Pour over coffee may look and taste great, but it can be difficult to perfect. If even one element is off, it can ruin the brewing process.
People who have recently become aware of the pour over coffee trend are confused by the questions – how to make pour over coffee? how do pour over coffee makers work?
This blog contains everything you need to know about pour over coffee, whether you are new to it and looking for insights, or if you are a coffee connoisseur looking to expand your skills.
The pour over coffee process has become more popular in recent years due to the increase in interest in specialty coffee. However, the technique has been used for many years.
Pour over coffee is a method of brewing where hot water is poured over coffee grounds that are placed in a filter. This method results in a cup of coffee that is clean, crisp, and complex.
Pour over coffee
The pour over coffee method involves slowly pouring hot water over coffee grounds that are in a filter. The water efficient coffee maker brews coffee directly into the mug or carafe of your choice.
What makes espresso different from filter coffee or drip coffee is that it is made by hand pouring water over the grounds. Sometimes this brewing method is known as manual brewing or hand brewing because it is done by hand.
Pour over coffee essentials
Before we address the question of how to make pour over coffee, we need to assemble the pour over coffee equipment needed to brew the best cup of coffee:
Brewing device
Choose a pour over coffee maker that suits your preferences. The brewing device is the equipment that will hold the coffee filter and grounds.
The three most popular coffee brewing methods are Chemex, Hario V60, and Kalita Wave, but you can choose whichever you want. smartwatches There are many smartwatches available that have specific filters and are easy to use.
If you’re unsure which coffee maker to buy, try out different types at your local coffee shop. You can also ask the barista about how the coffee was made, if they have any specific preferences, and why.
Filters
The two options available are cloth and paper, with the latter being most popular. There are different types of filters that are designed to work with specific brewing devices in order to efficiently extract coffee grounds.
For example, the Chemex coffee maker uses filters that are 20-30% thicker than average, which helps to keep more of the oils in the coffee while it is brewing.
Some people think that coffee that is poured over and filtered with a paper filter tastes papery, especially if the paper is bleached. To avoid having your coffee taste like the chemicals used to clean your coffee maker, rinse the filter before using it.
Some people prefer cloth filters for their coffee because they don’t think it affects the flavor. Cloth filters are also better for the environment and can be reused easily.
Ultimately, it is up to you to decide. Be sure that the filter you choose fits comfortably with the brewing device you have selected. If the filter is crinkled, it will block the flow of water and trap the coffee grounds, resulting in coffee that tastes bad.
Scales
Do not worry if you do not have a measuring scale. If you want to produce food that tastes the same every time you make it, having a scale is very useful.
If you pour your coffee using a scale, you can scare away your coffee-related problems. If you know the right proportions of water and coffee to use, you can make a great cup of coffee every time, or adjust the measurements as needed.
Kettle
Pour over coffee kettles come in every shape and size. Having a special electric kettle to make pour over coffee produces better results than using a standard one.
This kettle is designed to retain temperatures and dispense water carefully, making it perfect for the pour over coffee method. It helps in a balanced and consistent extraction.
If you used a regular kettle without the thin gooseneck, it would spurt out more water than you need. A gooseneck kettle gives you more control over how fast the water flows and how much water you use.
Pro tip:
Channeling
The name channeling comes from the water forming a channel through the coffee grounds.
Channeling is quite crucial to coffee brewing. The water seeps through the coffee grounds quickly, leading to a poor extraction of flavors.
This will happen if there are lumps of coffee grounds or if these are not evenly distributed. It is important that all the coffee is evenly immersed in water when it is being poured.
If the flavors are not extracted properly, the coffee will be either too weak or too strong.
Best coffee for Pour Over
What about the coffee itself?
Pour over coffee grind size
How coarse or fine your coffee is ground will alter the rate at which water is able to extract the coffee’s flavors and aromas. Pour over coffee is a type of infusion method where water and coffee are in contact with each other for a short amount of time. This is longer than with espresso but shorter than with an immersion method.
This means that the grounds must have a large enough surface area to be extracted before the water completely filters through. You will want to avoid under or over extracting the coffee.
A medium grind size is recommended to start with. Make a cup and see how the taste works for you. You can then tweak as needed. If the coffee is weak or sour, try a finer grind.
If you find that your pour over coffee is too bitter or over-extracted, try using a coarser grind.
If you brew coffee regularly, it is often a good decision to invest in a coffee grinder. In this way, you can control the size and make adjustments easily.
Roast profile
Many people are attracted to the pour over method because it is very effective at highlighting the delicate flavors in coffee. A light roast is best because the beans are brighter and retain more acidic flavors.
When it comes to coffee, you can choose between dark or light roast, but pour over coffee is typically best with light roast.
Pour over coffee to water ratio
The coffee to water ratio that is considered the best starting point is between 1:15 and 1:17.
The best way to make a great cup of coffee is to experiment with different factors that affect extraction, like water temperature, grind size, and ratio. Make one change at a time until you find the combination that works best for you.
If your coffee is weak, try adding more coffee Grounds. If it is too bitter, try using less coffee. Keep in mind that tap water has its own taste, minerals, and impurities. Therefore, filtered water is always advised.
Tweaking extraction
Most of the roasted coffee bean is made up of insoluble cellulose, which is a type of tree bark. The other third is dissolvable in water.
Of the Party’s soluble third, most of it is good stuff (particularly various organic acids and sugars). The next section contains molecules that we associate with astringent and bitter tastes.
