Pour-over Coffee Watering Methods Explained: How Does Coffee Ground Wall Thickness Affect Flavor?

The Impact of Pouring Circle Size on Coffee Flavor

Some days ago, a coffee enthusiast came to our café for a discussion. Through our conversation, I learned that his brewing method was generally consistent with FrontStreet Coffee's approach, but with some differences. The main distinction came down to the size of the pouring circles.

FrontStreet Coffee keeps the pouring circles as close to the filter edge as possible without breaking the coffee bed wall, while the visitor poured in coin-sized circles. The most direct visible difference is the thickness of the coffee bed wall. Large circle pouring creates a thinner wall, while small circle pouring creates a thicker wall.

Thin coffee bed wall ⬆️

Thick coffee bed wall ⬇️

How This Affects Coffee Flavor

So, does this affect coffee flavor? Let me first give you the conclusion: yes, it does. Large circle pouring results in coffee with more vibrant, light, soft, and comfortable flavors, while small circle pouring produces coffee with heavier, richer, and more concentrated flavors.

There are two main impacts. First is temperature. Center pouring or small circle pouring actually maintains slightly higher water temperature than large circle pouring (about 0.5°C difference). More precisely, the larger the pouring circle, the more heat loss occurs. This is because the water travels a longer path, resulting in more significant heat loss. The intensity of stirring also affects the actual extraction temperature - the stronger the stirring, the lower the actual extraction temperature. (For those who enjoy experimentation, you can insert a thermometer into the coffee grounds to measure the temperature.)

Second, this relates to the V60's characteristics. The V60's spiral ribs are designed to guide coffee liquid to flow along a designated path, preventing clogging. FrontStreet Coffee has often mentioned not to break through the coffee bed wall, otherwise water will simply flow away from the sides without proper extraction.

However, without breaking through the coffee bed wall, the spiral ribs still serve their guiding function. The coffee liquid that flows from the sides is "less fully extracted coffee liquid," which theoretically (when tasted separately) may have undesirable flavors, but when incorporated into the overall extraction, it makes the coffee taste more vibrant, light, soft, and comfortable.

Meanwhile, small circle pouring allows water to dissolve coffee substances more comprehensively, resulting in concentrated, rich, and intense flavors.

Application for Different Coffee Beans

Therefore, it's not about which method is better, but rather using different approaches for different requirements. For instance, when FrontStreet Coffee brews light roast coffee beans, to highlight the light and vibrant acidity, we use a specific technique in the first pour after blooming: start from the center and pour outward in a spiral pattern (like a mosquito coil), ensuring all surface coffee grounds are saturated evenly. When the entire surface shows uniform coffee foam, subsequent pours are made in concentric circles with a radius of 2/3 of the liquid surface.

When brewing dark roast coffee beans, we often want to express a heavy mouthfeel and rich, stable flavors. In this case, we can use the small circle pouring method. Because dark roast coffee contains more gases, even with small circle pouring, coffee foam will emerge vigorously and cover the liquid surface. For pours after blooming, start from the center and slowly pour outward in circles, reaching half the radius, then continue pouring in circles of the same size until the brewing process is complete.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473