Besides the Three-Stage Method, What Other Brewing Techniques Do You Know?

Compared to other single-origin coffees, pour-over coffee offers a wide variety of brewing methods. For example: one-knife flow, three-stage method, volcano pour, variable temperature brewing, stirring, and more. Today, let's explore some common pour-over coffee brewing methods.

1. One-Knife Flow Method

The one-knife flow method differs from the one-pour method. The one-pour method involves pouring the entire target amount of water in one go, while the one-knife flow method divides it into two stages: the first stage for blooming, and the second stage for pouring all remaining water at once. Since the theory and technique are simple and easy to understand, we can see this brewing method used in many places.

Its name is quite special—the "one-knife flow," derived from a school of Japanese swordsmanship. The name roughly came about because the pouring segments during brewing seem to be cut off by a single knife, thus dividing it into two stages. Using 15g of coffee with 225ml of water as an example, the one-knife flow method divides the water into 30ml for blooming plus 195ml for the one-time pour, with a total extraction time of about 2 minutes. This brewing method's characteristic is its stable extraction and relatively clean flavor profile, as it doesn't extract substances from the later stages.

2. Three-Stage Method

This is the brewing method most commonly used by FrontStreet Coffee—the "three-stage method." Because different substances contained in coffee have significantly different dissolution rates, simply put, the order of flavors released by hot water is: first sour, then sweet, and finally bitter. The segmented pouring is designed to extract all the aromatic substances contained in the coffee.

Again using 15g of coffee with 225ml of water as an example, FrontStreet Coffee's three stages are divided into 30ml for blooming, 95ml for the first pour, and 100ml for the second pour. Its extraction time is relatively longer. Besides the blooming stage, with the same coffee-to-water ratio, the more segments you divide the pour into, the more times you rinse the coffee bed, so the time will be relatively extended. Coffee extracted using the three-stage method can more fully dissolve flavor substances, increase a certain level of complexity, and has higher compatibility.

3. 4:6 Method

The "4:6 method" was invented by Mr. Tetsu Kasuya from Japan. His philosophy was that "anyone can brew delicious coffee." Therefore, this method is very simple—it doesn't require very stable water control or a deep understanding of brewing. As long as you follow the formula to brew, you can make a pretty decent cup of coffee.

Tetsu Kasuya's understanding of the 4:6 method is that the first two pours account for 40% of the total water volume, and their main job is to determine the direction of the coffee's flavor (guiding the balance between acidity and sweetness); while the remaining three pours account for 60% of the total water volume, and their job is to determine the intensity of the coffee's mouthfeel, that is, its body.

The 4:6 method most commonly uses 20g of coffee with 300ml of water, divided into five pours of 60ml each, with 45-second intervals between pours (the interval includes pouring time). Although Tetsu Kasuya said it's simple, many people still have a relatively high failure rate when using the 4:6 method, and most of these failures result in over-extraction. Because the extraction time is longer, many people don't adjust their grind size, leading to direct brewing with conventional grind particles, ultimately causing the coffee to be over-extracted.

Therefore, we need to adjust the grind to a coarser state to compensate for the over-extraction that can easily result from the long extraction time. FrontStreet Coffee typically uses coarse particles with a 50% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve. Such particles, after receiving a long extraction time, produce coffee with a rich body that regular coffee doesn't have.

4. Three-Temperature Brewing Method

The three-temperature brewing method invented by Mr. Wu Zelin is actually a type of variable temperature brewing. As the name suggests, it uses different water temperatures for brewing. He uses 16g of coffee as a standard, then brews with 240ml of water in four segments of 40ml, 60ml, 60ml, and 40ml. The first two segments use 94°C water for brewing, the third segment uses a slightly lower 90°C water, and the final segment uses 80°C water, thus forming a step-by-step variable temperature extraction.

The concept of variable temperature extraction is also easy to understand—using higher water temperatures to extract the rich flavor substances in the early stages, then using lower water temperatures to finish in order to avoid the risk of over-extraction that comes from continuous high-temperature extraction. However, this brewing method has a certain degree of difficulty and requires a lot of brewing tests to find the temperature standards that suit the current coffee beans. So, when you've established appropriate temperature standards, you can ultimately get a cup of coffee with strong flavor expression.

5. Volcano Pour

The volcano pour brewing method comes from Japan. Its name originates from the carbon dioxide contained in the coffee beans, which combines with the fine coffee powder floating on the surface to form a large dome, looking like a mountain. The hot water poured in the center will accelerate the release of gas from the coffee powder, looking much like a volcanic eruption, hence the name "volcano pour."

It's more suitable for brewing dark roast coffee beans because only dark roast coffee beans can release enough gas to form a mountain shape. A conical filter cup is used, with 30g of coffee—the more coffee, the better the visual effect of the volcano—with a slightly coarse grind. Then 300ml of hot water (1:10 coffee-to-water ratio) is used for brewing. First, bloom with twice the amount of coffee in hot water for 30 seconds, then perform multiple, small, gentle repeated pours in the center. There's no limit to each pour; when the water level starts to drop, you can proceed with the next pour until the target amount is reached.

The volcano pour has two distinctive advantages. First, it's highly visual, allowing you to enjoy a visual feast while brewing coffee. Second, the coffee it produces has a balanced mouthfeel, high sweetness, and is not bitter. Friends who like dark roast coffee should definitely give it a try.

6. Stirring Method

The popularity of the stirring method originated from Matt Perger, the 2012 World Brewers Cup champion. He used this technique to win the championship, and then uploaded a video on a foreign video website showing him using a wooden stick to stir quickly during the blooming stage—first up and down, then left and right, then up and down again.

The purpose of stirring is to make the coffee powder roll under the force generated by the stirring, thus evenly moistening it and ultimately achieving balanced extraction. For example, during the blooming stage, without stirring, the water will only slowly penetrate downward, which leads to the bottom coffee bed not having enough time to bloom and release gas, thus requiring increased impact force from the first pour to compensate for extraction.

However, the stirring technique is relatively difficult. Fine coffee powder will migrate downward to the bottom of the filter cup due to the turbulence caused by stirring, easily causing blockages. Secondly, because there's no unified technique and force, everyone stirs in their own way, and one person's stirring method cannot be referenced by another person's. Many may look similar, but the force and position are completely different. Therefore, when operating, you must fully understand the force and method of stirring, as well as whether the characteristics of the beans can adapt before choosing to use it.

But in the end, all brewing methods actually revolve around adjusting and changing the release order of sour, sweet, and bitter flavor substances. When you understand the principle of flavor release, then which brewing method to use is no longer the focus of consideration. The focus is that you know what kind of taste this brewing method can bring you, so you can use it freely. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee has always adopted the three-stage method as its common brewing method.

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FrontStreet Coffee

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