How Long Should Pour-Over Coffee Brew for the Best Taste - Tutorial on Single-Origin Coffee Bean Parameters: Grind, Water Temperature, Ratio, and Technique

I remember in a movie, Takeshi Kaneshiro's character was extremely particular about food. Even when making instant noodles, he would use a stopwatch, strictly adhering to the "scientific instant noodle method."

Time is equally crucial for pour-over coffee. It can be said that today's baristas are no less obsessed with timing when making coffee than Takeshi Kaneshivo was with his instant noodles.

When Should We Start Timing?

The electronic scale is one of the essential brewing tools for pour-over coffee. It combines both weighing and timing functions. The weighing function provides accurate data for coffee dosage and water-to-coffee ratio, while the timing function serves to validate how well this cup of coffee was brewed.

Although we all recognize the importance of timing, there's disagreement about when to start the timer. Some prefer to start timing at the moment of the first pour, while others tend to press the timer button only after completing the first pour.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee extraction begins the moment water first contacts the coffee grounds. If you pour water first and then start timing, you're essentially ignoring the extraction that occurs during pouring. If we all agree that the bloom time should be 30 seconds, timing differences would mean the actual bloom time for the latter approach exceeds 30 seconds.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests starting your timer from the moment water first touches the coffee grounds—that is, when you begin pouring.

How Does Brew Time Affect Coffee?

For immersion-style coffee brewing, insufficient time results in weak, underdeveloped flavors; excessive time leads to astringency, intensity, and bitterness. Of course, this requires a time difference of over 30 seconds to create such a dramatic contrast.

However, pour-over coffee follows a process where you pour water over coffee grounds, and the water passes through the coffee bed to drip into the server below. In other words, you can directly control the pouring time, but you cannot precisely control the total time for water to completely finish dripping. A margin of error within 5 seconds is considered normal.

The time required for water to flow from the filter into the server is related to coffee grind size, pouring technique, and filter design. Coffee grounds are the key factor affecting water flow rate. Finer grounds create stronger resistance, resulting in slower flow and leading toward stronger, more bitter flavors. Coarser grounds offer less resistance, allowing faster flow where water hasn't fully extracted coffee substances before passing through, resulting in weaker, more acidic flavors.

Pouring technique is relatively easier to control. The more pour segments you use, the longer the brewing time. For FrontStreet Coffee's three-stage pouring method, the total brewing time is approximately 2 minutes.

Choosing different filter designs also affects brewing time. The V60 filter that FrontStreet Coffee commonly uses features spiral ribs that direct water flow in one direction, achieving even extraction and flow, which enhances the coffee's layered complexity. Meanwhile, the Kono filter, also used by FrontStreet Coffee, features shorter ribs that extend extraction time without causing clogging, resulting in richer, fuller-bodied coffee. Therefore, using the appropriate filter for brewing coffee significantly impacts the final flavor.

What's the Ideal Brewing Time?

For normal brewing methods (excluding extreme methods like ultra-fine grinding or drip-by-drip techniques), with 15g of coffee grounds: brewing under 1 minute 30 seconds means coffee flavors haven't been fully extracted, resulting in weak, watery coffee. Exceeding 2 minutes 30 seconds tends to extract bitter and astringent flavors easily. For FrontStreet Coffee's offerings, most coffee beans have extraction times between 1 minute 50 seconds and 2 minutes 10 seconds, which produces the most enjoyable flavor profile.

For those looking to improve their pour-over coffee skills, the range of 1 minute 50 seconds to 2 minutes 10 seconds serves as a relatively forgiving benchmark. If your brewing time falls outside this range and the coffee taste doesn't meet your expectations, try adjusting your grind size or pouring technique to bring the extraction time into this optimal window.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473