What Does Hand Brew Coffee Meaning Refer To?

Pour over coffee, the correct English term, is brewed by placing ground coffee in a dripper with a paper filter and pouring water steadily over the grounds under normal pressure. In English, "hand brew coffee" refers to this manual method, not literal translations like "hand coffee" or "hand punch," which are common errors.

Seven elements shape the cup: fresh beans, grind size, water temperature, water quality, dripper choice, coffee-to-water ratio, and brewing time. The three-pour technique includes blooming, the short pre-wet that lets carbon dioxide escape, followed by staged pours. Beans are commonly considered at their peak within about 30 days of roasting, before aroma compounds decline.

Brewing a delicious pour over coffee at home is actually not that complicated, but you need to master some basic points. Pour over coffee is made by placing ground coffee in a dripper with a paper filter under normal pressure and extracting the coffee liquid with a steady pouring motion. This article, compiled by Front Street Coffee, systematically sorts out the seven elements of pour over coffee, from fresh coffee beans, grind size, water temperature, water quality, dripper selection, coffee-to-water ratio, and brewing time, and provides a detailed introduction to the specific operation of the three-pour technique, including the meaning of blooming and four major points to note, helping coffee lovers get started quickly.

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How do you say pour over coffee in English? If you translate it literally as "Hand coffee," that is definitely wrong, and "Hand punch" is also a commonly misused expression. The correct term should be "Pour over coffee." So what basic knowledge is there about pour over coffee, and how can you make a delicious pour over at home? Below, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will explain each point for everyone.

What is pour over coffee?

Pour over coffee refers to brewing under one atmosphere of pressure, using a dripper and filter paper to hold appropriately ground coffee, with the brewer pouring water at a suitable temperature and amount onto the coffee grounds in a steady motion to complete the extraction of the coffee liquid. Because grind size, water temperature, pouring technique, and brewing time all affect flavor extraction, this is a brewing method that places considerable emphasis on skill and professional coffee knowledge.

Basic knowledge of pour over coffee-----Seven elements of pour over coffee

First, it is necessary to clarify what else needs to be prepared for pour over coffee besides the equipment. To this end, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), based on past pour over experience and basic knowledge, has summarized the following seven elements to help coffee lovers understand pour over coffee more intuitively.

1. Fresh coffee beans

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that the best flavor period for coffee beans is 30 days. After 30 days, the aroma molecules in the beans decrease as carbon dioxide is released, so beans past their best flavor period may taste monotonous and flat when brewed. This is also why Front Street emphasizes "use freshly roasted coffee beans" every time it discusses brewing knowledge.

Here, Front Street Rwanda coffee is used to demonstrate how to make a delicious pour over. This is a washed bean, roasted to a medium-light level. After brewing, it has acidity reminiscent of apple, smoked plum, and citrus, a soft mouthfeel, and a tea-like finish. Besides pour over, it is also suitable for cold brew, French press, siphon, and other methods. Everyone can purchase it at the Front Street flagship store or Front Street Taobao store.

2. Pour over coffee grind size standard

At the same time, in order for every bean to find the most suitable grind size, Front Street recommends buying a No. 20 cup test calibration sieve with an aperture of 0.85mm. Take 10g of coffee beans, grind them to an approximate setting, pour the grounds into the sieve and sift, then weigh the sifted grounds (be sure to sift until no more grounds can pass through). A passing rate of 80% (8g sifted from 10g of grounds) is the most suitable grind size for medium-light roasted beans; a passing rate of 70%-75% (7-7.5g sifted from 10g of grounds) is the most suitable grind size for medium-dark roasted beans. If the passing rate is too high, adjust the grind coarser; if it is too low, adjust the grind finer.

3. Brewing water temperature

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also uses different water temperatures when brewing beans of different roast levels. During roasting, substances inside the coffee beans are lost as the roast deepens, so for dark roasted beans, the water temperature is lowered to avoid extracting too many undesirable flavors. For medium-light roasted beans, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends water at 90-93°C; for medium-dark roasted beans, it recommends water at 86-88°C.

4. Water quality

The mineral components in water, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and other mineral ions, affect coffee's thermodynamic extraction capacity, thereby changing the flavor of the coffee. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) does not recommend directly heating tap water for brewing. Tap water contains many impurities, and the extracted coffee can easily bring an unpleasant experience.

