Expert Article: Mind the Pour

Mind the Pour!

THE Guide to making your very first pour-over coffee at home

You wake up in the morning, enter a coffee shop, order a cup of black coffee, and wish it doesn't get too bitter or acidic. Unluckily, it tastes like burnt soybeans. So, you wished to make some Americano at home, but the espresso machine is too expensive to set up at your dorm. What if I tell you, there is a way to make low-cost, personalized flavor, and time-efficient coffee? Pour-over coffee is the ideal choice. I have been making my own every morning for a year now, and absolutely never encountered burnt-smelled coffee since then.

Pour-over coffee, by its name, is a type of coffee where you literally pour water over ground coffee by hand, and let it pass through to a server of any kind (Counter Culture). No machine is involved. You can pick the flavor you like and control the details based on your preference. More importantly, the enjoyment is unparalleled with other methods. After trying coffee beans from over 20 vendors and over 5 combinations of utensils, I concluded a great way to get started. If you want to try it out, this is the perfect guide for your first pour-over experience.

Utensils needed
How to source your own favorite coffee bean
Let’s pour it over! (the actual 5-min process)

Utensils needed:

You don’t need a huge machine to do this. You only need 5 small things (Bonappetit):

a manual coffee grinder
a coffee dripper
a kettle
a digital scale
paper coffee filters

(I won't be surprised if you find yourself already having a kettle or a digital scale in your kitchen.)

You also need a mug, or any bowl, or anything you like, to serve the coffee. As a starter, I suggest that you get a good grinder and a good coffee dripper. For the other three items, there’s no need to spend much - just get anything simple, and you’ll be fine.

A good grinder will ensure you grind your beans to the size you want. Usually, you want your poured-over coffee grounds at a size of Kosher salt (Pullandpour). You will get to know the importance of ground size a couple of seconds later, but remember, you don't want your coffee grounds to be too big.

Once you get the right grind size, the next crucial factor is the coffee dripper. There are lots of different dripper shapes, and I suggest that you start with a cone-shaped coffee dripper - something looks like this:

A cone-shaped dripper gives a fast flow rate, and more importantly, it is the safest choice since most tutorials on social media will set other parameters based on a dripper like this (Kohiraifu). So, you could follow the parameters easily. This is to make sure that your first few tries have above-average outcomes in terms of flavor.

Sourcing your beans

The type of beans is vital because no matter how great your pour-over skill is, if you choose a bean type you don’t like, it will be almost impossible for you to get to that flavor you want :(

So, after setting up everything you need, you want to get your tasting preference into play. Some people like acidity and fruity tastes, while others prefer a little bitterness with chocolate flavor. Here is how you could choose the one that matches your taste:

Roast level (Beancurious）

This is what influences the “floral” and “fruity” vs. “nut-taste” and “chocolate feeling”. The more roasted a bean is, the less fruity it becomes.
Here is the spectrum: light, medium light, medium, and dark. Usually for pour-over coffees, a light to medium-light bean is a great choice if you like a lighter experience. The dark ones could become too bitter that you would want milk and syrup in it. But, it is really up to you.

Processing Method (Coffee bean corral): how do we get coffee beans from their raw fruits? Below are three major processes that would help you decide:

Natural Process (aka Dry Process)

Drying whole coffee cherries in the sun before removing the fruit layers, allowing the beans to absorb more natural sugars, resulting in a fruity and complex flavor profile.

Washed Process (aka Wet Process)

Removing the coffee cherry’s outer layers using water and fermentation before drying the beans, resulting in a cleaner, brighter, and more acidic flavor profile.

Honey Process

Partially removes the coffee cherry’s outer layers, leaving some mucilage on the beans during drying, resulting in a balanced sweetness, body, and acidity between natural and washed coffees.

Do feel free to mix and match the roast levels with processing methods at your preference! For example, if you want an acidic, fruity, but sweet flavor, you could buy a bag of beans which labels “light roast & honey processed”. However, if your friend likes a lower acidity with a sweet taste, a “medium roast & natural processed” bag of beans would be a great choice.

Other factors such as location and variety of beans can make a difference, but as a beginner, the previous two aspects are sufficient for you to find something you like!

Let’s Pour it Over! The actual brewing

After choosing the beans you want, you can start pouring over the water! This step would take less than 5 mins (usually 2-3 mins are enough).

Below is a detailed recipe that I used a lot from a world champion - Chad Wang, 2017 (Barista Magazine). A simple, great recipe to get started!

Step 0 (Preparation):

Heat a full kettle of water to 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius)
Place a white paper filter into a cone-shaped dripper and rinse it thoroughly
Grind coffee very finely, and place 15g ground and coffee into the dripper

Step 1: Start timer and SPIRAL POUR 30g water

Step 2: At :30 CENTER POUR up to 250g water in 40-45s

Step 3: At 2:00-2:15, drawdown should be complete

This method is great for a light, well-roasted coffee. Unlike many other methods, this only needs to pour the water 2 times, giving more predictable outcomes. Then, you get a cup of very balanced-tasted pour-over coffee! If you don’t like using a light-roasted bean, you could adjust any of the metrics (see below)! Usually, the darker the roast, the higher the water-powder ratio and coarser the grind you want to use. (Barista Magazine)

Important metrics that you could change based on your preferences:

Water temperature: The higher the temperature, the stronger and bitterer. The lower, the brighter and more acidic.

Pouring rate of water: The higher the pour rate (faster), the brighter and thinner the coffee. The lower, the richer, sweeter, and more full-bodied.

Water-powder ratio: The higher the water-to-coffee ratio, the lighter and more diluted the flavor; the lower, the stronger, richer, and more concentrated.

Grind size: The finer the grind size, the stronger and more extracted the coffee; the coarser, the lighter and less extracted.

Time: The longer the brew time, the stronger and more extracted the coffee; the shorter, the lighter and less extracted.

Again, feel free to mix and match and play around with those metrics. You could develop your own recipe over time! For now, at least you could make yourself a cup of freshly made coffee that will delight your palate every morning.

Good luck with your first pour-over experience!

Citation

Counter culture coffee https://counterculturecoffee.com/blogs/counter-culture-coffee/guide-to-pour-over-coffee?srsltid=AfmBOorjHWGWW9updWA6VZOnqQQV_0iHI8AH00i9XeE0TsiesHNBujf_

Bonappetit

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pour-over-gear?srsltid=AfmBOopvUFFPsiENShOl_8o-P9N9XDhxhzfJulChkKtfPtgQ3EquhYOK

Kitchenaid

https://www.kitchenaid.com/pinch-of-help/countertop-appliances/how-to-make-pour-over-coffee.html#:~:text=A%20medium%20or%20medium%2Dfine,every%2016%20ounces%20of%20water.

Espressoparts

https://www.espressoparts.com/products/v60-ceramic-coffee-dripper-02-canyon

Kohi Raifu

https://kohiraifu.com/blogs/starters-guide/how-to-choose-your-dripper?srsltid=AfmBOorI9ORQKN1TeVjlNGjI1k6miq4OYsFPtDjcSa3QG0mxoGFFkmsm

Beancurious