The Choice of Pour-Over Kettle Spout is Also Important for Brewing! What Kind of Water Flow Will Different Spouts Produce?

Many beginners often find themselves puzzled after brewing their own coffee. Despite using the same beans, parameters, and brewing techniques as coffee shops, they wonder why their coffee doesn't taste as delicious as that from a professional café.

Some friends brought this question to FrontStreet Coffee, only to discover that the culprit was actually the gooseneck spout of the pour-over kettle! Although the brewing method was identical, the different spout designs resulted in completely different water streams! Today, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to select the right gooseneck spout for your pour-over kettle.

What are the differences between gooseneck spouts?

The shape of a pour-over kettle's spout is a crucial factor that affects water stream stability. When brewing skills are not yet fully developed, water flow control is primarily determined by the spout design. The size and width differences of spouts directly impact water stream formation and pouring difficulty. Therefore, for beginners, choosing the right spout is extremely important when selecting a pour-over kettle!

The most common spout designs on the market include flat spouts, cut-flat spouts, hawk spouts, crane spouts, and elephant trunk spouts! Each design serves different functions, and they are also categorized by spout diameter into narrow and wide openings.

Narrow Spout Kettles

As the name suggests, narrow spout kettles feature extremely slender spouts with limited space for water flow, resulting in smaller, concentrated water streams with strong impact force! Compared to wide-spout kettles, this design is more beginner-friendly, allowing users to pour uniform, powerful water streams without extensive practice! The only drawback is that the narrow spout cannot produce large water flows, offering limited operational flexibility. Additionally, the concentrated water stream tends to form parabolic trajectories, potentially causing landing point deviations.

Wide Spout Kettles

Wide spout kettles offer greater versatility! Because of their wider openings, once you've mastered their use, you can control water flow freely to meet demanding brewing techniques that require large water volumes! The downside, however, is that they're less beginner-friendly. The wider opening and larger water flow require considerable practice to master flow control.

Hawk Spout Kettles

Some spout designs feature a curved flow guide at the tip, which helps baristas create more vertical water streams. Compared to other spout types, these kettles don't require excessive tilting to produce vertical streams at the same water volume! Additionally, the downward-curved spout prevents water backflow.

Flat Spout Kettles

Honestly, FrontStreet Coffee finds flat spouts the most challenging to control! A flat spout has a level opening like a horizontal plane, lacking the curved flow guide of other designs, making it difficult to easily form vertical water streams. Improper pouring can easily result in parabolic water streams! However, if you can "tame" this type, using other spouts becomes effortless. After all, once you've defeated the final boss, won't everything else seem easier?

Cut-Flat Spout Kettles

Viewed from the side, this spout features a perfectly flat diagonal opening, as if cut by a knife. Compared to flat spouts, it's easier to pour vertical water streams while accommodating both small and large flows. It offers wide applicability with moderate operational difficulty. Therefore, many modern pour-over kettles have adopted this type of spout design.

Crane Spout Kettles

The crane spout gets its name from its resemblance to a crane's beak when viewed from the side! The spout neck tapers from wide to narrow, creating concentrated, penetrating water streams. Of course, the operational difficulty is relatively high, requiring continuous practice to achieve proficiency before stable use!

Elephant Trunk Spout Kettles

Like the crane spout, the elephant trunk spout is named for its appearance! Its neck also features a triangular streamlined design, tapering from wide to narrow with a gradual constriction from the kettle body to the spout tip. The spout is relatively narrow. Therefore, its water flow is gentler compared to crane spout kettles!

What to do if you've already bought a pour-over kettle that doesn't feel right?

Many friends only realize their pour-over kettle doesn't feel comfortable after purchasing and using it. Since used products typically cannot be returned, most people try to make it feel more natural through continued use and improved proficiency. However, besides improving skills, there's actually another method to make it more "cooperative"!

For example, the pour-over kettle used at FrontStreet Coffee is a Hario copper kettle with a cut-flat spout. When used without proficiency, it easily produces parabolic water streams, causing landing point deviations that affect brewing! Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee modified it!

(Left: Before modification, Right: After modification) The specific process involves using a file to grind the spout until it develops a curved shape, creating a downward-curved hawk spout tip – and the modification is complete! The modified pour-over kettle not only retains its original aesthetic design but also incorporates the more user-friendly hawk spout features – simply perfect! Of course, FrontStreet Coffee is just sharing an idea; the modification process is quite challenging. If you're not careful, you could file it incorrectly (damaging it), making it difficult to correct! Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that if your hands-on skills aren't strong, improving your proficiency would be the better choice.

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