How to Pour-Over Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee: Characteristics, Flavor Profile, and Brewing Methods - Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Brewing Guide with Grind Size and Water Temperature Parameters

It's often said that expensive coffee beans must be brewed carefully to avoid waste. However, FrontStreet Coffee believes that any good coffee beans deserve careful brewing to avoid waste. Nowadays, there are many methods for brewing coffee, and people's love and pursuit of coffee extends far beyond cafés. More people are seeking the joy of brewing coffee at home.

As a premium coffee in the world and one of the most aromatic coffees globally, how should FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee be brewed to fully appreciate its flavor? Regarding this, FrontStreet Coffee would like to share our experience with hand-brewing Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee.

For brewing, FrontStreet Coffee categorizes coffee beans into light-to-medium roast and medium-to-dark roast, as different roast levels require different equipment and water temperatures. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee beans are roasted to a medium-dark level by FrontStreet Coffee's roasters. Additionally, it's essential to understand the coffee characteristics and general flavor profiles of the producing country.

Although FrontStreet Coffee has provided considerable information about Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee, it's still necessary to first understand Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee. While there may be many coffees labeled as Blue Mountain Coffee on the market, only those produced in Jamaica can be considered genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

The Blue Mountains are located in the eastern part of Jamaica. The mountains are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, and on clear days when the sun shines directly on the azure sea surface, the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence the name. The highest peak of the Blue Mountains reaches 2,256 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. This area lies within the coffee belt, featuring fertile volcanic soil, fresh air free from pollution, humid climate, and year-round fog and rain (average precipitation of 1,980 mm, temperature around 27°C). Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, which also commands the highest price in the world.

This coffee possesses all the characteristics of fine coffee - not only is it rich and aromatic, but due to the perfect balance of coffee's sweetness, acidity, and bitterness, it has no bitter taste and only a moderate, perfect acidity. It's typically consumed as a single-origin coffee. However, due to its extremely limited production and incredibly high price, it's generally blended with coffees that have similar flavors on the market.

As everyone can see, Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee is grown at high altitudes, but Blue Mountain Coffee grading is based on altitude and bean size.

Blue Mountain Coffee Varieties

Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee belongs to the ancient coffee variety - Typica. In today's coffee varieties, truly ancient varieties are quite rare. However, even Blue Mountain Coffee with Typica lineage is not necessarily genuine Blue Mountain - only those grown at specific high altitudes can be called true Blue Mountain Coffee and possess the qualification to be crowned king.

The Frontsteet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee introduced by FrontStreet Coffee comes from the Clifton Farm. Clifton Farm is the largest estate in this region, and by international standards, it's still considered small-scale cultivation, with many estate owners being small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries. Through comparison, FrontStreet Coffee believes that Clifton Farm's Blue Mountain No. 1 performs exceptionally well and can serve as one of the outstanding representatives of Blue Mountain Coffee.

Blue Mountain Coffee Processing Methods

Previously, Blue Mountain Coffee only used washed processing, but later, natural processing was also introduced. FrontStreet Coffee offers both natural and washed processed Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee.

How to Properly Hand-Brew Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee Beans?

FrontStreet Coffee believes that brewing a good pot of coffee mainly involves four aspects: water temperature, grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, and brewing technique.

1. Water Temperature

When brewing pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee selects different water temperatures based on different roast levels. During roasting, the substances contained in coffee beans are lost as the roast level deepens. Therefore, to avoid extracting excessive bitterness from dark roast coffee beans, the temperature is reduced. For light-to-medium roast beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using water temperature of 90-91°C, while for medium-dark roast, 88°C is recommended.

This Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee is primarily known for its rich body and balanced flavors. To highlight the richness of Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting.

2. Grind Size

Coffee grind size is also related to the roast level. Grind size refers to the size of coffee particles because it affects the contact time between coffee and water. The finer the coffee grounds, the more substances water can extract in the same amount of time. However, with fine grinds, coffee is prone to over-extraction during the brewing process. Conversely, the coarser the coffee grind, the fewer substances water can extract in the same time, but with coarser grinds, coffee is prone to under-extraction.

Additionally, since everyone's grinder is different, the parameters vary. Here, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing a #20 cupping calibration sieve with 0.85mm aperture. Take 10g of coffee beans, adjust to an approximate grind size, grind into coffee powder, then pour into the sieve for sifting. Weigh the sifted coffee powder (continue sifting until no more coffee powder can pass through).

A pass rate of 70%-75% (10g of powder yields 7-7.5g) indicates the optimal grind size. The pour-over grind sizes are: 80% for light roast, and 75% for medium-dark roast. If the pass rate exceeds the optimal range, adjust the grind coarser. If it doesn't reach the optimal pass rate, adjust the grind finer.

