomes unpleasant due to excessive concentration.

Human sensory systems are complex. Research institutions have conducted studies showing that humans are most sensitive to bitterness - even the slightest bitter note can be detected, while taste cells that perceive sweetness are concentrated on the tip of the tongue. Although people greatly enjoy sweetness, excessively concentrated sugars can actually cause adverse reactions in the body.

If a coffee has excessive concentration, the bitter molecules become more concentrated, and all flavor substances are more concentrated, causing taste buds to be unable to distinguish more flavors, only amplifying the most sensitive bitterness, resulting in a bitter coffee experience.

However, adding some pure water to your high-concentration coffee to reduce its concentration can actually "improve" the flavor. For example, FrontStreet Coffee once conducted an experiment where they used a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio to brew a coffee bean. Through concentration testing, it measured 1.42% concentration with an extraction rate of 18.73%, which falls within the reasonable extraction range for coffee. However, tasting revealed that flavors were difficult to distinguish due to the high concentration.

Then, 20ml of hot water was added to the coffee liquid, reducing the concentration to 1.26%. When we tasted it again, the flavors became clearer, and the overall experience became more pleasant.

② Understanding the brewing of certain coffee beans.

This situation best demonstrates the theory of By pass. Some beans, due to their density, defect rate, or resting period, are extremely prone to extracting negative flavors when using normal brewing methods. Using By pass can easily avoid the occurrence of these negative flavors.

For example, when using normal parameters to brew a coffee, if you can clearly detect bitterness or strong melon seed and almond aromas (flavors that normally don't appear in coffee), and you've determined that over-extraction in the final stage is the cause, you can use a 1:13 coffee-to-water ratio for brewing, then add bypass water equal to twice the amount of coffee grounds, ultimately achieving a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio coffee liquid. However, because the final water doesn't pass through the coffee grounds but is directly added to the coffee liquid, it can effectively avoid the bitterness from the final stage.

③ Negative flavors caused during the brewing process.

Of course, By pass can also rescue your brewing to some extent. When coffee shows high concentration and over-extraction due to brewing mistakes, you can add a small amount of bypass water for dilution. This way, if it's mild bitterness, it becomes difficult to detect due to dilution.

However, if you are a barista, it's not recommended to use By pass because of this situation. You should invest more energy in developing solid skills rather than misinterpreting the meaning of By pass. Most people who misunderstand By pass think that baristas add water to coffee liquid to cover up negative flavors of coffee, subconsciously realizing that this cup of coffee won't taste good. Therefore, if you are a barista, you should更应该为By pass正名.

④ Blockage caused by excessive fine powder during brewing.

This situation belongs to detecting suspected over-extraction during the brewing process and immediately adopting flexible brewing methods. This is essentially different from point ③ - point ③ belongs to remedial action after something has happened, while point ④ is about using alternative methods during the process to achieve the goal of brewing a good cup of coffee.

During brewing, if you find that the water flow at the end is blocked due to excessive fine powder, and if no action is taken, this cup of coffee will most likely develop a burnt bitter taste. Therefore, to avoid this situation, you can choose to stop the flow and then use bypass water to supplement the coffee-to-water ratio to the target amount.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473