Which Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Method Fits Your Beans?

Pour-over coffee brewing changes flavor mainly through how water is staged and how long extraction runs. The one-cut flow, three-stage method, 4:6 method, three-temperature method, volcano pour, and stirring method each release sour, sweet, and bitter compounds in a different order, so the same beans can taste noticeably different depending on the technique used.

Using 15 grams of coffee and 225 milliliters of water, one-cut flow blooms with 30 milliliters and pours the remaining 195 milliliters at once, finishing near two minutes for a clean cup. The three-stage method splits the pour further to even out extraction. Grind adjustment and pour timing remain the two variables that most affect the result across all six approaches.

The charm of pour-over coffee lies in the diversity of brewing methods; different pouring techniques directly affect the flavor expression and mouthfeel layers of the coffee. This article systematically sorts out six common pour-over techniques: one-cut flow, three-stage method, 4-6 method, three-temperature brewing method, volcano pour, and stirring method. From the number of pouring stages, coffee-to-water ratio, extraction time to grind adjustment, it analyzes one by one the principles and applicable scenarios behind each method, helping coffee enthusiasts understand the release order of sour, sweet, and bitter substances, and choose the most suitable brewing strategy according to bean characteristics, so as to stably brew a good cup of coffee that matches one's own taste.

Compared with other single-origin coffees, pour-over coffee shows extremely rich variations in its preparation methods. For example, one-cut flow, three-stage method, volcano pour, variable-temperature extraction, and stirring method are all common operational paths. Today let's sort out together several brewing methods that often appear in pour-over coffee.

I. One-Cut Flow

One-cut flow and one-pour style are not exactly the same. One-pour style refers to pouring all the target water at once; while one-cut flow divides it into two stages, with the first stage used for blooming and the second stage pouring all the remaining water at once. Because the principle and operation are relatively intuitive, this technique can be seen on many occasions.

Its name also has quite a background—"one-cut flow" comes from a school of Japanese swordsmanship. The reason for this naming is probably that the pouring is divided into two stages, like a single sword cut. Taking 15 grams of coffee and 225 milliliters of water as an example, the staged water amounts for one-cut flow are 30 milliliters for blooming plus 195 milliliters poured at once, with a total extraction time of about two minutes. The advantage of this brewing method lies in stable extraction and clean flavor, because it is not easy to bring out the substances from the later stage.

II. Three-Stage Method

This is precisely the brewing technique most commonly used by Front Street Coffee—the "three-stage method." The dissolution rates of different substances in coffee differ noticeably. Simply put, the flavor release order by hot water is roughly: first sour, then sweet, and finally bitter. Staged pouring is intended to extract the aromatic substances contained in coffee as completely as possible.

Also taking 15 grams of coffee and 225 milliliters of water as an example, the three-stage method is divided into 30 milliliters for blooming, 95 milliliters for the first pour, and 100 milliliters for the second pour, with the overall extraction time being relatively longer. Apart from the blooming stage, under the same coffee-to-water ratio, the more pouring stages there are, the more times the water flow scours the coffee bed, and the time required naturally lengthens. Coffee extracted by the three-stage method can more fully dissolve flavor substances, has more obvious layering, and is also more compatible.

III. 4-6 Method

The "4-6 method" was proposed by Mr. Tetsu Kasuya of Japan. His original intention in creating this method was "to let anyone brew delicious coffee." Therefore, the operation is very simple. It does not require particularly stable water control ability, nor a deep understanding of brewing. As long as you execute according to the formula, you can get a quite good cup of coffee.

Kasuya's understanding of 4-6 brewing is: the first two pours account for 40% of the total water amount, mainly determining the direction of the coffee's flavor and guiding sourness and sweetness toward balance; the remaining three pours account for 60% of the total water amount, and they determine the strength of the coffee's mouthfeel, that is, body.

The most commonly used coffee amount for the 4-6 method is 20 grams, with 300 milliliters of water, brewed in five stages of 60 milliliters each, with a pouring interval of 45 milliliters (the interval includes the pouring time). Although Kasuya emphasized simplicity, many people still have a relatively high failure rate after brewing with the 4-6 method, and the problem mostly lies in over-extraction. Because the extraction time is longer, many people do not adjust the grind accordingly and directly brew with a conventional grind size, ultimately causing over-extraction of the coffee.

