In the field of coffee brewing, By Pass is a concept that is practiced far more often than it is discussed in theory. Many enthusiasts simply equate it with adding water to dilute brewed coffee, but is this understanding accurate? Starting from the literal meaning of By Pass, this article will systematically explain the underlying logic of the bypass technique in conjunction with the relationship between extraction yield and strength in the Golden Cup standard. It also introduces Kanazawa-style brewing as a reference, analyzing how to use a 1:13 coffee-to-water ratio together with bypass water equal to twice the coffee dose to optimize the acidity and cleanliness of light-roasted coffee, and explores the room for adjusting parameters such as grind size and water temperature. [more…]

In the coffee world, there are always some terms that leave people scratching their heads, and By pass is one of them. Literally translated as "bypass" or "detour," but what exactly does it refer to? Simply put, it describes water that does not pass through the coffee grounds and goes directly into the cup, as well as the corresponding actions. From dilution with water in Americanos, to melting ice in iced pour-over, to concentration adjustment by competition baristas and in daily brewing, By pass is everywhere. Front Street Coffee will guide you through multiple examples to fully understand the active and passive generation of bypass water, its role in extraction, and the prerequisites for its use as a remedial measure, helping you apply this technique more accurately. [more…]

When brewing pour-over coffee, many people have seen baristas add more water to the carafe after finishing the brew. This is actually called "bypass." From the perspective of Front Street, this article systematically explains the principles of bypass, common application scenarios, and emergency rescue methods, including bypass approaches for Americano and iced pour-over, as well as how to use a small amount of bypass water to salvage situations involving standing water in the final stage, excessive strength, or over-extraction. It also covers the choice of bypass water temperature and addition techniques, helping you understand the logic behind this technique, and points out that rather than relying on post-brew dilution, it is better to find the root cause of the brewing problem. [more…]

Grind size is the key variable that determines the direction of coffee flavor, but grinders on the market have wildly varying scales, and the same number may correspond to dramatically different coarseness on different devices. How fine is actually fine? How should you judge something the size of granulated sugar? This article starts from the impact of grind size on extraction, systematically introduces how to quantify the coarseness of coffee grounds with the help of the Chinese standard No. 20 0.85 mm aperture sieve, and for common brewing methods such as pour-over, French press, cold brew, espresso machine, and moka pot, provides reference ranges for grind passing rates under different roast levels and comparison methods, helping you find the grind parameters suitable for your own equipment. [more…]

Grind size is one of the core variables determining the extraction outcome and flavor direction of pour-over coffee. This article systematically examines how coffee particle size affects flow rate and extraction efficiency, compares the typical behaviors when the grind is too fine versus too coarse, and provides reference grind ranges for different brewing devices such as cupping, pour-over, espresso, moka pot, cold brew drip, and French press. It also introduces the calibration method using the No. 20 sieve pass-through rate to help you find the appropriate grind setting between medium-light and medium-dark roasted beans. The article also incorporates Front Street Coffee products such as Huakui, Geisha, Sidra, PWN Golden Mandheling, Queen's Estate, and Blue Mountain No. 1, offering corresponding grind recommendations and extraction approaches. [more…]

If you are a passionate lover of pour-over coffee, then you must know that the following factors are among the reasons that affect your coffee's extraction and flavor! So let's count them with Front Street: water temperature, grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, extraction time... Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet [more…]

As in various other industries, there are quite a few professional terms in coffee as well. We can understand so-called professional terms as a condensed expression of complex concepts. They can not only improve the efficiency of our communication, but also increase the precision of communication and reduce the chance of communication barriers arising. However, because most [more…]

Brewing a good cup of coffee makes grind size an unavoidable key variable. If the particles are too coarse, flavor extraction is insufficient; if ground too fine, it easily brings out bitter and off-flavors. But just how coarse counts as coarse, and how fine counts as fine? And how should you convert between different brewing devices? This article uses the industry-recognized cupping standard as its baseline and the No. 20 sieve pass-through rate as a unified ruler, providing reference grind ranges one by one for French press, pour-over, cold brew drip, and espresso machines, explaining how roast level and bean density affect grinding results, and finally including Front Street Coffee's approach to dialing in espresso extraction, helping you turn grind size from "guesswork" into "data." [more…]

"Excuse me, what grind size should I use for pour-over coffee?" "Why is the grind at setting 10 on your machine different from setting 10 on mine?" "When you say 'sugar-like,' do you mean caster sugar, granulated sugar, or brown sugar?" ... Are you still struggling to find the right grind size for your coffee brewing device? Front Street has an article to [more…]

Grind size is the key variable that determines the success or failure of coffee extraction, and different brewing devices have significantly different requirements for particle diameter. This article systematically sorts out the corresponding grind settings from French press to espresso machine, introduces the industry-recognized cupping standard and the No. 20 sieve pass rate as calibration references, and provides specific scale references for the EK43s grinder. Whether you prefer immersion or pour-over, you can find suitable grind parameters here. The article also specifically reminds readers that coffee bean density and roast level will affect the actual particle coarseness at the same setting, so it is recommended to repeatedly confirm with the same beans. Several Front Street Coffee beans are also used as examples throughout to help readers understand the logic of grind adjustment more intuitively. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). No matter what equipment is used to brew coffee, the coffee beans need to be ground, and the purpose of this is to allow the coffee's flavor substances to dissolve more quickly. Of course, not all of the coffee's soluble [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, follow our WeChat public account: FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) No matter what equipment is used to brew coffee, the coffee beans must be ground, the purpose being to allow the coffee's flavor compounds to dissolve more quickly. Of course, not all of the coffee's soluble [more…]