3. Coffee-to-Water Ratio

This is based on the pour-over coffee extraction parameters derived by FrontStreet Coffee from SCAA Golden Cup extraction theory:

[Bold Flavor] 1:10-1:11 (equivalent to Golden Cup standard 1:12.5-1:13.5)

[Medium Flavor] 1:12-1:13 (equivalent to Golden Cup standard 1:14.5-1:15.5)

[Light Flavor] 1:14-1:16 (equivalent to Golden Cup standard 1:16.5-1:18.5)

A coffee bean-to-water ratio of 1:14.5-1:15.5 most easily achieves the Golden Cup extraction rate of 18%-22% and concentration range of 1.15%-1.35%.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using the foolproof 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio when brewing this Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee. Of course, adjustments can be made according to individual taste preferences.

4. Brewing Technique

Finally, the pour-over technique is also very important. Common techniques include three-stage pouring, single-stream pouring, drip-by-drip pouring, and more. Here, FrontStreet Coffee recommends beginners use the three-stage pouring method because this technique works well for light roast, light-to-medium, and medium-dark roast coffee beans. The segmented extraction method of three-stage pouring can clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee, better ensuring flavor presentation.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share the three-stage pouring method for hand-brewing Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee.

Three-Stage Brewing Method:

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the excellent flavor of Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee lies in its balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes, rich body, and full aroma. For roasting, FrontStreet Coffee chose medium-dark roasting to highlight the nutty and cocoa aromas of the coffee beans. Using a KONO dripper can achieve better body richness. Water temperature 88°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, coffee dose 15g, grind size (China #20 standard sieve pass rate 75%).

First Pour: Bloom (helps degassing)

First, wet the KONO dripper to ensure the filter paper fits snugly against the coffee dripper. Pour out the water from the sharing pot and add 15g of coffee grounds. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Many coffee enthusiasts don't understand why pour-over coffee needs blooming. Actually, blooming occurs because coffee beans undergo a series of chemical reactions and physical changes during the roasting process from green beans to roasted beans. After reaching a certain roast level, coffee beans accumulate large amounts of gas (mostly carbon dioxide).

Generally, the fresher the coffee and the closer to roasting date, the more bubbles during blooming. Dark roast beans also release more gas during blooming than light roast beans. FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans are freshly roasted, so we generally recommend customers let the beans rest for three days first, allowing the coffee beans to release carbon dioxide preferentially, which can avoid instability and under-extraction issues during brewing.

After degassing during blooming, coffee particles can absorb water evenly, allowing for uniform extraction in later stages. Good blooming allows coffee grounds to quickly and evenly release gas while also enabling coffee grounds to fully and quickly contact water, helping achieve uniform extraction. This is precisely the purpose and significance of blooming in pour-over coffee.

Second Pour

After blooming for 30 seconds, perform the second pour. Start with small circular pours in the center until reaching 125g, then stop. To concentrate the water column's penetrating power, the circular movement range should be small, about the size of a one-yuan coin, then expand outward. From the second water addition, pay attention to the water level, trying not to exceed the height of the coffee bed. That is, when the water column approaches close to the filter paper, you can stop pouring.

Third Pour

Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the dripper's height, then use the same technique to pour the second segment until reaching 225g. Once all dripping is complete, remove the dripper. Time from the first pour, total extraction time is 2'00".

From the third water addition, observe the drop in water level.同样是从中心开始给水绕圈，水量不要超过粉层高度，这时也会观察到泡沫比例已经占满表面，第三次注水就要加大咖啡颗粒翻滚，让沉积的颗粒全部翻滚，进而溶解出可溶性物质。

The tumbling particles will begin to settle when water addition stops. At this point, the flow rate caused by the dropping water level creates friction between coffee particles. Once water addition stops, coffee particles sink, causing blockages. Therefore, pay special attention to the rhythm of water addition. If there are too many interruptions, it's equivalent to letting coffee particles continuously soak in water, which will lead to astringency and off-flavors in the tail-end extraction.

Next, pick up the entire pot of coffee and shake it gently, then pour into cups for tasting.

The above are the steps for FrontStreet Coffee to brew Frontsteet Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations:

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that coffee freshness is a crucial factor. Fresh coffee beans allow for the maximum appreciation of coffee's rich flavors. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands the significant impact of coffee bean freshness on flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee upon receipt. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans, which is also fine. However, FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for bean resting because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the package can also help mellow the coffee flavor. Therefore, you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because ground coffee oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

[Frontsteet Natural Blue Mountain Coffee Flavor] Slight berry acidity, reminiscent of dark plums and mulberries, with excellent overall balance, rich dark chocolate and nutty flavors, with a slight fermented sensation.

[Frontsteet Washed Blue Mountain Coffee Flavor] Rich dark chocolate and nutty flavors, creamy smooth mouthfeel, with balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that pour-over coffee is actually simple when you think about it - the key is to practice more. Practice makes perfect, and brewing good coffee becomes an easy task.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's personal WeChat: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473