What's the Ideal Water Temperature for Pour-Over Coffee? Is Higher Temperature Better for Single-Origin Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-Over Coffee Water Temperature Recommendations

If you ask FrontStreet Coffee about recommended water temperatures for pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee would suggest 90-93°C for light roast coffee and 86-89°C for dark roast coffee.

"No, that's not right... Baidu says..."

"Well, have you heard of WBrC? Many competitors in competitions use water temperatures of 95-96°C to brew coffee. The 2018 champion even alternated between 80°C and 95°C, and last year's champion also alternated between 93°C and 88°C."

The Science Behind Water Temperature

Understanding water temperature knowledge is very important. Let's take a common example from daily life: instant drink mixes. When brewed with freshly boiled water, most of the mix dissolves quickly; when brewed with warm water, some still dissolves but needs the external force of stirring with a spoon to dissolve completely; when brewed with cold water, even stirring with a spoon may not dissolve everything completely.

This demonstrates that water temperature affects dissolution rate (or extraction efficiency). For refined substances like instant drink mixes (or instant coffee), complete and quick dissolution is ideal, so using 100°C water temperature poses no problem.

However, coffee beans contain water-insoluble substances, good-tasting coffee substances, and bad-tasting coffee substances. To obtain a delicious cup of coffee, reasonable adjustments must be made in water temperature to avoid extracting undesirable flavors.

Water Temperature Extraction Experiment

If we only consider the extraction efficiency of water temperature on coffee, using a cupping immersion method with water temperatures of 80°C, 94°C, and 100°C for comparison (immersion time: 4 minutes):

100°C group temperature change: from 30 seconds to 4 minutes, temperature decreased sequentially from 91°C to 79.4°C;
94°C group temperature change: from 30 seconds to 4 minutes, temperature decreased sequentially from 87°C to 75.3°C;
80°C group temperature change: from 30 seconds to 4 minutes, temperature decreased sequentially from 75.3°C to 65.2°C.

Tasting Results Analysis

During tasting, the 100°C group showed very bright fruit acidity, substantial texture, and rich floral and fruity aromas at the 5-minute mark, only developing unpleasant bitter and mixed flavors at the 20-minute mark.

The 94°C group performed similarly to the 100°C group, with slightly lacking flavor at the 5-minute mark, only showing substantial texture at the 6-minute mark, with fruit-like sweet and sour notes becoming more stable. Slight mixed sensations only appeared at the 30-minute mark.

The 80°C group was very light from 5-9 minutes, with faint fruit sweetness and thin texture. At the 10-minute mark, smooth and thick fruit sweetness appeared, with a slight sugarcane sensation. No obvious mixed flavors appeared even after 30 minutes.

Key Findings from the Experiment

From this immersion extraction experiment, with fixed grind size and temperature as the only variable, higher water temperatures result in richer aromatic substances in coffee, while lower water temperatures lead to more stable coffee expression.

However, unlike pour-over, cupping immersion extraction involves pouring all water in at once, with large amounts of water exposed to air, causing actual extraction temperatures to be significantly lower. Another point is that in immersion extraction, coffee grounds remain stationary, releasing slowly, which is why immersion extraction takes longer than filter extraction.

Pour-Over Water Temperature Comparison

Next, let's compare the water temperature changes in pour-over. Using FrontStreet Coffee's previous pour-over temperature comparison experiment data, which used 90°C and 93°C for brewing respectively, and measured the temperature changes in the coffee bed with a thermometer:

When using 90°C water for brewing, the actual water temperature involved in extraction is between 84.5-86°C.

When using 93°C water for brewing, the actual water temperature involved in extraction is between 85-88°C.

Temperature Difference Analysis

The comparison between the two groups shows that although the initial brewing temperatures differ by 3°C, the actual extraction temperature difference is less than 3°C. Although the gap has narrowed, they can still be clearly distinguished through tasting, based on the premise of consistent grind size and identical technique.

Pour-over filter brewing involves continuous water pouring, so temperature is maintained better compared to immersion. Additionally, the water stream during pouring acts like a stirring spoon, constantly stirring the coffee grounds, adding this variable that affects extraction efficiency.

FrontStreet Coffee's Conservative Approach

Reflecting on why FrontStreet Coffee's recommended brewing temperature range is so narrow: because many in FrontStreet Coffee's audience are just learning pour-over coffee and don't have much understanding of how parameters affect each other. Using more conservative parameters can increase the probability of extracting a consistently good-tasting cup of coffee (simply put, fewer mistakes).

Competition Parameters vs. Home Brewing

As for competition parameters, if the brewing plan is reasonable, 96°C water temperature can extract richer sweet aromas. But you need to determine whether your beans are as excellent as the competitors', whether they can withstand high-temperature extraction, and whether your grind is consistent with the competitors' (grind size is actually the most difficult parameter).

Conclusion

Understanding water temperature is indispensable for brewing coffee. If your brew doesn't taste good, it's not necessarily your technique—it could be the water temperature, it could be the grind, or it could be even more likely...

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473