Grind size is one of the core parameters determining the success or failure of coffee extraction, but the coarseness of coffee grounds is difficult to describe with intuitive numerical values, so sieve passing rate has become a more precise way to communicate. In this article, Front Street will systematically sort out the suitable grind levels for pour-over, cold brew (cold immersion and ice drip), French press, clever cup, moka pot, and espresso machine, and provide specific passing rate references for the No. 20 Chinese standard sieve. Whether you are a beginner who has just started or a veteran player looking to calibrate your grind, you can find corresponding parameter suggestions here. The article also specifically explains the differences between medium-light roast and medium-dark roast pour-over, adjustment methods for iced pour-over, and the reason why cold brew grind is not finer-is-better, helping you avoid common pitfalls and brew a full-flavored good cup of coffee. [more…]

Grind size is the most difficult part of pour-over parameters to master. Front Street Coffee uses an 80% pass rate through a No. 20 sieve as a beginner-friendly calibration baseline, but different grinders vary enormously in performance, and the same sieve pass rate can produce drastically different flavor outcomes. This article centers on grind calibration: it first explains the limitations of the sieve method and the particle size distribution characteristics of uniform grinders such as the EK43s, then offers remedies for poor-quality grinders, including hand grinder RPM control, the pull-back technique for staged grinding, and the direction for adjustment when too many fines cause off-flavors. Finally, it discusses the criteria for deciding whether sieving is necessary and the practical technique of a single-pour flush to wash away fines, helping you find the grind parameters that suit you. [more…]

Grind particle size is one of the key variables that determines the direction of coffee flavor. Starting from the practices of Front Street Coffee, this article systematically reviews the influence of grind size on extraction efficiency in pour-over coffee, the grind standards suited to medium-light and medium-dark roasts respectively, and how to use a 0.85mm No. 20 sieve to test the pass-through rate. It also extends to the extremely fine grind requirements of espresso, explains the effect of the grinder burr spacing on extraction time, and provides the specific extraction parameters and flavor description of Front Street espresso. In addition, the article also explains the relationship between the choice of Moka pot coffee grounds coarseness and the oils it produces, helping coffee enthusiasts find a grind plan suitable for their own equipment at home. [more…]

The flavor expression of pour-over coffee depends to a large extent on the grind size setting. If the particles are too coarse, extraction is insufficient and the taste is thin; if too fine, over-extraction easily occurs and bitterness becomes prominent. So what range should pour-over coffee particles actually be controlled within? Different grinders have inconsistent scale standards, so how can this be expressed in a unified way? Starting from the principles of extraction, this article sorts out the mutual influences among coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, time, and grind size, and introduces the method used by Front Street Coffee of measuring grind pass-through rate with a 0.85 mm standard sieve, giving the basic reference standard of an 80% pass-through rate to help coffee enthusiasts quickly find a suitable grinding baseline when facing different beans and equipment. [more…]

The grind size for pour-over coffee has always been a problem that puzzles many enthusiasts—the same description of "coarse sugar size" can be understood very differently by different people, and communication deviations directly lead to flavor differences. To solve this problem, Front Street Coffee adopted a "sieve calibration method," using a No. 20 sieve to quantify the grind level. This article will introduce the operating steps of this method in detail: how to choose a sieve, how to measure the pass-through rate, why it is recommended to control it at 80%, and when the grinder quality is poor, how to use brewing time and coffee bed state to assist in judging whether the grind is appropriate. No matter what grinder you use, this method can help you find a relatively stable grind reference. [more…]

Grind size is one of the most critical variables in pour-over coffee—it determines the contact area between water and coffee grounds, and also influences extraction time and the final flavor. This article will systematically sort out the logical relationship between grind size and extraction yield, tell you what kind of taste will appear in the cup when the grind is too fine or too coarse, and also introduce how to use a 0.85mm sieve to calibrate the passing rate, and give specific grinding recommendations for beans with different roast levels. If you do not want to buy an extra sieve, the article also categorizes five levels—extra fine, fine, medium-fine, medium, and coarse—so you can quickly find the right setting by comparing it with your own brewing device. [more…]

Grind size plays a pivotal role in pour-over coffee, directly influencing flavor presentation and extraction efficiency. This article uses Ethiopian Sidamo Candlestick (natural process, light roast) as a sample, adopts the brewing framework recommended by Front Street Coffee, and conducts a segmented extraction comparison across three different grind sizes—BG-5I (75% passing a No. 20 sieve), BG-5T (58% passing), and BG-7D (43% passing). The results show that too fine a grind lets bitterness suppress the tropical fruit notes; the medium-fine BG-5T releases citrus, mango, nectarine, and creamy aromas more fully, with a full body and pronounced sweet aftertaste; while the coarser BG-7D underextracts, yielding a thin flavor. The article ends with some tips on pour-over extraction stages and water temperature control for coffee enthusiasts' reference. [more…]

Whether a cup of coffee is light or bitter is often foreshadowed the moment the beans are ground. The coarseness of the coffee particles directly determines the release rate of soluble flavor compounds—it must fully extract the pleasant aromas and sweet-tart notes while avoiding the emergence of bitter, off-flavors. This article focuses on four common extraction methods—pour-over, French press, cold brew drip, and espresso—explaining the suitable grind range for each, and introduces how to calibrate grind size with a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85mm aperture), so that every bean can find the right brewing coarseness. The article also retains Front Street Coffee's empirical parameters from actual cupping and in-store dialing, for coffee enthusiasts to use as a reference. [more…]