What's the difference between single-pour and three-pour methods? Why is water pouring necessary in pour-over coffee? What are the advantages of the three-pour method in pour-over coffee?

Pour-over coffee offers numerous pouring methods, from well-known techniques like three-stage pouring, single-stream pouring, and four-to-six ratio pouring, to drip methods—the options are virtually endless!

Despite the variety of brewing methods available, people tend to favor multi-stage pouring techniques. Whether in competitions, café production, or personal brewing, newcomers often wonder and ask FrontStreet Coffee: "Why is pour-over coffee water typically divided into multiple stages?"

What is "Multi-Stage Pouring"?

Multi-stage pouring involves dividing the total water needed for brewing into multiple injections. Since the pre-wetting step has become common practice, our understanding of staging focuses on whether the remaining water is poured in one injection or multiple injections (two or more) after the bloom.

Pouring all remaining water at once after the bloom constitutes single-stream brewing, while dividing it into two or more stages represents three-stage pouring, four-to-six ratio pouring, or other brewing methods. As we can see, the initial question essentially asks: Why do people prefer using multiple pour stages (two or more) compared to the decisive single-stream approach for pour-over coffee? The answer is quite simple—two main reasons drive people toward multi-stage pouring: it improves extraction efficiency and offers greater control over the brewing process.

Advantage 1 of Multi-Stage Pouring: Increased Extraction Rate

The primary advantage of multi-stage pouring over single-pour techniques lies in its ability to increase extraction rates, which involves two contributing factors: First is extraction time! The most obvious difference between multi-stage and single-pour methods is longer extraction time, as multi-stage pouring includes several waiting periods—only after the previous hot water infusion flows down can the next stage begin. Therefore, when we divide the pour into more stages, total extraction time increases due to added waiting periods.

Extraction time refers to the duration water contacts coffee grounds, so longer extraction time yields higher extraction rates. Under identical parameters, multi-stage pouring achieves higher extraction rates than single-stage pouring. Another factor is concentration difference! As we know, coffee extraction occurs primarily through water as a solvent dissolving substances from coffee grounds, mainly driven by concentration differences. Under equal parameters, when coffee concentration in water is lower, substances dissolve faster; when coffee concentration in water is higher, dissolution rate decreases. At this point, FrontStreet Coffee poses a question for your consideration: Why can immersion methods like French press or Clever Dripper brew coffee for ten minutes without over-extraction, while pour-over drip coffee can produce over-extracted coffee in just 2-3 minutes?

Found the answer? One primary reason lies in concentration differences. Immersion methods can withstand extended soaking without over-extraction because the liquid concentration around coffee grounds continuously increases, reducing extraction efficiency. Assuming initial coffee concentration in water is zero, dissolution speed is initially very fast. But as more coffee substances dissolve and water concentration increases, extraction efficiency gradually decreases because concentration inside and outside the grounds equalizes, making further substance extraction difficult.

Pour-over coffee, however, continuously receives "fresh" hot water, constantly "refreshing" the liquid concentration. This explains why immersion methods typically offer higher fault tolerance than drip extraction and are less prone to over-extraction. Though we've digressed slightly, applying this principle to pour-over coffee pouring follows the same logic. If we pour all hot water at once during pour-over brewing, the water in the dripper will experience decreasing extraction rates as coffee concentration increases (since it won't flow through quickly). Multi-stage pouring, however, continuously refreshes water concentration, maintaining extraction efficiency. Therefore, under identical parameters, multi-stage pouring achieves higher extraction rates than single-pour methods. While other factors like pouring efficiency have relatively minor impacts, FrontStreet Coffee won't elaborate on them here.

Advantage 2 of Multi-Stage Pouring: Greater Control

Additionally, it allows better control over extraction time! When dividing pours into two or more stages, we can better control extraction time within our ideal range.

For example, with the same grind setting, coffee particle size varies depending on roast level and processing method, directly affecting coffee liquid permeation speed. FrontStreet Coffee sets extraction time at 2 minutes. To control all coffee beans' extraction time within two minutes, besides adjusting grind size, we can also control water flow rate. FrontStreet Coffee uses three-stage brewing, observing the second-stage water drainage time to determine how to pour the third stage, thereby controlling extraction time. When second-stage water permeates quickly, we reduce third-stage flow rate to extend extraction time; when second-stage water permeates slowly, we increase third-stage flow rate to reduce extraction time (as an example).

However, with single-stream pouring, we can only watch helplessly as hot water clogs or flows through completely, unable to make adjustments. Therefore, combining these two points explains why pour-over coffee is best brewed using multi-stage pouring. Of course, this doesn't mean single-stream brewing is ineffective—single-pour methods simply demand higher parameter compatibility.

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