Beginners Guide to Pour Over Coffee BrewingHave you ever stood in line at the coffee shop and heard other customers discussing pour-over coffee – also called brewed coffee?
Did it pique your curiosity and cause you to order one yourself? If you are like most, it likely blew your mind. You may have loved it so much you decided to figure out how to make it at home. You may have the best super automatic espresso machine at your home, if you are not sure how to get started, you’re in the right place.
What Exactly is Pour Over Coffee?
What is it that makes this coffee so special? The answer is simple – it’s in the process that’s used.
Pour over coffee is a preferred option among many coffee enthusiasts because it lets you control factors including the strength and taste – much better than other brewing methods.
The Basic Elements of Pour Over Filter Coffee
There are three main elements that go into pour over coffee, which include:
· Pour over brewer
· Coffee filter
· Freshly ground coffee
Put simply, you create a brew that tastes cleaner when you drizzle water over a bed of coffee – slowly. This helps to extract the coffee out of the beans. It’s then collected in your carafe by using this kind of a coffee maker, or your cup.
While manual brewing may sound simple, creating the perfect brew isn’t as easy as it may seem. It is a process that requires persistence, practice, and patience.
Step-by-Step Process
Use this step-by-step process to begin brewing your pour over coffee here.
Step 1: Heat the Water
Getting the right water temperature is critical. It should reach 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can wait for the water to boil and then let it sit, off the heat for about 30 seconds.
Step 2: Weigh the Coffee
The most important factor when getting the flavor right is to get the right ratio of coffee to water. A popular option is to use 18 grams of water per gram of coffee. A general rule of thumb is the more coffee you use, the stronger the flavor will be.
Step 3: Wet or Rinse Your Filter
This is a crucial step you can’t leave out or you are going to wind up with coffee that has a slight taste of paper. You can eliminate this paper flavor by rinsing the filter first.
Step 4: Grind Your Coffee
By grinding your coffee right before you brew it, you have control of the flavor. A finer grind provides more flavor by may introduce a bit of bitterness. With a coarser grind, you will have a sweeter cut by it may also be weak, acidic, or under-extracted.
Step 5: Pour the Water
There are two parts to this step called the bloom and the brew time.
For the bloom, you pour a bit of water over your grounds and allow them to soak it up. The grounds will swell, rise, and bubble. Let about 30 seconds pass for the bloom to finish.
The brew time is when the rest of the water is poured over the grounds very slowly. Begin at the center of the grounds and move out in a growing circle to wet all of the grounds evenly.
Achieving the Right Pour Over Coffee Ratio
The water ratio is what determines the flavor of your coffee. Weak or strong. Mild or rich.
The golden ratio (according to some experts) is to add 55 grams of coffee for every liter of water. However, this is something you may have to figure out using the process of trial and error.