Brewing at Home, Part 5: Pour Over
By Devorah Freudiger | Sep 29, 2009
Hello class, it's been a while since we've done one of these, but I thought it would be nice to get back to giving you helpful hints and guidelines for home brewing. Today I will be presenting Pour Over style coffee made on a Bee House dripper, and using a paper filter.
Photos by Devorah Freudiger, Gimme! Coffee.
Step one is to start with freshly roasted coffee. I dosed two heaping tablespoons for my ten oz coffee cup.
While useing the right amount of coffee for your taste, it's important to remember that if you are judging by volume the weight of the dose will vary depending on the type of bean and roast level. In general; the darker the roast, the lighter the beans. This is from moisture loss during roasting. For this coffee two tablespoons yeilded right around 17grams, which was perfect.
Grinding immediately before brewing is very important to producing a good cup. I used the same grind as for an automatic coffee machine with a cone filter. Here's the obligatory 'particle size next to penny for perspective' shot.
Rinsing the filter with hot water not only removes much of the paper taste, it also warms up both the pour over dripper and your cup!
Now we're ready to brew!
Start by adding just enough, not quite boiling, water to completely saturate the grounds.
I'm a fan of giving the grounds a little stir during the beginning of my brewing process. I find it makes a more even tasting extraction.
Start to add the rest of your water, but do so very slowly. The major advantage of making coffee by the cup in a manual, pour over, way is that you have more control over the extraction time than in most automatic coffee brewers. Take your time and add water bit by bit.
Delicious! I am a big fan of pour over style coffee, mostly because of how present I have to be throughout the entire brewing process. Have fun, play with the process, enjoy the journey, and savor the cup!
Janet Sep 30, 2009 – 5:24 PM
How much water did you pour over? 10oz?
devorah_freudiger Oct 1, 2009 – 10:50 AM
Yup, 10oz into my spiffy mug! :)
With the paper filter, and the moisture still in the grounds the resulting brew was about 8.5-9oz. Around 17 grams of coffee yielded the best result for my taste.
Anonymous Oct 6, 2009 – 9:31 PM
We (1,000 Faces Coffee) do only pour-over at the Athens (Georgia!) Famers' Market, and it's great. As it gets colder, it's going to be harder to keep that brew hot, but it tastes so good!
Thanks for the info, Dev. I will try the stir technique, too. I've been circling the very center of the filter as I pour, not pouring over the outside too much, in theory to avoid over-extraction. Do you find this necessary?
missyoumisslefty!
Erin Oct 7, 2009 – 2:29 PM
We (1,000 Faces Coffee) do only pour-over at the Athens (Georgia!) Famers' Market, and it's great. As it gets colder, it's going to be harder to keep that brew hot, but it tastes so good!
Thanks for the info, Dev. I will try the stir technique, too. I've been circling the very center of the filter as I pour, not pouring over the outside too much, in theory to avoid over-extraction. Do you find this necessary?
devorah_freudiger Oct 7, 2009 – 5:57 PM
Hiya Erin! We miss you in the lab!
The stirring is my response to not having a ton of control over my stream of water when I'm pouring from my fat mouthed kettle at home or the measuring pitcher in the lab. When I pour I also try to stay away form the edge as much as possible, but I do try to hit as many grounds as I can with the stream of water. I'm constantly submerging different grounds as I'm trying to keep the water level evenly and slowly rising.... does that make any sense? So yeah, I circle the center. You are the one doing this all day, I'd love more of your tips! I'd love to get down to Athens to try a cup!
Debra Oct 11, 2009 – 5:08 PM
Thanks for the demo, it's the only was I make coffee at home anymore..I've also noticed that Comet Coffee in Ann Arbor uses either this or a press pot for non espresso coffee drinks. Didn't seem to take them any longer to make customers a fresh cup than a normal wait in a shop. Wish more coffee shops would try this, along with schooling people in the origins of their drinks...thanks!
まＭ Nov 3, 2009 – 2:20 AM
This is the most common method in Japan, usually made right in front of you. I rarely see any restaurants of any kind where there is a pot sitting on a burner. Encountered one once, and complained about the burned coffee that had been sitting there since well before I had my lunch, when they brought me a cup after. My partner said if I didn't like the way they did their coffee, I just should not go back to that shop. What right did I think I had, he asked, to tell them something about how to serve their coffee? at least this is the rare exception here. There may be no decent bread in northern Japan, but I can't complain about the coffee!