The Simplest Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Method Revealed! What's the Difference Between One-Pour and Single-Pour Techniques?

A Pop Quiz from FrontStreet Coffee: What's the First Step in Pour-Over Brewing?

That's right, it's blooming. Through blooming we release the carbon dioxide in the grounds that would hinder extraction, achieving efficient extraction. That is why the vast majority of brewing methods include a bloom.

There is one brewing method, though, that skips this preparatory step entirely. Not only that, it is extremely simple to operate. As FrontStreet Coffee said in the title, it may just be the simplest brewing method there is. This is the "One-Pour" method, created by Tetsu Kasuya, the famous inventor of the 4:6 brewing method and the 2016 World Barista Champion.

What Is One-Pour Brewing?

In 2019, Tetsu Kasuya introduced the "One-Pour" method. One-Pour can be understood as pouring all the water at once. Because its name is somewhat similar to "One-Stream" brewing, people often mistake One-Pour and One-Stream for the same thing.

In reality they are completely different methods. One-Stream divides the total water into two pours (bloom and main extraction), while One-Pour adds all the water at once, with no bloom. Procedurally, the only difference between the two is the presence or absence of blooming, but because of exactly that change, the parameters used and the taste of the brewed coffee differ considerably. FrontStreet Coffee recently shared on One-Stream brewing, so we won't go further here. Let's look at the One-Pour method invented by Tetsu Kasuya.

In the Japanese coffee magazine "CAEFRS" we can see the specific procedure and parameters. For equipment, he uses a size 02 V60 dripper. For parameters, he uses 30g of coffee grounds, a 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio, 95°C water, and a very fine grind. He pours 300ml of hot water all at once within 15 seconds, with an ideal extraction time of around 1 minute and 30 seconds.

This is a classic high-concentration, low-extraction approach. By increasing the coffee dose and reducing the water, the coffee doesn't need to reach a high extraction rate, because flavor intensity can be made up through concentration. Grinding finer and raising the water temperature lets brewing finish in a short time, achieving a relatively good extraction rate even with a single pour. That is why One-Pour brewing has no blooming step.

It is worth mentioning that since all the water goes in over a short time, pouring doesn't demand much technique. We simply use a large water flow and keep circling. Isn't that simple?

Important Considerations for One-Pour Brewing

Although One-Pour is extremely simple, there are quite a few things to watch for. FrontStreet Coffee will first share some important considerations, then move on to brewing.

1. Dripper Selection: As with One-Stream, when preparing to brew with One-Pour it is best to use a size 02 large dripper, depending on the coffee dose. Because the hot water is poured all at once, a dripper that is too small will struggle to "hold" all of it. So when choosing a dripper, go for size 02 or larger.

2. Bean Selection: Although this method suits beans of any roast, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend pairing it with medium to light roast beans. Dark roast won't taste bad, but its rich body and high sweet aftertaste are hard to showcase. Beans with a fresh, bright character suit this method better.

3. Coffee Grinding: The book doesn't specify an exact grind size, so during brewing we can watch the completion time. When the cup shows obvious negative flavors from under- or over-extraction, or when the brew time is too fast or too slow, we can adjust the grind to fix the problem. If the flavor isn't strong enough and the extraction time is too short, grind finer. If the taste is bitter and the time too long, grind coarser.

4. Pouring Direction: Although we don't need to control the flow much while pouring, try to keep circling in one direction. This extracts the grounds more evenly and prevents all of them from piling at the bottom and causing a blockage.

How to Brew with the One-Pour Method

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate how to brew with One-Pour. To be honest, it is hardly a demonstration, since it is just pouring hot water. For this brew FrontStreet Coffee uses Colombia La Esperanza Geisha, a honey-processed medium-light roast. Because honey processing leaves a lot of sugar attached to the beans, more caramelization happens during roasting, making extraction easier.

Parameters are as follows: - Coffee amount: 20g - Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:10 - Brewing water temperature: 95°C - Grind level: Ek43 setting 7 (normally 9.5), slightly finer than granulated sugar - Dripper used: 02 V60 - Brewing method: One-Pour

First, prepare everything and pour the grounds into the dripper. After that, use any object to "dig" a pit in the middle of the coffee bed. This lets hot water contact the grounds at the bottom better, making extraction more even.

Then pick up the pour-over kettle and pour all 200ml of hot water in a large flow, in a spiral like a mosquito coil. The spiral starts at the center and gradually expands outward. On reaching the outermost circle, pause briefly, then repeat the large circles, and gradually move back inward in a spiral, trying to pour all the hot water within 15 seconds.

Once pouring is done, we simply wait for the coffee to finish dripping through the filter, and extraction is complete.

Total time was 1 minute and 36 seconds, quite close to what Tetsu Kasuya considers ideal. Now for the flavor: drinking the coffee, we can clearly detect grape, rose, and berry notes with a black tea finish. The sweet and sour notes are prominent, and the texture is very smooth.

Using a concentration meter, we measured the coffee at 1.82% concentration and 16.1% extraction, definitely high concentration and low extraction. Although the concentration reaches 1.82%, it doesn't taste bitter or thin at all. On the contrary, it is very easy to drink with prominent flavor, an acceptable taste and concentration.

So if you struggle to brew coffee well or find regular methods too troublesome, why not try One-Pour brewing? It is both simple and effective.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

One-Pour suits fresh, bright beans, and FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Guodingding fits the bill. Washed in the most traditional style at a cooperative in the Worka area, it carries vivid citrus, berry, and floral notes with a green-tea sweetness on the finish, and its acidity is soft and bright rather than sharp, so it stays clean and lively even at high concentration.

For a more aromatic, fruit-forward cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui delivers striking tropical notes of strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee, with obvious sweetness and very little bitterness. If you want to keep exploring washed, high-altitude coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Boquete Geisha shows the classic orange-blossom honey character with an oolong tea-like body and a fine sweet-tart fruit profile.