What Equipment Do You Need to Get Started with Pour-Over Coffee? How to Choose a Home Coffee Grinder?

Introduction

Still struggling with what brewing equipment to buy? Seeing the dazzling array of filter cups, brewing kettles, grinders... don't know how to choose? Don't worry! FrontStreet Coffee's article will guide you through selecting coffee brewing equipment suitable for beginners!

Coffee Grinder Selection

The grinder is very important! The grinder is very important! The grinder is very important! The prices of grinders on the market are also "colorful," ranging from tens of yuan for manual grinders to tens of thousands for electric grinders, which can be overwhelming. Many beginners in pour-over coffee feel that grinders are expensive, so they casually buy a cheap one, or a spiral blade grinder that's not specifically designed for coffee.

Price determines the quality of the grinder, that's for sure. If it's for daily brewing rather than shop production, FrontStreet Coffee suggests setting a budget of 500-2000 yuan for manual grinders, and 1500-5000 yuan for electric grinders would be more appropriate.

Why are coffee grinders expensive? The grinding burrs!

As the most important part of the grinder, different burrs directly affect the distribution of coffee particle size, which determines whether the ground coffee particles are uniform in size. The degree of grinding has a significant impact on the taste of pour-over coffee! Currently, common burr types include conical, flat, and ghost tooth (ghost burr). Among them, conical and ghost tooth burrs are only used for pour-over coffee grinding.

Conical burrs: These grind coffee beans into particles through a crushing process, so their shape is mainly block-like. They are commonly used in manual grinders. Because they work in a "crushing" manner, when coffee beans are crushed and burst, a large amount of dust-like fine powder is produced. The normal coffee particles are also irregular block-shaped, but overall tend to be uniform. The conical shape leads to longer water absorption paths, allowing more contact time with water, so initially fewer soluble substances are released and the concentration won't be too high, but during long extraction, the woody parts absorb less water, making it less likely to produce off-flavors and astringency.

Ghost tooth burrs: These grind coffee beans into particles through a grinding process, so their shape is mainly closer to spherical. But because they can grind one coffee bean into several small spherical particles, the edge waste (fine powder) generated by grinding spheres also increases. However, the difference between the overall large particles is the smallest.

Purchasing Coffee Grinding Calibration Sieve

The degree of grinding directly affects the taste of the entire cup of pour-over coffee, so finding an appropriate grinding degree is very important. FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that the primary reason many enthusiasts struggle with home brewing is often not finding the right grinding degree—if it's too fine, the taste tends to be bitter and astringent; if it's too coarse, the flavors won't come out.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using medium grind coarseness for pour-over coffee. How coarse is medium coarseness? Currently, the grinding scale standards of coffee bean grinders on the market vary, with no standard for grinding scales, so FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing a 0.85mm #20 standard sieve for screening.

For pour-over light to medium roast coffee beans, the pass rate for grinding coarseness should be around 75%-80%. For pour-over medium to dark roast coffee beans, the pass rate for grinding coarseness should be around 65%-70% for the most suitable results.

Pour-over Kettle Selection

In addition to filter cups, there are many styles of pour-over kettles. Many beginners, when unsure which one to buy, are drawn to the color of the kettle... (Hey, wrong focus!!!) We need to pay attention to the kettle spout and capacity size! FrontStreet Coffee recommends beginners choose a gooseneck narrow-spout kettle. What does it look like? Like this~

The capacity of the pour-over kettle determines the center of gravity during brewing, and the center of gravity also determines the stability of the poured water flow. A pour-over kettle with too small capacity will lack a stable center of gravity, making the pouring feel unsteady. Although a pour-over kettle with large capacity can better stabilize the water flow, it's not suitable for those with less strength... So FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing a 500-600ml capacity pour-over kettle.

Should you choose a temperature-controlled pour-over kettle or a regular one?

Either choice is fine. If you have a sufficient budget, you can buy a temperature-controlled pour-over kettle. If your budget is limited, you can choose a regular pour-over kettle and then buy a digital display thermometer~

Dripper Selection

The variety of coffee filter cup styles on the market is dazzling, and different styles of filter cups have different brewing effects. Before纠结ing about which filter cup style to buy, start with a V60 filter cup. There's no single-origin coffee bean that a V60 filter cup can't brew!

The V60 filter cup gets its name from its 60-degree conical design. This angle guides water flow to the center, extending the contact time between water and coffee. The large-diameter filter hole at the bottom allows everyone to control the flavor extraction time of coffee by changing the pour size. The spiral ribs (exhaust grooves) allow air to escape upward from all sides, maximizing the exhaust process of coffee grounds.

Filter Paper Selection

The shape and size of filter paper determine how well it fits with the filter cup. When filter paper of mismatched shape cannot perfectly fit with the filter cup, it's easy for gaps to appear between the filter paper and filter cup, changing the flow-guiding effect of the filter cup and leading to negative impacts such as uneven coffee extraction. Therefore, when buying filter paper, you should check the filter cup model and then purchase filter paper of the same model.

Should you choose natural wood filter paper or bleached filter paper?

Natural wood filter paper refers to unbleached filter paper, which is light brown and has a paper taste. Bleached filter paper refers to filter paper that has undergone bleaching treatment, which is white and has no obvious paper taste. Regarding whether to choose natural wood or bleached filter paper, FrontStreet Coffee prefers bleached filter paper. Because bleached filter paper has an unnoticeable paper taste and won't affect the taste of coffee.

You might be worried about whether bleached paper is toxic. In fact, famous coffee filter paper brands now use advanced enzyme bleaching, which is different from traditional chemical bleaching. Enzyme bleaching uses biologically active enzymes for bleaching and is widely used in the medical field. Therefore, when buying coffee filter paper, be sure to choose major brands with reasonable prices. Some overly cheap filter paper cannot guarantee quality in terms of material, size, or bleaching technology.

Digital Scale Selection

FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing a fast-display digital scale with a timing function, or directly search for pour-over coffee digital scales to make your purchase.

Serving Pitcher Selection

FrontStreet Coffee suggests that when choosing a serving pitcher, you should check whether the pitcher itself is heat-resistant, rather than just buying it because it looks good~ Serving pitchers of poor quality have low heat resistance during coffee brewing and are prone to cracking, so you shouldn't be greedy for small bargains when buying serving pitchers~

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473