Why Should Pour-Over Coffee Be Brewed in Stages? How to Brew Hand-Ground Coffee

Following our recent discussion on why coffee should be brewed with segmented water pouring , some readers asked how to determine the cutoff points for each segment in three-stage extraction. So this time, let's continue exploring when to segment during three-stage extraction.

Different filter cup sizes, shapes, and coffee grounds amounts all affect the cutoff points during brewing. This time, FrontStreet Coffee has chosen a most common brewing method: using a V60#01 filter cup with 15g of coffee grounds at a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio (meaning 15g of grounds with a total of 225g of water) for our discussion.

First Cutoff Point: Double the Amount of Coffee Grounds

It may sound repetitive, but we must emphasize: blooming is crucial! Depending on different roast levels, freshly roasted coffee beans vary in structural density, carbon dioxide content, and release time. Generally, the darker the roast, the more carbon dioxide the beans contain, and the longer the release time. Providing a small amount of hot water with a short resting period allows carbon dioxide to release naturally, ensuring more stable and balanced extraction in the later stages of brewing.

During the blooming stage, FrontStreet Coffee suggests pouring double the amount of water compared to the coffee grounds (meaning 30g of hot water for 15g of grounds). In this stage, the coffee bed will absorb about 25g of water and slowly drip about 5g of coffee liquid. Typically, if coffee liquid drips into the server very quickly or if a large amount of coffee liquid drips down, it's likely because the grind is too coarse, causing water to pass through the coffee bed too quickly (which will cause the coffee bed to collapse). Another possibility is that the water flow is too strong, causing water to rush to the edges and flow directly into the server through the air vents without passing through the coffee bed (which prevents uniform carbon dioxide release, leading to uneven extraction in later stages).

Start timing when you begin the first pour. FrontStreet Coffee recommends a blooming time of 20-40 seconds. When you notice the surface of the coffee bed stops bubbling and breaking, you can proceed to the next pouring stage. Don't let the blooming time be too long! Excessive blooming will cause over-release of substances from the surface of coffee particles, ultimately resulting in astringent flavors in the coffee.

Second Cutoff Point: Don't Exceed the Height of Evenly Distributed Coffee Particles

When starting the second pour, the impact force of the water column will cause coffee particles to tumble, dispersing the originally clustered particles and distributing them along the cup walls as the water level rises. FrontStreet Coffee suggests maintaining a water flow rate of 4-5g per second while keeping the flow stable and consistent. The purpose is to use a small, stable, and gentle water flow to impact and stir the coffee particles, allowing them to distribute evenly along the cup walls. This enables the poured water to pass through coffee beds of the same thickness from different directions, extracting coffee liquid of the same concentration.

(This shows evenly distributed coffee particles)

If water is poured with inconsistent flow rates, the distribution of coffee particles will become unbalanced, resulting in parts of the coffee bed being thicker and parts thinner, ultimately leading to uneven extraction.

(This shows unevenly distributed coffee particles)

However, it's important to note that the distribution of coffee particles is limited. For brewing 15g of coffee in a V60#01 filter cup, the maximum height that evenly distributed coffee particles can reach is approximately 2/3 of the total filter cup height. Based on years of brewing experience, FrontStreet Coffee has found that when coffee beans are fresh and properly ground, after pouring 95-100g of water in the second stage with a stable, small water flow (with a total poured amount of 125-130g at this point), the water level will match the height of evenly distributed particles, making this the ideal cutoff point. The time to stop the second pour should be around 55 seconds to 1 minute.

When the poured water level exceeds the height of evenly distributed coffee particles, the water above the coffee particle height will flow directly into the server through the rib channels, and it will cause the particles originally distributed on the cup walls to detach and sink to the bottom of the filter cup, ultimately leading to uneven extraction. When this happens, you should consider whether the water flow is too fast or too strong, or if the grind is too fine or contains too many fine particles, causing water channel blockage. If you find that the particles haven't risen much or distributed evenly, it might be because the grind is too coarse or the water column is too thin.

Third Cutoff Point: Do You Really Need to Think About This? Hahaha

Question: When brewing 15g of coffee grounds at a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio with 225g of hot water, and knowing that 125-130g of water has been poured in the first and second stages combined, how much water needs to be poured in the third stage? Just kidding! For the third stage, simply pour the remaining 95-100g of water all at once. However, you still need to pay attention to the water flow - don't pour too quickly and maintain stability. Control the water level not to exceed the average distribution height of particles and avoid breaking the already evenly distributed coffee bed. The time to stop the final pour should be around 1 minute and 45 seconds to 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473