How Does Chasen Pour-Over Change Coffee Extraction?

Hiroshi Fujioka's chasen method borrows the matcha whisking routine and applies it to coffee. Peruvian beans, Japanese-style dark roast, and a coarse grind are used, water is poured drip by drip throughout, and a bamboo chasen whips the finished liquid into a dense foam. The result is a different mouthfeel from standard pour-over and a drink that has to be consumed quickly.

Matcha is normally made with 2 to 4 grams of powder and 60 to 80 milliliters of hot water, stirred and then rapidly whisked into fine foam. Transferring that technique to coffee changes how the liquid meets air, which is why the foam collapses fast and timing matters. A replication with a medium-dark Blue Mountain bean shows how roast level and grind interact with this unusual coffee extraction approach.

This time Front Street is sharing a rather unusual brewing method—it breaks out of the conventional pour-over framework and grafts the matcha whisking technique from Japanese tea ceremony onto coffee extraction. The person who created this "Way of Coffee" is none other than Hiroshi Fujioka, star of the original Kamen Rider. He favors Peruvian beans, Japanese-style dark roast, and coarse grinding, pouring water in a drip-by-drip method throughout, then using a chasen (bamboo whisk) to whip the coffee liquid into a dense foam. Front Street couldn't resist trying it out personally, replicating it with a medium-dark roasted Blue Mountain bean. What kind of aroma and mouthfeel can this approach actually deliver? And why must you drink it in a race against the clock? The following will reveal all.

It's time once again to talk about brewing methods. Today's method, as usual, is a bit off the beaten path and comes with a touch of fun—feel free to give it a try yourself.

Before diving into the coffee topic, Front Street would like to first explain how matcha should be prepared. As a vehicle for Japanese tea ceremony practice, matcha is conventionally made by placing a small amount of matcha powder (about 2 to 4 grams) into a tea bowl, pouring in 60 to 80 milliliters of hot water, then using a "chasen" tool to first stir the powder and water together, and then rapidly whisk it into a thick, fine foam.

So what would happen if this whole routine were transferred to coffee?

Today's protagonist is precisely Hiroshi Fujioka, who used this method to create his own "Way of Coffee." Does this name and this face ring a faint bell, yet you can't quite place where you've seen them before? In fact, coffee is only his side pursuit—his real profession is acting, and he was the lead in the original Kamen Rider.

What sparked his interest in coffee was not the atmosphere of cafés in Japan, but rather his experiences traveling the world through acting work and volunteer activities. He discovered that whether in developed Western nations or in regions with physical conflict, people would offer him a cup of coffee to express their gratitude. This got him interested in coffee, and since locals in different places would always serve him coffees with their own distinctive characteristics, he got to taste many coffees with diverse flavors, and thereby came to clearly understand what kind of coffee he truly wanted.

Let me first introduce Mr. Fujioka's brewing method. He prefers Peruvian coffee beans, with traditional Japanese dark roast for the roast level, a coarser grind, a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:13, and a water temperature of about 85 degrees Celsius.

The entire extraction process is done in drip form. At the start, use drip to moisten the coffee bed, and let it bloom for 20 seconds. After that, maintain drip pouring throughout until reaching the target water amount.

Then pour some of the coffee liquid into a tea bowl, and use a chasen to whisk (that is, brush) the coffee liquid until a fine, silky coffee foam is produced, which looks quite similar to espresso crema.

This practice of whisking coffee with a chasen was inspired by his mother's tea ceremony. Whisking out a thick, fine foam with a chasen can firmly lock in the coffee's aroma and bitterness (the bitterness here refers to the roasted flavor of the coffee), and the foam also elevates the coffee's viscosity and fullness to another level.

Such a fun method—Front Street naturally had to try it first. Lacking Japanese-roasted beans that glossy black type, they used a medium-dark roasted Blue Mountain instead. Once the coffee liquid was extracted, they used a chasen to whisk the coffee liquid, with the same whisking technique as for matcha. In the end, a fine foam could indeed be whisked out, but you have to drink it quickly—less than 10 seconds after taking a photo, obvious large bubbles appeared (perhaps the whisking technique wasn't quite up to par).

After tasting it, the bitterness was not heavy—this flavor actually depends on the coffee beans you choose. If you used dark-roasted beans like Mr. Fujioka's, the flavor would probably be completely different. But the aroma and mouthfeel were indeed good, so everyone might as well give it a try.

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