Before learning about brewing, many people think that pour-over coffee is difficult, feeling there are many constraints and things to pay attention to—how many grams of coffee grounds, how fine to grind, how many milliliters of water, the water temperature, the pouring technique... Actually, if you're just enjoying it alone at home, Front Street thinks there's no need to be too fussy, let alone use competition-level standards. Just copy a standard template, then slowly find the taste that suits you, and you can easily make a satisfying cup of coffee.

Considering it's a hot summer now, compared to steaming hot coffee, I believe everyone prefers refreshing cold drinks. So today, Front Street will take iced pour-over as an example to explain its brewing approach and process in detail, hoping everyone can achieve coffee freedom.

What is pour-over coffee?

So-called pour-over coffee refers to a method of brewing coffee by manually controlling the water flow. It belongs to the drip coffee category, and the process uses auxiliary tools such as a dripper, filter paper, and electronic scale. In addition, since pour-over is suitable for various types of coffee beans and can better and more simply present the coffee's own flavors perfectly, and the brewing scene is not limited, pour-over coffee quickly became popular after the concept of specialty coffee spread.

At Front Street stores, all single-origin coffee beans can be brewed by pour-over, with both cold and hot options. If hot pour-over is used, coffee grounds and hot water are extracted at a ratio of 1:15. When guests choose the iced pour-over method, Front Street controls the coffee-to-water ratio at 1:10, then adds ice equal to 5 times the coffee dose to help cool and dilute the coffee.

How to make iced pour-over coffee quickly and deliciously?

Compared with other coffee brewing methods, making pour-over coffee usually requires you to complete a series of actions yourself, from weighing coffee beans, grinding, folding filter paper, moistening the dripper, pouring in grounds, to boiling water, pouring water, and swirling the coffee liquid. The existence of these steps makes the making of this cup of coffee full of ritual. Without further ado, let's enter the formal brewing stage.

1、Choose a fresh coffee bean you like.

We all know there are many types of coffee beans to choose from, mainly divided into two categories: "sour" and "bitter." According to roast level, they can be listed as light roast, medium roast, and dark roast.

For guests who like floral and fruity black coffee, it is recommended to prioritize light to medium roast. We would recommend Front Street Fruit Ding Ding, Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui, Front Street Panama Butterfly, etc.; if you like a balanced taste, baristas often choose medium roast types, such as Front Street Strawberry Candy, Front Street Diamond Mountain, and Front Street Bird of Paradise; while those who completely cannot accept sourness can try medium to dark roast. It is suggested to start with Front Street Queen's Manor, Front Street Golden Mandheling, and Front Street Huilan, where you can taste aromas such as chocolate and nuts.

The so-called "fresh coffee" refers to coffee within its flavor appreciation period. The flavor descriptions of every Front Street coffee are based on freshly roasted beans. If coffee beans are stored for more than a month, part of the aroma may have already been lost, and it is difficult to reproduce it in brewing. Front Street also deeply understands the importance of freshness, so it ensures that only coffee beans freshly roasted within 5 days are shipped, allowing everyone to enjoy the most complete flavor appreciation period upon receipt.

2、Prepare materials

In addition to a pack of freshly roasted coffee beans, to make the coffee taste good, we also need to prepare an electronic scale with a timer, a pour-over kettle, a dripper, filter paper, a grinder, a thermometer, and a server.

The thermometer is for measuring the temperature of the hot water. Water temperature plays a role similar to grind size. The higher the water temperature, the higher the coffee extraction efficiency, the easier it is to release various substances and components, and the higher the concentration. If brewing with hot water close to boiling, it is easy to extract unpleasant bitter substances. Therefore, when brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, Front Street uses different brewing parameters from light roasted coffee beans. So for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, Front Street recommends 87–90°C, while light roasted coffee needs a higher water temperature to stimulate aroma, so 91–93°C is used.

3、Grinding coffee

The grinder plays a very important role in pour-over. The coarseness and uniformity of the coffee grounds directly affect the taste of a cup of pour-over coffee. If the coffee grounds are too coarse, it is easy to underextract and the taste will be weak; if too fine, it is easy to overextract and the taste will be bitter. To adjust the grind size, Front Street uses a tool—the Chinese No. 20 0.85mm standard sieve. For medium-light roasted coffee beans, Front Street consistently uses a 75–80% passing rate, corresponding to a medium-fine granulated sugar coarseness; for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, Front Street uses 70–75%, that is, coarse granulated sugar coarseness.

This iced pour-over coffee demonstration used Front Street Butterfly, a washed Geisha blend coffee, medium-light roasted, with fresh citrus, white floral, green tea, and a rounded caramel feel. Besides pour-over, it is also suitable for making cold brew and other coffees. In order to make the coffee highlight its delicate floral and fruity aroma, Front Street uses a fine granulated sugar grind, corresponding to 22 clicks on the C40 hand grinder and 9.5 on the EK43s electric grinder.

4、Brewing parameter settings

For iced pour-over, Front Street has summarized a universal formula: coffee dose + 10 times hot water + 5 times ice = iced pour-over coffee.

Coffee dose: 15 grams

10 times hot water: 150 grams

5 times ice amount: 75 grams

Water temperature: 92°C

Grind size: No. 20 sieve passing rate 83% (EK43s setting 9, C40 setting 22)

Dripper: Hario V60

Technique: three-stage pouring

First, put 75g of ice cubes into the server, then pour 15g of ground coffee into the dripper and gently tap it flat. In the first stage, with a small water flow of 3–4ml/s, pour 30g of hot water from the center outward in a small circle for a 30-second bloom; after 30 seconds, pour the second stage of 60g of water using the same technique, being careful not to raise the liquid level too high, which can easily cause underextraction; when the coffee liquid is about to dry up, pour all the remaining 60g of hot water at a flow rate of 3ml/s, ensuring the extraction time falls within 1 minute 50 seconds to 2 minutes.

The washed Butterfly brewed this way has a rich fruity charm like lemon and pomelo, and also highlights the sweet aroma of nuts. The mouthfeel is light, with balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. However, since a small amount of crushed ice remains after brewing, if you do not want the coffee to be further diluted, either drink it as soon as possible while the ice is still there.

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