Before getting into the do's and don'ts of pour-over coffee, let's begin with some background info:
What is Pour-Over Coffee?
Generally speaking, pour-over coffee involves pouring hot water over coffee grounds, letting the coffee drip through to the pot. Though not dissimilar to drip coffee, pour-over style instead allows you to have control over the pouring. Although it is one of the most seemingly straightforward methods of brewing coffee, there are several small elements that must be factored into the quality of the drink. Once you get a hold of the process, pour-over coffee is both delicious and doable.
DO: Use high-quality products
Pour-over style involves few but mighty parts to make it work, including the gooseneck kettle, the coffee dripper, the filter, the scale, and (of course) the coffee. To get a good flow of coffee from this technique, you will need to have quality coffee beans, which are at their best right after being ground. Using high-calibre coffee grinders such as the DF54 or DF64 will let you pull the best flavours and scents from your coffee. These grinders also use burrs, which achieve the highest level of grind consistency.
Additionally, when doing pour-over coffee, a gooseneck kettle is highly recommended, as it allows you to create an even pour and to have more consistency in the water stream.
DON'T: Use pre-ground coffee
Piggybacking off of the first "Do," getting the best version of your pour-over coffee includes grinding the beans yourself instead of using beans that have already been ground. As pour-over coffee is already a manual style, why not dive in all the way and do the entire process by hand?
Grinding fresh beans at the time of the pour-over ensures that the coffee tastes fresh and is perfectly ground to suit the pour-over and your personal preferences.
DO: Pay attention to the temperature and the timing
As pour-over coffee is a manual method, it is important to pay attention to the details that may be automated when using a machine. For example, using the wrong temperature of water can affect how well your coffee comes out. Water temperature affects coffee extraction, and water that is too hot can overextract the grounds, making the coffee too bitter. On the opposite end, having water that is not hot enough may not bring out the true flavours and quality of the coffee, and would instead result in a glorified cup of water. Ideally, you should keep your water temperature between 88°C at the minimum and 94°C maximum. If you have a fruitier coffee, you should keep your temperature on the lower end in order to keep those flavours, but be wary of going too low, as that can make the flavours too exaggerated.
The brew time can also be an indicator of if your coffee is too coarse or too fine, as a brew time that is too short is a sign of the coffee being too coarse, whereas a brew time that is too long indicates your coffee being too fine. Typically, a pour-over brew time falls somewhere between 3-4 minutes, but of course you will also need to factor in your taste preference as well as the equipment you are using.
DON'T: Let the first pour be your drink
When doing pour-over coffee, you first need to let it bloom. The bloom involves covering the coffee grounds in water just enough to saturate them, which should last around 30 seconds. This allows for the gas from the roasting process to be released, and continuing to do a pour-over as this release is happening will hinder the quality of the drink as the gas release will counteract the flow.
More tips in degassing the coffee include using a spoon to move the grounds around slightly, as well as gently moving the coffee dripper around in a circular motion.
DO: Experiment with your ideal ratio
The coffee-to-water ratio is where you can play a bit with the tastes of your drink. Of course, if you like a stronger cup, you can have a higher coffee concentration, and if you prefer a milder cup, having a higher water concentration should get your coffee where you want it. Though you can go up to, say, 20g of coffee, our in-house Coffee Expert recommends a 15 g of coffee to 250 mL for your pour-overs. Again, parts of this process are subjective, therefore you have to take into consideration the type of coffee you're using as well as your personal taste preferences when determining which ratio to use.
DON'T: Use your coffeemaker cold
One of our tips is to let the glass get warmed up first. Taking some hot water to the container will allow it to heat up first, so that once your coffee is extracted into the glass, its temperature will not be lost. Though a seemingly small detail, it is one that is sure to boost the overall quality and experience of your pour-over drink.
For a more visual demonstration, take a look at this video of our in-house SCA-certified Coffee Expert, Reza, using the pour-over method. Here, Reza has the temperature at 93°C and a brew time of just over 4 minutes.
Once you get a hold of doing pour-over coffee, you will have a go-to method of making coffee that is both simple and tasty. While keeping our Do's and Don'ts in mind, remember that there is some room to experiment, such as in the coffee-to-water ratio and the brew time. Finding a balance between quality coffee and personal preferences is part of the joy of coffeemaking, so have fun with it, and enjoy your pour-over coffee!
