Panama Geisha Coffee Pour-Over Blockage: What to Do When Coffee Won't Flow Through?

Some friends ask FrontStreet Coffee, "You suggest a brewing time of 2 minutes, but I find that after 2 minutes, there's still a lot of water accumulated in the filter cup!" This friend is most likely experiencing a blockage phenomenon.

Why Does Blockage Occur?

FrontStreet Coffee lists some common reasons.

Grind Size Issues

Regarding grind size, FrontStreet Coffee has also shared many methods for mastering pour-over grind size. Among these, FrontStreet Coffee believes the more scientific approach is using a sieve to determine the grind coarseness. Feedback from FrontStreet Coffee's measured data shows that medium-light roast coffee with a 75-80% pass rate through a #20 sieve (0.85mm) and medium-dark roast with a 70-75% pass rate through a #20 sieve produces better-tasting coffee.

If you experience very slow water flow or blockage, it might be caused by coffee grounds that are ground too fine.

Grinder Quality Issues

This problem is most likely to cause blockage phenomena. Generally, non-enthusiast level friends don't research equipment much, and their requirement for grinders is just "good enough." And while this grind might look "good enough," it becomes immediately apparent during brewing.

The grinding effect from poor-quality grinders typically results in extremely uneven particle sizes, with many powdery fine particles. During brewing, these fine particles will block the water outlet, preventing water from flowing through.

Generally, to solve problems caused by this reason, FrontStreet Coffee believes the best method is to purchase a fine particle sieve to sieve away the fine particles that cause blockage.

Light Roast Level

I wonder if everyone has noticed that darker roasted coffee expands more, with more fine particles and oils floating on the liquid surface; lighter roasted coffee expands less, with fewer fine particles and oils floating on the liquid surface. In fact, light roast coffee is more likely to experience blockage than dark roast coffee.

This is because light roast coffee has more intact fibers and greater density. During brewing, many coffee grounds will settle at the bottom, easily causing blockage and accumulation.

For example, FrontStreet Coffee in past practice found that Panama washed Geisha might experience slight blockage because Geisha coffee beans themselves are quite hard and have a relatively light roast level. Therefore, when brewing light roast coffee, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend "vigorous stirring" to churn the coffee grounds at the bottom.

Habit of Large Circular Pouring

In FrontStreet Coffee's pouring suggestions, it's described as follows: after the bloom, the pouring should spiral outward like "mosquito coils," reaching the outer circle before spiraling back to the center. The third pour should circle along half the radius of the liquid surface. This is because during the final pour, we need to churn the bottom layer of grounds to let the fine particles adhere to the filter cup walls.

If you pour in the largest possible circle, you'll wash all the grounds from the filter cup walls to the bottom, naturally causing blockage and preventing water from flowing through.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473