Pour-Over Coffee Watering Techniques: How to Brew Single-Origin Coffee Beans for Perfect Flavor

When FrontStreet Coffee shares coffee brewing techniques, we rarely discuss the parameter of technique (except when specifically mentioning pouring methods), because in FrontStreet Coffee's view, technique is the greatest source of uncertainty. Without understanding the logic behind techniques, the more you know, the more unstable your brewed coffee becomes.

Why is this so? FrontStreet Coffee encounters many friends who ask, "How will this coffee bean taste with this technique? Will it be more delicious with that technique?" Of course, this is also related to the trend of "fast food culture," where people find it difficult to calm down and understand something thoroughly. Much knowledge is conclusion-based and stuffed into our brains. When it comes to techniques, it becomes "directly skip the process and jump to conclusions: Technique A produces coffee with good sweetness, Technique B produces coffee with excellent mouthfeel..." When only remembering conclusions without understanding their principles, as techniques accumulate, confusion arises, becoming an extremely unstable factor.

Is Technique a Technology?

At the same time, many friends who are new to coffee also view pour-over coffee as a craft, but with deeper understanding, they discover it's actually a subject of physics and chemistry. Technique, like the ratio, water temperature, grind size, etc. that we discuss, is one parameter within the entire brewing scheme. This means these parameters must coordinate properly with each other to brew delicious coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee previously conducted experiments on how different brewing techniques affect coffee flavor expression, with many comparisons among one-pour, three-stage, and three-pour methods. In the conclusions, FrontStreet Coffee only described the differences in flavor expression among these three brewing methods, without discussing which brewing method tastes better. Because FrontStreet Coffee set these quantitative parameters originally to match the three-stage method, although one-pour and three-pour methods also showed good performance, adjusting the corresponding parameters would yield even better flavor.

Deconstructing the Principles Behind Techniques

Brewing techniques, pouring methods—these all refer to a series of combinations including water distribution schemes, water flow rate, pouring paths (circular, fixed-point, fancy movements...), and so on.

Rinsing & Soaking

When pouring water, the water stream rinses the coffee grounds, mainly serving a "rinsing extraction" role, while when you stop pouring, it serves a "soaking extraction" role. Generally, extraction efficiency during rinsing is somewhat higher.

Segmentation mainly separates the time periods of "rinsing" and "soaking." For example, one-pour has rinsing in the first half and soaking in the second half; three-stage method alternates between rinsing, then soaking, then rinsing again, and finally soaking. In this case, the extraction efficiency in the middle stage is higher, so the sweetness is more prominent than in one-pour.

The more segments there are, the more alternation between rinsing and soaking occurs, while also extending the total extraction time. This means that with other parameters unchanged, the more segments there are, the higher the extraction rate.

Water Flow Rate and Path

When pouring water during coffee brewing, the water stream that appears is essentially our stirring rod. When the water flow is small, the stream is thin, and the force to agitate the coffee grounds is relatively weak. When the water flow is large, the stream is thick, and the force to agitate the coffee grounds is stronger. The greater the agitation of the coffee grounds, the easier it is to extract substances from the coffee.

However, we must also note that the poured water is limited by the ratio—the total water volume is fixed. With large water flow, the pouring time will be shorter; with small water flow, the pouring time will be longer. Of course, FrontStreet Coffee requires that the water stream must be vertical, because angled water streams easily create turbulence, causing uneven extraction.

As for pouring paths, they usually refer to circular pouring and center pouring. Of course, there are also some irregular pouring paths, which FrontStreet Coffee doesn't understand the principles of, so we won't discuss them.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that circular pouring is an effective pouring method that reduces turbulence and enhances rinsing effects. Imagine when we usually dissolve drink mixes—isn't it easier to control uniform dissolution by stirring in one circular direction? Similarly, faster circular movement creates stronger stirring force, extracting more substances, and vice versa.

Center pouring, on the other hand, is a pouring method that reduces rinsing effects. For example, some techniques work like this: the initial pouring is circular, while the final segment is center pouring. This essentially means not wanting to dissolve too many substances in the final segment, simply completing the required water volume, hence using center pouring with minimal stirring force.

The influence of technique is nothing more than this. The so-called pouring techniques are essentially combinations and permutations of these elements. Some people choose brewing methods with high operational difficulty that take unconventional approaches, while others use steady, moderate, and safe brewing methods. In FrontStreet Coffee's view, brewing techniques should choose the simplest pouring method with the fewest variables, so that the variables in coffee production can be reduced.

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