5. Brewing dripper selection

Front Street recommends that beginners choose the V60 01 dripper. The V60 conical dripper has a larger opening, and together with its unique spiral curve ribs, it allows air to escape more easily, thereby improving extraction quality. Its mouthfeel may not be full-bodied enough, but the sweetness, acidity, and pronounced aroma brought by its high concentration are one of its major features.

6. Coffee-to-water ratio

This is the corresponding taste difference of pour over coffee water-to-coffee ratios that Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) obtained based on the SCA Golden Cup extraction theory:

【Bold taste】 1:10～1:11, i.e. 1:12.5～1:13.5 under the Golden Cup standard 【Moderate taste】 1:12～1:13 (i.e. 1:14.5～1:15.5 under the Golden Cup standard) 【Light and refreshing】 1:14～1:16 (i.e. 1:16.5～1:18.5 under the Golden Cup standard)

When the ratio of coffee bean grams to brewing water is between 1:14.5 and 1:15.5, it is easiest to reach the golden range of 18%-22% extraction yield and 1.15%-1.35% concentration.

This is also why Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) has always recommended brewing at 1:15. Therefore, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) summarizes the information given by the above SCA extraction ratio parameters as follows:

(1) The larger the coffee-to-water ratio, the lighter the coffee taste; the smaller the coffee-to-water ratio, the stronger the coffee taste. (2) Increasing the amount of water to raise the coffee-to-water ratio means more flavor-contributing substances participate but the taste is lighter; reducing the amount of water to lower the coffee-to-water ratio means fewer flavor-contributing substances participate but the taste is richer. (3) Increasing the amount of coffee to lower the coffee-to-water ratio reduces the extraction of large-molecule substances in the final stage of coffee extraction, while making the taste stronger; reducing the amount of coffee to raise the coffee-to-water ratio, before reaching the limit, extracts a more complete range of flavor substances while reducing intensity.

7. Brewing time

In coffee extraction, the aroma and flavor in the early stage are rich and the concentration is high, and the further along it goes, the lighter the flavor and aroma become. At the same time, the amount of water poured also affects extraction time. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) generally uses 15g of grounds, depending on the bean. With a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, controlling brewing time within 2 minutes to 2 minutes 30 seconds makes it less likely to cause over-extraction or under-extraction.

Basic knowledge of pour over coffee---- Pour over coffee grind size standard

Second, the grind level of pour over coffee also greatly affects extraction. That is to say, even if the coffee-to-water ratio is well controlled, grinding too coarse or too fine will also affect flavor extraction. For example, the finer the coffee is ground, the more easily it clogs the filter paper, the greater the extraction resistance, the slower the flow rate, the longer the extraction time, the higher the extraction yield of substances in the coffee, and the stronger the brewed coffee;

Similarly, the coarser the grind, the larger the gaps in the coffee bed, the less coffee comes into contact with hot water, the weaker the extraction resistance, the faster the coffee drips, and the lower the extraction yield, so the flavor is also lighter. It can be seen that merely changing the grind size can create a huge difference in coffee taste, which is why grinding is so important.

Basic knowledge of pour over coffee----Pour over coffee brewing technique

Next is the last step of pour over coffee——the brewing technique! At present, there are many different pour over techniques seen in coffee shops, with common ones including the three-pour method, one-cut flow, drip method, and so on. Here, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends that beginners use the three-pour method to brew, because this technique is suitable for light, medium-light, and medium roasted coffee beans. The staged extraction method of three-pour pour over coffee can clearly present the flavors of the coffee's early, middle, and late stages, and is relatively better able to ensure flavor expression.

As mentioned above by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreetCoffee), the brewer must pour water at a suitable temperature and amount onto the coffee grounds in a steady pouring motion to complete extraction, so as to obtain a delicious cup of coffee. After all, pour over coffee can also be regarded as an art. Just as cooking a dish requires not only fresh ingredients but also attention to heat control and the chef's skill, the same is true of pour over coffee. So next, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will teach everyone how to perform the three-pour method for pour over coffee.