Therefore, the grind needs to be coarser to compensate for the over-extraction that easily results from too long an extraction time. Front Street Coffee generally uses coarse particles with a 50% pass rate through a No. 20 sieve. After a long extraction, such particles produce a cup of coffee with a body that ordinary coffee does not possess.

IV. Three-Temperature Brewing Method

The three-temperature brewing method invented by Mr. Wu Zelin is essentially a type of variable-temperature brewing. As the name suggests, it uses water at different temperatures for brewing. Based on 16 grams of coffee, he uses 240 milliliters of water in four pours, respectively 40 milliliters, 60 milliliters, 60 milliliters, and 40 milliliters. The first two pours use a water temperature of 94°C, the third pour drops to 90°C, and the final pour uses 80°C water, thus forming stepped variable-temperature extraction.

The idea of variable-temperature extraction is not difficult to understand: use a higher water temperature to extract the rich flavor substances in the early stage, then finish with a lower water temperature to avoid the risk of over-extraction caused by continuous high-temperature extraction. However, this brewing method is somewhat difficult and requires a large amount of brewing testing to find the temperature standard suitable for the current coffee beans. Once the appropriate temperature plan is determined, the final result can be a cup of coffee with a strong flavor expression.

V. Volcano Pour

This technique of volcano pour comes from Japan. The name comes from the carbon dioxide contained in the coffee beans and the coffee fines floating on the surface together forming a large dome, which looks like a big mountain, while hot water poured in the center accelerates the release of gas from the coffee grounds, visually like a volcanic eruption, hence the name volcano pour.

It is more suitable for brewing dark-roasted coffee beans, because only dark-roasted beans can release a sufficiently large amount of gas to form a mountain shape. Use a wedge-shaped dripper, with 30 grams of coffee. The more coffee there is, the better the visual effect of the volcano, and the grind should be slightly coarser. Then brew with 300 milliliters of hot water (1:10 coffee-to-water ratio). First bloom with hot water at twice the coffee amount for 30 seconds, then repeatedly pour in the center in multiple, small, gentle pours. There is no limit to each pour; when the water level begins to drop, you can proceed to the next pour until the target water amount is finished.

Volcano pour has two distinctive advantages: first, it is highly ornamental, and you can enjoy a visual feast while brewing; second, the brewed coffee has a balanced mouthfeel, is high in sweetness, and is not bitter. Friends who like dark-roasted coffee may want to give it a try.

VI. Stirring Method

The rise of the stirring method originated from 2012 World Brewers Cup champion Matt Perger. He used this technique in the competition to win the championship, and later uploaded a video on an overseas video website. In the video, during the blooming stage he used a wooden stick to stir quickly, first up and down, then left and right, and then up and down again.

The purpose of stirring is to make the coffee grounds tumble under the force of stirring, so that they are evenly wetted by water and ultimately achieve balanced extraction. For example, during the blooming stage, if you do not stir after pouring, the water will only slowly penetrate downward, which will cause the lower part of the coffee bed to have insufficient time for blooming and degassing, and then it becomes necessary to increase the impact force of the first pour to compensate for extraction.

But the stirring technique is relatively difficult. Coffee fines will migrate downward to the bottom of the dripper due to the turbulence created by stirring, easily causing clogging; second, there is no unified technique and force, and everyone stirs in their own way. One person's stirring method cannot be directly applied to another person. Many only look similar, while the actual force and direction are completely different. Therefore, when operating, you must fully understand the force and manner of stirring, as well as whether the bean characteristics are suitable, before deciding whether to use it.

In the end, all brewing methods are actually adjusted and varied around the release order of sour, sweet, and bitter flavor substances. Once you understand the principle of flavor release, which brewing method to use is no longer the focus of consideration. The focus is that you know what taste this brewing can bring, so you can use it freely. This is also the reason Front Street Coffee has always used the three-stage method as its commonly used brewing method.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.