How to Brew Pour-Over Coffee with the Single-Pour Tornado Method? What's the Difference Between Single-Pour and Three-Stage Brewing?

Introduction to Single-Pour Brewing

Single-pour brewing is a method that many coffee enthusiasts encounter when first learning pour-over techniques. This approach divides the total water injection into two stages: one for blooming and another for main extraction. Since this coincides with the meaning of a Japanese swordsmanship school "Ittō-ryū" (Single Sword Style), this brewing method was named "Single-Pour."

The Tornado Variation

Did you know that single-pour brewing actually has a "fancy" variation? Compared to conventional single-pour brewing, this "fancy" version offers an ultimate visual experience. This fancy version of single-pour brewing is commonly known as "Single-Pour Tornado." (For those unfamiliar with single-pour brewing, FrontStreet Coffee suggests first gaining some understanding from the article "Single-Pour Brewing Isn't Simple")

Understanding the Tornado Effect

As the name suggests, this method uses physical disturbance to create a "tornado" phenomenon in the filter cup! Moreover, the coffee bed after brewing will be more uniform and deeper than conventional single-pour brewing (limited to certain beans, such as low-density, dark-roasted varieties). Although the Single-Pour Tornado offers superior visual effects compared to conventional single-pour brewing, its brewing difficulty is also higher. FrontStreet Coffee mentions that the difficulties mainly fall into two aspects: one is creating intense rotational movement of liquid in the filter cup to form a vortex; the other is ensuring adequate coffee extraction while forming the vortex, as it makes complete extraction more challenging than the conventional version!

Mastering the Technique

But don't worry, it's just slightly more difficult than conventional single-pour brewing. As long as we understand the principles of vortex formation in the filter cup and the reasons for inadequate extraction, we can "target the root cause" and achieve sufficient extraction rates while creating a vortex! Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to create a "vortex" in the filter cup!

Creating the Tornado Effect

How does the Single-Pour Tornado "twist"? The vortex forms at the end of the second stage of water injection during single-pour brewing's main extraction phase, because only when there's enough water volume and strong water flow can the liquid in the filter cup be guided to rotate and form a vortex. The specific method is quite simple - we just need to find a suitable position after raising the coffee bed and inject water directionally, at a fixed point, and in large quantities. "Directional" is easy to understand - control the water injection direction to match the circular direction when raising the coffee bed; "fixed point" means trying to stay in one position without left-right movement, but up-down movement is acceptable (because the water flow needs some impact force); "large quantity" water injection goes without saying - just pour water vigorously into the filter cup!

Troubleshooting and Tips

Doesn't it look completely effortless? That's right, creating a vortex is that simple! Many friends might protest at this point because many have used the same method but failed to create a vortex. The reason for failing to create a vortex is most likely that the angle wasn't correct, and the injected water flow couldn't make the liquid in the filter cup rotate. Here FrontStreet Coffee shares a few tips to increase the chances of vortex formation: first, keep the kettle spout as close to the filter cup edge as possible, which reduces turbulence and makes vortex formation easier; second, increase the water volume in the kettle, which helps increase water flow; third is to inject water at an angled position on the filter cup wall! That's right, the cup wall! This allows the water flow to create counter-rotating eddies by touching obstacles.

Understanding Bypass Water

However, this method promotes the generation of bypass water. Bypass water refers to hot water that doesn't contact the coffee grounds and fails to contribute to extraction. During brewing, passively generated bypass water can cause uneven extraction, making the coffee less enjoyable. Therefore, when friends decide to use this water injection method, it's best to choose filter cups with fewer flow ribs that make bypass water difficult to generate, such as Kono, Mola, etc.

Brewing Better Coffee with Single-Pour Tornado

How to brew a good cup of coffee with Single-Pour Tornado? As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned at the beginning, compared to conventional single-pour brewing, the tornado version is more difficult to brew good coffee. The reason is that conventional single-pour brewing's hot water is injected all at once, but not quickly, so water and coffee grounds have ample contact time and more stirring次数. Single-Pour Tornado brewing needs to obtain thrust through large water injection in a short time, so hot water will be injected and flow through quickly. This reduces the contact time between coffee and water and the number of water flow stirrings, naturally decreasing overall extraction efficiency.

Optimizing Extraction Parameters

When extraction time and stirring frequency are reduced, we need to compensate for the lost efficiency by increasing the extraction efficiency of other parameters. Water temperature and grind size are two aspects that can be enhanced. Additionally, we can extend extraction time by switching to slower-flow filter cups. For example, the Kono and Mola mentioned earlier are excellent choices.

Practical Brewing Guide

Alright, without further ado! Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to brew with the Single-Pour Tornado method.

Brewing Share

Like most brewing methods, Single-Pour Tornado is suitable for brewing all coffee beans. However, if you want to achieve a uniform and deep coffee bed, it's best to choose some lower-density dark-roasted coffee beans. If you don't need that, you can choose freely. FrontStreet Coffee chose a medium-roasted Panama Butterfly for this brewing session, with brewing parameters as follows:

• Coffee amount: 18g
• Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
• Grind level: Ek43 setting 7, 85% pass-through rate on #20 sieve (conventional brewing uses Ek43 setting 10, 75% pass-through rate)
• Water temperature: 96°C (conventional brewing uses 92°C)
• Brewing method: Single-Pour Tornado
• Filter cup used: V60

Brewing Steps

Step 1: Blooming! We still start with twice the amount of coffee grounds (36ml) for a 30-second bloom to release gases!

After blooming ends, we inject all remaining hot water (234ml) in one go. But it needs to be divided into two phases: the first phase uses large water flow in large circles to raise the coffee bed.

When the coffee bed is raised to more than half of the filter cup (about 6/10 full), we need to find the right position and inject water directionally, at a fixed point, and in large quantities to form a vortex.

After all hot water is injected, we just need to wait for the coffee to finish dripping, then remove the filter cup to end extraction!

Results and Recommendations

Due to the very fast water injection rate, FrontStreet Coffee completed the 234ml hot water injection in just 1 minute, with total extraction time of 1 minute 34 seconds. By measuring concentration, we obtained an extraction rate of 19.7%, indicating that the coffee should have received sufficient extraction (final conclusion needs to be combined with tasting). Through tasting, we can confirm that the coffee showed no negative flavors, with white floral notes, citrus, honey, and green tea flavors all well-expressed, though the mouthfeel was slightly thin. Overall, the experience was quite good. Although lacking in mouthfeel, as long as we switch from V60 to other bypass-free filter cups, this deficiency in mouthfeel can be compensated. If interested, you can also try this at home. However, before officially starting brewing, FrontStreet Coffee still suggests practicing water injection first. When we can create a vortex in the filter cup with just water, then start the actual operation - this can effectively avoid waste! (Remember to add a little coffee powder in the filter cup, which makes it easier to observe water flow direction)

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