Three-pour brewing technique for pour over coffee:

First pour: bloom (helps release gas)

Many coffee lovers do not understand the meaning of blooming in pour over coffee. In fact, blooming is needed because a series of chemical reactions and physical changes occur during the roasting process as coffee beans go from green beans to roasted beans. After reaching a certain roast level, a large amount of gas (mostly carbon dioxide) accumulates inside the beans.

Generally speaking, the fresher the beans and the closer to the roast date, the more bubbles appear during blooming. Dark roasted beans also release more gas during blooming than light roasted beans. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s coffee beans are all freshly roasted, so it generally recommends that customers rest the beans for three days first, allowing the beans to release carbon dioxide, so that problems of instability and under-extraction can be avoided during brewing.

After the gas is released during blooming, the coffee particles can absorb water evenly, making subsequent extraction more uniform. A good bloom allows the coffee grounds to release gas quickly, fully, and evenly, and at the same time allows the coffee grounds to come into full and rapid contact with water, helping uniform extraction. These are precisely the purpose and significance of blooming in pour over coffee.

During the bloom of pour over coffee, pay attention to the following four points:

1、 Before pouring water for the bloom, first level the coffee grounds.

2、 Pour gently during the bloom.

3、 During the bloom, as little extracted liquid as possible should drip down; when too much extracted liquid appears in the server, reduce the amount of water poured, or pay attention to the grind size. (If too much water is used during the bloom and a large amount of coffee liquid drips down, the falling water does not stay but directly carries out substances from the outside of the coffee grounds, and the off-flavors and astringency in the outer layer of the coffee grounds also begin to dissolve out. The coffee brewed this way is both weak and has the off-flavors of over-extraction. If the bloom water is insufficient and no drops fall at all, it means the coffee grounds have not absorbed enough water and some coffee has not released gas sufficiently, causing under-extraction.) In response to this situation, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), after many bloom experiments, found that pouring water equal to twice the weight of the coffee grounds during the bloom is more appropriate.

4、 The bloom time is about 30 seconds. When the expansion on the surface of the coffee grounds ends, you will see the coffee surface begin to shrink, which means the bloom is complete and you can begin pouring. (If the bloom time is too long, the coffee is prone to bitterness and astringency; if too short, the soaking is insufficient, and the coffee may be under-extracted or the flavor may not be fully expressed.)

Generally speaking, the time at which the bloom ends differs for each type of bean, but Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found that this is not conducive for beginners, since what beginners value is standardization and ease of use. Therefore, while ensuring that the coffee beans are still in a freshly roasted state, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends a bloom time of 30 seconds. Of course, experienced brewers can adjust it themselves.

Second pour

The second pour starts from the center, injecting a small stream into the bottom of the coffee bed. To make the penetrating force of the water stream more concentrated, the circular movement range should be small, about the size of a one-yuan coin, and then spiral outward. From the start of the second pour, pay attention to the water amount and try not to exceed the height of the coffee bed. That is, when the water stream circles close to the filter paper, you can stop pouring.

Third pour

As the originally thicker coffee bed near the edge of the filter paper becomes heavier from absorbing water, it slides down and becomes thinner as the water level drops. When the water level drops halfway, you can proceed with the third pour.

From the start of the third pour, observe the extent to which the water level drops. Likewise, start pouring from the center in a circular motion, and do not let the water amount exceed the height of the coffee bed. At this time, you will also observe that the foam has already covered the entire surface. The third pour should increase the tumbling of the coffee particles, causing all the settled particles to tumble and thereby dissolve soluble substances.

The rolling particles will begin to settle once pouring stops. At this point, it is the flow rate caused by the dropping water level that creates friction among the coffee particles. Therefore, once pouring stops, the coffee particles sink downward, causing clogging, so special attention must be paid to the rhythm of pouring. If the pouring is interrupted too many times, it is equivalent to letting the coffee particles sit in water the whole time. In this way, it will cause astringency and off-flavors in the final stage of coffee extraction. If the pouring is interrupted too many times, it is equivalent to letting the coffee particles sit in water the whole time. In this way, it will cause astringency and off-flavors in the final stage of coffee extraction.

After completing the above steps, you can get a cup of aromatic pour over coffee! The above is the related content compiled by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) on how to make pour over coffee, and it is hoped that it can help coffee lovers who have already prepared their equipment and want to show off their skills at home by making pour over coffee.

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