The happy flavor balance is found when 19-22% of the coffee’s mass is extracted. This means that if you want a wine that is sweet, you should not let it ferment for too long, or else the astringent and bitter flavors will start to become more prominent.
If you use less coffee, the flavors will be weak and not well balanced. With coffees that are lightly roasted, you may end up with a sour taste.
Essentially, there are five main things you can control when brewing coffee that will affect how much caffeine is extracted: the ratio of coffee to water, the grind size, how long it’s brewed for, the brewing temperature, and how much it’s stirred.
An automatic drip brewer that produces high-quality results will have a consistent brewing temperature and time, as well as an evenly dispersed showerhead.
Brewing Pour Over coffee
Fill your kettle and start heating
Some electric kettles come with temperature controls. If your kettle has this feature, try setting it to between 205-210ºF to see what temperature works best for you.
Dark roasts might have smoky flavors that are more pronounced at higher temperatures, while light roasts might not have the same level of sweetness at lower temperatures. The best temperature to start with depends on the type of coffee you want to drink and what flavors you want from it.
you will lose about 10 degrees Every time you pour water from one container to another
If we want to maintain a brew temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit, we should set the kettle to just below boiling (210 degrees Fahrenheit) and pour the water in after the rolling bubbles have stopped (about 30 seconds).
The quality of the water you use to make your coffee can have a big impact on the taste of the final product. For example, water that is not very hard has difficulty extracting the desirable solids from the coffee grounds.
Weigh out your coffee
How much water and coffee should you use? It depends on a few things. If you don’t use enough coffee, the water will flow through too quickly and the resulting brew will be thin and weak tasting.
If you use too much coffee, it will overflow the brewer. A good rule of thumb for most Pour Over brewers is to start with 30 grams of coffee and 500 grams of water. We suggest a coffee-to-water ratio of between 55-65 grams of coffee per liter of water (a mass ratio of between 1:16 and 1:14.)
To maintain a consistent ratio when brewing, the best way is to put your whole brewing set-up on a digital scale. You can measure exactly how much water is being added to your coffee by using that method.
A few grams of water won’t have a significant effect in the cup, but it will be easier to score high if you’re aiming for the center of the target.
Grind your coffee
Your coffee grind size has a big impact on how strong the flavor is. If you use a grind that is too coarse, the water will not be able to extract all of the flavor from the coffee beans, resulting in a weak and slightly sour brew.
If you grind coffee beans too finely, you will produce a coffee that is astringent, bitter and strong. The more finely you grind your coffee beans, the more surface area you expose for the brew water to extract flavor from.
A well-functioning burr grinder is important for coffee makers not only because it offers a range of grind sizes, but also because it produces an even particle size, which is necessary for extracting coffee evenly.
When trying to adjust flavor, grind is the perfect variable to focus on. If you keep your other brewing variables consistent, you can adjust the grind slightly to change the flavor of your coffee.
You should start with a medium grind on your grinder, which should look like raw sugar crystals. From there, you can adjust the grind to your preference.
Set up your brew rig with a filter rinse
By setting your filter into your dripper and rinsing it with hot water before adding any coffee, you can achieve a few things:
- Help rinse away any papery flavor that might get pulled into the brew.
- Help the filter seat properly so it holds its shape when you start the pour.
- Pre-heat the dripper and the brew vessel to help regulate both brewing and serving temperatures.
Be sure to use enough water to wet the filter thoroughly before brewing, and discard any rinse water.
Add coffee, prepare to pour
Place your coffee brewing device on a scale and zero it out. Then add the ground coffee to the device, making sure that the coffee weight is correct.
Bloom it. Time it
Measuring the total brew time helps establish a baseline. It takes more than two-and-a-half minutes to extract everything you want from a Pour Over brew. If the coffee is taking longer than five minutes to brew, it will probably taste bad.
The ideal brewing time for most pour over coffees is between three and four minutes. Once you have established a consistent brew time, you can then focus on grind size as your main variable.
When you add water to coffee, you will notice the coffee start to expand as it releases carbon dioxide gas. The coffee blooming phase is when you wet the coffee grounds and should establish a preferred time.
For best results, start by brewing for 30-60 seconds, then stick to that time to keep your brews consistent.
Continue to brew
If you stir while brewing coffee, the solids will dissolve quicker. The more you stir sugar into lemonade, the quicker it will dissolve.
Different pouring techniques can create different levels of agitation in your coffee, which can cause uneven extraction.
The center of the candy has more of the sweet flavors because it has dissolved more of the solubles, while the outside ring has only dissolved the more sour tasting organic acids. To make coffee that tastes sweet, balanced, and clear, make sure the coffee grounds are evenly saturated with water during brewing.
Add water in small amounts over time, approximately 100 grams every 10 seconds followed by allowing it to drain for 10-15 seconds. Before the coffee bed is fully exposed to water, add another pulse of water in the same pattern until you reach your total target water weight.
Let it drip
When the water is turned off, the dropper will continue to drip for 20 to 60 seconds. This should be included in your total brew time.
If you manage to hit your target brewing time, then you can be sure that you have been consistent in your process and can make any necessary adjustments one at a time.
Sip, and ponder
The best way to tell if coffee is good is how it tastes. Is it too strong? Too weak? Too bitter? Too sour? The coffee might have the perfect blend of strength and sweetness, with the specific flavor characteristics of the coffee shining through.
It can take some practice to get the timing right and to know how much coffee to pour, but once you have your routine down, it’s easy to make coffee at home that tastes like the coffee from your favorite cafe.