How to Brew Coffee with a Switch? How to Use Tetsu Kasuya's Smart Glimpse Four-Six Method? How to Make Pourover Coffee with Hybrid Brewing Methods?

"Absolutely Delicious!"

That's how Tetsu Kasuya opens his early videos, introducing the coffee made with his improved hybrid brewing method.

FrontStreet assumes most readers already know Tetsu Kasuya: the 2016 World Brewers Cup Champion and inventor of both the famous "4:6 Method" and the "Hybrid (Devil's) Brewing Method." Both were built around one idea — "anyone can brew delicious coffee" — which makes them simple enough that even beginners can nail a great cup.

Recently, Kasuya improved the hybrid method. The changes are just two small moves in the brewing process, but they noticeably boost stability and uniformity, making delicious coffee easier to repeat. Today FrontStreet breaks down exactly what this new version entails.

The New Hybrid Brewing Method

What is hybrid brewing? Easy — it's a method that combines two extraction approaches: "immersion" and "drip." Immersion steeps the coffee in water; drip washes water over it. Hybrid brewing uses both within a single brew, an uncommon approach that requires a clever dripper with a valve, since the grounds need to steep for a period of time.

Because the hybrid method descends from the 4:6 method, their theory is identical — only the operation differs. The 4:6 method splits total water into a first 40% and a last 60%: the first 40% sets the flavor direction (the acidity-sweetness balance), and the last 60% sets the texture.

The hybrid method uses the same 40/60 split, but with fewer pours and immersion folded in. The 4:6 method runs five pours — the first two totaling 40%, the last three totaling 60%. The hybrid method keeps the first two pours as drip extraction, then collapses the last three into one pour — still 60% of the water — but extracted by immersion instead of drip. The trick is simply closing the clever dripper's valve before pouring.

Since immersion plus a long steep can dissolve unwanted compounds, the water temperature for that final segment is lowered. The new version goes further: the opening bloom changes from drip to immersion, and the last 60% is split into two pours — one drip, one immersion. The point is to let the grounds fully contact water during the bloom for thorough degassing, making subsequent extraction more uniform and stable.

That's the theory — now FrontStreet demonstrates the brew.

How to Brew the New Hybrid Method

For this demonstration we're using FrontStreet's Emerald Manor · Diamond Mountain from our bean menu. Parameters:

Dripper: Hario V60 Clever Dripper
Coffee: 20 g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind: fine-sugar, Ek43 setting 10 (75% pass on a #20 sieve)
Water temperature: 92°C for the first three segments, 70°C for the last

First, close the valve, then pour twice the coffee's weight in water for a 40-second bloom (thorough degassing).

After the bloom, open the valve and drain the liquid. Once it finishes dripping, pour the second segment — 80 ml (scale showing 120 ml) — in small circles from the center outward, within 20–30 seconds.

When most of the liquid has drawn down, keep the valve open and pour the third segment: another 80 ml, scale showing 200 ml, again in small circles.

While it drains, add room-temperature water to your kettle to cool it to 70–80°C. At about 2:10, once the dripper has drained, close the valve and pour the remaining 100 ml of hot water all at once for a 35-second immersion.

At 2:45, open the valve to end the immersion, let everything drain, then lift off the dripper — extraction complete!

Total time: 3 minutes 20 seconds. Far slower than conventional brewing, yes — but with the lower temperature and extra immersion, the coffee shows no over-extracted flaws. Instead it's exceptional: citrus, berries, and apricot all clearly expressed, balanced, noticeably sweet, with a honey-smooth, rich texture and a long oolong-tea finish. That's the new hybrid method. As Kasuya himself says, treat this process as a template — everyone's palate, gear, and beans differ, so understand the principles, customize freely, and the cup will only get better. That philosophy is exactly what FrontStreet has always shared.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The hybrid method flatters almost any bean, but beginners should start with these three. For Africa's floral-fruity signature, the washed Yirgacheffe is the classic first cup: bright lemon acidity, delicate white florals, and a clean green-tea finish — the "Yirgacheffe flavor" that made the region famous after its washing stations set it apart from Sidama. Asia's answer is the medium-dark Indonesian Mandheling, whose wet-hulled processing over Sumatra's volcanic, rainy terroir yields herbal, spice-laden depth — the world's most full-bodied coffee, and a haven for anyone who dislikes acidity. For the Americas, the Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon, pulped-natural and medium roasted, shows cream, peanut, chocolate, and toffee, and brews happily by pour-over, moka pot, espresso machine, French press, siphon, or clever cup.

And if you want one bean that does everything, the natural Huakui from Guji's Hambella region — grown near 2300 meters under big day-night swings — offers guava, strawberry, and dried-mango sweetness with a black-tea finish at a daily-driver price. It shines through drip, immersion, cold brew, or even a moka pot, always tasting like a floral-fruit tea. Home espresso or moka pot owners on a budget should grab the Dark Cocoa Basic Blend (Yunnan small-bean + Brazil Red Bourbon): nuts, creamy chocolate, cocoa-cookie aromas, and balanced Americanos or lattes with golden crema.