How Does Pour Timing Change What Is Yirgacheffe Coffee?
In three-pour brewing, the third pour can start when the water level drops to halfway or only after the coffee liquid has fully drained. Front Street Coffee compared both methods using Costa Rica Strawberry Candy and washed Yirgacheffe beans, tracking aroma, flavor, extraction time and coffee bed state. The timing changed bed temperature and fines migration, and the cup followed.
Both groups used 15 grams of coffee, a 1:15 ratio, grind calibrated to 80 percent passing a #20 sieve, 90°C water, a V60 dripper and the same three-pour technique. The second pour finished at 54 seconds with 150 ml poured. What is yirgacheffe coffee in practice depends on bean hardness, since dense beans behave differently from softer ones when the brewer waits for the bed to drain.
In the three-pour technique for pour-over coffee, the timing of the third pour is often overlooked—should you wait until the coffee liquid has completely drained before pouring, or should you refill promptly when the water level drops to halfway? Front Street Coffee conducted two sets of comparative experiments using Costa Rica Strawberry Candy and washed Yirgacheffe beans, analyzing in depth the practical differences between the two pouring methods from dimensions including aroma, flavor, extraction time, and coffee bed state. The experiments revealed how the timing of the pour affects the coffee bed temperature, fines migration, and ultimately the flavor performance, while also explaining why beans of different hardness levels produce vastly different results when waiting for the liquid to drain. This article will present the complete experimental process and conclusions to help coffee enthusiasts understand the core logic of pour timing decisions in three-pour brewing, and offer Front Street's practical recommendations.
A friend asked Front Street a question about pour-over timing. In past brewing tutorials, Front Street has consistently advised against waiting until the coffee liquid has completely drained before pouring. So what exactly is the difference between these two approaches? You can take a look at the two sets of brewing comparisons Front Street conducted—and of course, we also recommend trying it yourself for a more direct experience.
The brewing bean Front Street selected this time was Costa Rica Strawberry Candy. The brewing parameters follow Front Street's usual daily settings: 15 grams of coffee, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size calibrated to 80% passing through a #20 sieve, water temperature at 90°C, V60 dripper, and a three-pour technique. The only variable between the two experiments was the trigger timing for the third pour: the first group followed Front Street's regular practice of starting the pour when the water level dropped to halfway; the second group waited until the water level had completely descended and the coffee liquid had drained before performing the third pour.
The early operations of both groups were basically synchronized, with both completing the second pour at 54 seconds, at which point the cumulative poured volume was 150 ml. The first group started the third pour when the water level dropped to halfway, beginning at 1 minute 07 seconds; after pouring to 225 ml, they waited for the coffee liquid to fully drain, with a final time of 1 minute 55 seconds. The second group waited until the coffee liquid had completely drained before starting the third pour, with a trigger time of 1 minute 20 seconds; after pouring to 225 ml and waiting for the liquid to drain, the total extraction time was 2 minutes 10 seconds.
In terms of aroma performance, the first group was noticeably fuller and richer. When actually tasting, the flavor direction of both groups was basically the same, with neither showing any unpleasant negative flavors. Through this round of experiments, it can be found that the gap between the two methods is not particularly large. Because the second group had to wait for the coffee liquid to completely drain before starting the pour, the coffee bed experienced a brief "interruption," which directly caused a small sudden drop in the internal temperature of the coffee bed, only recovering when water was poured again. It was precisely this temperature fluctuation that caused the difference in aroma richness. In addition, waiting for the coffee liquid to drain inherently takes more time than pouring when the water level drops to halfway, so the overall extraction time is correspondingly extended. However, the extraction time in this experiment was still within a reasonable range, and the flavor performance was also quite good.
Next, a second round of experiments was conducted, with the comparison method exactly the same as before, except the brewing bean was switched to washed Yirgacheffe. Let's see what differences this round of results will show. Both groups again completed the second pour between 54 and 55 seconds, with a cumulative poured volume of 150 ml. The first group started pouring when the water level dropped to halfway, at which point the time was 1 minute 10 seconds; after the third pour reached 225 ml and the coffee liquid fully drained, the end time was 2 minutes.
The second group waited until the coffee liquid had completely drained before starting the third pour, by which time the clock had already reached 1 minute 30 seconds. After the third pour and waiting for the coffee liquid to fully drain, the extraction completion time was 2 minutes 30 seconds. In this comparison, the second group's coffee exhibited bitterness. Why did the group that waited for the liquid to drain before pouring show such a large difference in time consumption between the two rounds of experiments? The answer lies in the state of the coffee bed.
Observing the Yirgacheffe coffee bed, you can find that a relatively large amount of muddy fines accumulated at the bottom. We previously introduced the structural characteristics of the V60 dripper: when the water level is above the short ribs, there are 24 guide ribs directing water flow into the server, ensuring drainage speed; but when the water level drops below the short ribs, only 12 guide ribs remain in operation, and at this point, if there are many fines in the coffee bed, the drainage speed will be noticeably slowed. In contrast, pouring promptly when the water level drops to halfway prevents this process from dragging on too long.
So why does Yirgacheffe exhibit this situation while Strawberry Candy does not? This is related to the hardness of the coffee beans. Yirgacheffe has a relatively light roast, and the bean texture is relatively harder; during grinding, the whole bean is often not first cut into particles but directly crushed by the burrs, and this process produces a portion of fine powder. Coffee beans with lower hardness experience less fracturing when crushed, naturally producing less fines. Therefore, Front Street does not recommend waiting for the coffee liquid to completely drain before continuing to pour when doing staged pouring. The primary reason is that the extraction temperature changes; secondly, fines tend to deposit at the bottom, causing slower drainage and thus prolonging extraction time; thirdly, the universality of brewing parameters across different coffee beans is poor. Of course, this does not mean the method of "waiting for the coffee liquid to drain before pouring" cannot be used at all. If a new brewing scheme can be designed to circumvent the above issues—for example, like the "4:6 brewing method" by coarsening the grind, sifting out fines, or adjusting the water temperature—it is also feasible. But if you are using the three-pour brewing method, it's still best not to wait until the coffee bed is completely dry before pouring.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
