How to Brew Sweet Coffee? Reasons and Solutions for Pour-Over Coffee Lacking Sweetness

Why are we so determined to make coffee taste sweet? It's probably because sweetness triggers dopamine release in our brains, making us feel pleased!

If we want to brew sweet coffee, we first need to understand the sweetness in coffee. The sweetness of coffee doesn't exist independently; it's highlighted through the balance between acidity and bitterness. For instance, in light roast coffee, there are fewer bitter compounds, so the sweetness emerges through high acidity and low bitterness, presenting as a sweet-tart profile like various fruit flavors. In dark roast coffee, there are more bitter compounds, so the sweetness emerges through low acidity and high bitterness, presenting as a bittersweet profile like caramel flavors.

To brew sweet coffee, we need to extract as many sweet compounds from the coffee as possible during brewing. The specific principle is as follows:

During the pour-over coffee extraction process, the timing of when sour, sweet, and bitter compounds are released differs. Acidic compounds are the most easily extracted, so in the early stage, acidic substances dominate, but this also includes some early-released sweet and bitter compounds. By the middle stage, the release of acidic substances gradually decreases, while the extraction efficiency of sweet compounds begins to exceed that of acidic compounds. At the same time, bitter compounds are also increasing at a gradual pace.

By the later stage, the release of acidic substances further decreases, sweet compounds are also declining, and at this point, the extraction efficiency of bitter compounds begins to increase.

In this model, the ideal state for achieving sweetness is to extract the highest proportion of sweet compounds, which means achieving a relatively high extraction rate. It's generally believed that coffee with an extraction rate between 18-22% tastes best. If we place this extraction rate in our model diagram, it would look approximately like this:

At 22% extraction rate, this theoretically represents the maximum limit for coffee sweetness. Exceeding 22% very easily leads to undesirable bitterness.

Common Issues and Solutions

After understanding the extraction model, let's look at practical brewing examples. Typically, there are two situations where coffee fails to exhibit sweetness: the first is over-extraction, and the second is being too conservative.

The first situation actually extracts the sweetness relatively completely, but also extracts too much bitterness. This causes the proportion of sweetness to actually decrease, resulting in coffee that is both sour and bitter, with unnoticeable sweetness.

If your coffee exhibits this flavor profile, you can check if your water temperature is appropriate. For light to medium roast coffee, we generally recommend temperatures between 90-93°C, and for medium to dark roast, 86-89°C. You can choose the lowest temperature within these ranges.

Next, check if your grind size is too fine, which manifests in flow rate and extraction time. For example, if 15 grams of coffee grounds takes more than 2 minutes and 30 seconds to extract, or 20 grams takes more than 3 minutes, then you need to adjust to a coarser grind.

The second situation is what most friends encounter. Many friends, fearing the unpleasant bitterness from the later stages of extraction, will set their grind size to a coarser level. This basically allows them to complete extraction within 2 minutes.

Coffee brewed this way will have an extraction rate of approximately 17-19%, with unnoticeable bitterness, but the proportion of sweetness is also low. Acidity dominates absolutely, presenting as a relatively bright (stimulating) sourness, while the sweetness feels faint and elusive.

If your brewed coffee shows prominent sourness and weak sweetness, using a 1:15 or lower coffee-to-water ratio with an extraction time of around 2 minutes, and if this matches your situation, the direct solution is to continue pouring water, extending the ratio to 1:16 or 1:17. The additional water will extend the extraction time, continuing to extract flavor compounds. The proportion of coffee sweetness will increase, making the sweetness naturally more noticeable.

If the coffee itself is already too diluted, continuing to extend the ratio will only make the coffee more watery. In this case, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a segmented pouring method to extend extraction time. For example, if you're using three-stage pouring with a 1:16 ratio and the resulting coffee shows obvious sourness with unremarkable sweetness, then divide the pouring stages into four segments. This will extend the overall extraction time, while the more efficient "washing extraction" is concentrated in the middle and later stages, which is beneficial for extracting sweet compounds.

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