How to Brew with Single-Pour Technique? What to Pay Attention to in Pour-Over Coffee Brewing? Is Single-Pour One or Two-Stage Water Addition?

The Gentle Approach of FrontStreet Coffee

Those familiar with FrontStreet Coffee's brewing style should know that for all beginners, FrontStreet Coffee has always recommended prioritizing conservative parameters and techniques for brewing coffee, emphasizing gentleness, stability, and elegance.

However, in the world of coffee enthusiasts, we can see many interesting innovative techniques. They not only boldly use tricky parameters but also tend to emphasize technique more, such as the "Single-Pour Tornado Brew" that FrontStreet Coffee will try today. Just hearing the name tells you it's not simple.

What is "Single-Pour Tornado"?

First, everyone must be familiar with "single-pour brewing." Simply put, it involves dividing the target water amount into two separate pours - one for blooming and one for main extraction. Since there's no pause in between, the brewed coffee typically features a light body, bright acidity, and a clean finish.

As the name suggests, "Single-Pour Tornado" adds the "tornado technique" to the single-pour method, which should be a rather "aggressive" brewing approach. So here comes the question - we've all heard about tornadoes in the news, but what does "tornado" mean in pour-over coffee, and how exactly does it "spin"?

How to Master the Tornado Technique?

FrontStreet Coffee has summarized brewing plans shared by various enthusiasts, and the mainstream "Single-Pour Tornado" technique is generally divided into three stages: the degassing blooming phase, the rapid circular water distribution phase, and the fixed-point high-flow "vortex creation" phase.

Considering that single-pour brewing only has one pour of hot water after blooming to wash through the coffee grounds, which lasts for a shorter time compared to segmented extraction, and the swirling technique creates significant turbulence in the continuously rising water level, which can easily lead to under-extraction, the parameters need to be adjusted with finer grinding and higher water temperature.

Without further ado, FrontStreet Coffee will now use the recently favored Ethiopian Natural Sidamo G1 coffee beans to recreate this method. For comparison, we'll also brew another pot using regular parameters with the standard single-pour technique.

Standard Single-Pour Group

Coffee Beans: Ethiopian Natural Sidamo G1
Dose: 16g
Ratio: 1:15
Temperature: 91°C
Grind: 80% through #20 sieve (EK43s setting: 10)
Dripper: Hario V60 (resin)

Brewing Method: Single-Pour

Process: First, use a small water flow to pour 30-35g of hot water from center outward in circular motions for blooming, allowing the entire coffee bed to become saturated and enter the degassing state. After 30 seconds, begin the second pour, imitating mosquito coil patterns and pouring the remaining hot water evenly in outward circular motions. End extraction when all coffee has dripped into the server, with a total time of approximately 1 minute 46 seconds.

Single-Pour Tornado Group

Coffee Beans: Ethiopian Natural Sidamo G1
Dose: 16g
Ratio: 1:15
Temperature: 94°C
Grind: 85% through #20 sieve (EK43s setting: 7)
Dripper: Hario V60 (resin)

Brewing Method: Single-Pour Tornado

Process: The first blooming pour follows the same steps as the standard single-pour method, with 30-35g of hot water for 30 seconds. Immediately after, also use the center-outward circular technique for the second pour. Note that the water flow should be appropriately higher, and the circular speed should be faster than during blooming to increase agitation of the coffee grounds.

When the water level in the dripper reaches about 40-50% full (around 40-45 seconds), move the water outlet to one side of the dripper while lowering the spout as close to the liquid surface as possible. Maintain high water flow with fixed-point, unidirectional pouring. At this point, you can see the upper layer of foam start to rotate as the hot water drives the coffee particles into motion.

When the scale shows 240g, immediately stop pouring. Finally, wait for all the coffee to drip into the server. The entire process should be maintained between 1 minute 20-30 seconds.

When FrontStreet Coffee placed the two drippers side by side for comparison, we could see that the coffee bed brewed with the Single-Pour Tornado method was deeper, with the coffee wall thinned to a height nearly flush with the dripper edge. Even though the coffee was ground very finely, no blockage occurred during the entire pouring process. Of course, the most important aspect is the flavor performance.

The standard single-pour Natural Sidamo displayed aromas of mango, lemon, grape, and green tea, with bright acidity and a refreshing mouthfeel, but the flavors were relatively weak. In contrast, the Sidamo brewed with the Single-Pour Tornado method had more fermentation aromas, primarily featuring preserved fruit, peach, cherry, guava, and blueberry flavors, with a slight tea-like quality and citrus fruit fragrance upon entry. It had higher body and a thicker texture.

What Effects When Brewing Other Coffee Beans with "Single-Pour Tornado"?

To obtain more comparative data, FrontStreet Coffee experimented twice more using the same technique, brewing one pot of medium-light roasted Tanzania Washed Kilimanjaro and one pot of dark roasted Indonesia Mandheling Lintong (paired with a Kono dripper). However, the results were somewhat underwhelming.

The Tanzania brewed with the Single-Pour Tornado method primarily showed citrus-like fruit acidity, with thin aromas, monotonous layers, and a slight woody taste in the finish. It's suspected that the coffee experienced both over-extraction and under-extraction in different parts. Meanwhile, the Mandheling, with high temperature and fine grinding, exhibited an overwhelming smoky sensation, lacking many positive aromas.

Thus, it's clear that compared to standard single-pour brewing, this swirling rinsing technique pairs with relatively extreme parameters, and the later stage involves extensive rotation and tumbling, causing the coffee to release undesirable flavors. Therefore, when using this technique to brew coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing balanced flavor profiles as extraction targets, such as some medium-roasted beans.

How to Create a "Tornado"?

From the above steps, the most challenging operation is undoubtedly the final "vortex creation" stage. In principle, it's actually about utilizing details like water flow size, angle, and height to make the hot water in the dripper drive coffee particles into high-speed motion, creating a "vortex-like" spiral.

Therefore, we not only need to constantly observe the movement direction of coffee particles but also make timely adjustments according to changes in water level within the dripper. After multiple attempts, FrontStreet Coffee believes that maintaining 3 details can quickly create a "tornado": keep the spout as close to the liquid surface as possible, direct the water flow toward the dripper edge, and increase the water flow.

When performing the Single-Pour Tornado technique to brew coffee, it certainly provides better visual appeal and makes it easier to achieve a uniform, deep crater. However, precisely because the technique is quite "tricky," achieving even extraction of the coffee bed requires higher standards for the brewer's flow control and circular pouring skills. It's probably not easy to imitate without considerable brewing experience.

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