How Does the Kono Drip Method Build Full Body Coffee?

The drip method was developed in 1973 by the Kono family, founders of the Kono brand, to push hand drip coffee toward a richer, fuller body. An extremely fine stream of water slowly saturates the coffee grounds; the coffee bed absorbs water and degasses, and only once it is saturated does the liquid begin to flow into the server in quantity. That flow itself is the signal that extraction can continue.

Water control is the hard part. Supporting the pouring wrist with the other hand, or steadying the forearm, helps keep the stream fine and consistent. Brewed this way, Golden Mandheling shows a thick mouthfeel with spice, caramel, dark chocolate, and popcorn aromas, a solid bitterness that gives way to sweetness, and a long Pu'er tea finish after swallowing.

The drip method, as a highly recognizable extraction approach in Japanese-style pour-over, was developed by the Kono family, founders of the Kono brand, in 1973 with the aim of giving coffee a richer, fuller body. This technique slowly saturates the coffee grounds with an extremely fine stream of water, and only after the coffee bed has absorbed its fill and finished degassing does the coffee liquid begin to drip out in quantity. This article starts with the operational details, explaining the water-control technique and judgment criteria of the drip method, and combines them with the brewing performance of Front Street Golden Mandheling to let you experience the rich flavors of spice, caramel, dark chocolate, and popcorn that this technique brings, along with the long-lasting Pu'er tea finish after swallowing.

In 1973, while founding the Kono brand, the Kono family developed a unique pouring method—the "drip method"—in order to more fully extract a rich, full-bodied coffee.

If you find the water flow hard to control, you might refer to Front Street Coffee's approach: use your left hand to gently support your right arm or wrist, with supporting the wrist giving the best results.

The reason the state of the coffee liquid can serve as a judgment criterion is that in a dry state the coffee grounds continuously absorb water, and once they reach saturation they stop absorbing; therefore, when the coffee liquid begins to flow into the server in quantity, it precisely indicates that the coffee bed has finished degassing and reached saturation.

When brewing Front Street Golden Mandheling with the drip method, the very first sip delivers a remarkably thick mouthfeel, with the aromas of spice, caramel, deep dark chocolate, and popcorn clearly distinguishable, and a solid, powerful bitterness, but soon afterward a sweet aftertaste surges back into the mouth, and after swallowing there is a lingering Pu'er tea finish—the overall expression is quite unique.

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