What is Pour-Over Coffee: How to Brew Delicious Coffee with Illustrated Step-by-Step Guide

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If you love coffee, pour-over coffee is definitely a skill you must learn. Whether using regular coffee beans or specialty coffee beans, pour-over coffee is not only one of the most popular extraction methods, but also a mainstream brewing method that accompanies us in our coffee journey. Nowadays, as coffee culture becomes increasingly rich in China, pour-over coffee has also become very common in daily life. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will show you how to make a delicious cup of pour-over coffee.

What does pour-over mean in coffee?

Pour-over coffee, also known as drip coffee, was invented in 1908 by German housewife Melitta Bentz. To promote this new coffee extraction method to the outside world, Mrs. Melitta also established the Melitta Company in the same year, selling various coffee equipment products. Pour-over coffee involves pouring hot water to let soluble substances from the coffee grounds dissolve into the water, and the extracted liquid then passes through filter paper or a filter screen and drips into a container, resulting in black coffee liquid.

For friends who are just starting to learn about pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee doesn't recommend getting too caught up in what grind size, what technique, or what water temperature to use. As long as you pay attention to a few principles and details, you can actually easily brew a delicious cup of coffee at home.

Tools needed before making a cup of pour-over coffee:

An electronic scale with timer function, 0.85mm standard sieve, thermometer, coffee grinder, pour-over kettle, filter cup, and filter paper.

Prepare hot water:

Heat the water, generally controlling the temperature between 85°C~95°C. For your first attempt, you can directly use 90°C. (If it's too bitter, lower the water temperature; if it's too sour, increase the water temperature)

Weigh coffee beans:

The weight of coffee beans depends on how large a cup of coffee you want to drink. Generally, 15 grams is sufficient for a single serving. Next, based on the weight of coffee beans, choose an appropriate coffee-to-water ratio to control the concentration after brewing. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio - for 15 grams of coffee grounds, pour 225 grams of hot water. Later, you can make fine adjustments based on taste. If it's too light, reduce the water to 1:14; if it's too strong and bitter, add more water to make it 1:16.

Grind coffee beans:

What determines the coarseness of pour-over coffee grounds is the setting of the grinder you use. Good pour-over coffee requires a good grinder. Common grinders on the market include Timemore hand grinders, Commandant hand grinders, Little Flying Eagle electric grinders, Little Fuji electric grinders, Baratza Encore grinders, Huijia grinders, and so on. FrontStreet Coffee uses the EK43s electric grinder.

Three-stage pour-over technique explanation:

FrontStreet Coffee usually adopts a three-stage technique when brewing coffee, controlling the entire pouring time to about 2 minutes. The so-called "three stages" are mainly divided into blooming, second pour, and third pour. This three-stage pour-over extraction method can clearly define the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee while ensuring the rich layers of the coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee beans play a key role in whether a pour-over tastes good. First, as the main character, it must be fresh, ground fresh and used immediately, which is why FrontStreet Coffee insists on fresh roasting. When using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing, due to the high-temperature heating process that allows it to accumulate a large amount of gas (mostly carbon dioxide), it will expand when in contact with hot water, which we call "small hills." This process of initial contact between coffee grounds and water and expansion is called "blooming" by baristas.

First pour: Blooming

For the blooming time, FrontStreet Coffee, like most people, uses 30 seconds. When the expansion of the coffee grounds surface ends, you will see the coffee surface appear wrinkled, which indicates that the blooming degassing is complete, and you can start the formal pouring. Basically, for properly aged beans with a roast date within one month, FrontStreet Coffee will perform a 30-second bloom.

Second pour

The timing of the second pour is when the blooming ends, that is, when the electronic scale shows 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, we start to pour the second 95 grams with a straight and stable water flow, paying attention to slowly circle from the center outward. The purpose is to raise the entire coffee bed. The water column needs to be poured vertically and evenly. After pouring, the timer scale shows 125g, and the time is about 55 seconds.

Third pour

When the liquid level drops to about half, start using a small water flow to pour the third 100 grams in small circles until the electronic scale shows 225 grams. Be careful to control the water flow not too large, as it's easy to wash away the coffee grounds and cause under-extraction. After pouring, wait for the coffee liquid to slowly drip through. It will usually finish dripping in about 2 minutes, at which point you can remove the filter cup. Finally, remember to shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot evenly before tasting, so that the aroma can be fully and evenly distributed.

Here, FrontStreet Coffee would like to remind everyone that in the three-stage pour-over method, the amount of water poured in each stage is not fixed. Everyone can first practice according to FrontStreet Coffee's plan, and after accumulating some pour-over experience, adjust according to their understanding of coffee beans and their own taste preferences. FrontStreet Coffee believes there are thousands of ways to brew a delicious cup of coffee. As long as we learn more and improve, making a perfect cup of pour-over coffee becomes completely easy.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473