Coffee is being loved by more and more Chinese people, even somewhat catching up with fast-food tea drinks like milk tea, though the consumer groups for each have their own characteristics. When it comes to coffee, one cannot fail to mention pour-over coffee and espresso. Pour-over coffee mostly uses single-origin coffee beans. The unadorned beauty of pour-over coffee — not rough, not concealed, not simple — is another, better interpretation of coffee. Overall, pour-over coffee is, at its core, a gentler approach. This is only in comparison to espresso.

On a solitary afternoon, coffee, a book, a soft chair — these simple elements together create a simple happiness, just like the beauty of pour-over single-origin coffee. With pour-over, you can see from the extraction to each drop falling — the most authentic appearance of coffee. Compared to espresso, which is extracted under 9 bars of atmospheric pressure, this is the second reason I call it gentle. It could be said that espresso also has that same thrilling excitement, but you may have never tasted it. Perhaps that is the third reason single-origin coffee is so good — it makes it easier for people who don't like coffee to fall in love with it and enjoy its original form. Admittedly, compared to pour-over, espresso is more foolproof in its preparation and more easily accepted by people, but perhaps it is precisely the maverick beauty of pour-over that attracts so many people.

Let's take a look at the differences between pour-over coffee and espresso.

1.Different coffee beans

Pour-over coffee

Pour-over coffee generally uses single-origin coffee beans as the brewing material, with no strict requirements on bean selection. Based on current preferences, the roast level tends toward light and medium roasts, such as Front Street Coffee Huakui, Front Street Coffee Kenya Small Tomato, Front Street Coffee Sidra, Front Street Coffee Yirgacheffe, etc. Of course, some people also like to use dark-roasted coffee beans, the most representative being Front Street Coffee Golden Mandheling, Front Street Coffee Queen's Estate, and Front Street Coffee Huilan coffee beans.

Espresso

Espresso typically uses blended coffee beans, also called composite coffee beans. Recommended are Front Street Classic Espresso Blend, Front Street Specialty Blend, and Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso beans. They are mostly used to make espresso-based coffee drinks such as cappuccino, Americano, and latte. Most are relatively dark-roasted to pair with milk and hot water. Making this kind of coffee can only be done with a professional espresso grinder, which is also the foundation and key to producing quality espresso. 

2Different brewing methods

Pour-over coffee

Basically, pour-over coffee mostly uses a dripper, meaning extraction occurs under normal atmospheric pressure. If using a moka pot, AeroPress, etc., the extraction pressure can reach 3 bar (three atmospheres). 

Espresso

Extraction uses an espresso machine, where the machine's pressure brings the extraction state to 9 bar (9 atmospheres). The puck in the portafilter bears 133 kilograms of pressure, causing it to release a large amount of coffee substances, including certain flavor compounds that are difficult to dissolve under normal pressure. As a result, espresso has a thicker mouthfeel and is suitable for pairing with milk to make a latte, or adding water to make an Americano. 

3.Different caffeine content

If the dose and grind size are the same, since caffeine is a water-soluble substance, the longer the brewing time, the more caffeine is released. Pour-over brewing time is usually 1–3 minutes, while espresso brewing time is usually 20–30 seconds. So under the same dose and grind size, pour-over coffee will have a higher caffeine content. From this we can see that cold brew coffee and cold drip coffee, which involve long extraction times, will have a much higher caffeine content than other coffees.

You can see that the coffee liquid brewed by pour-over versus Espresso differs greatly in concentration. After adding milk to single-origin coffee, the milk masks the coffee's own aroma and flavor, so generally coffee shops do not recommend adding milk to pour-over coffee. 

How to make Espresso

Many coffee enthusiasts unknowingly equip their homes with numerous coffee tools, and those obsessed with espresso even stock up on espresso machines, ready to extract it themselves. Here at Front Street, using our store's espresso output as a reference, let me briefly explain how to make an Espresso.

The coffee machine at Front Street's store is a commercial single-group "Lelit Bianca," capable of adjusting extraction by changing pressure, with a maximum pressure of 11 bar. A home coffee machine only needs to reach 9 bar of pressure to satisfy the functions of extraction and milk frothing, paired with an espresso grinder.

Front Street uses a double-shot portafilter capacity, with a dose of approximately 18–20 grams; Front Street uses 20 grams of coffee powder when producing. Typically the ratio of coffee powder to coffee liquid is 1:1.5 to 1:2.5. Front Street's extraction ratio is 1:2, meaning 20 grams of coffee powder yields 40 grams of coffee liquid. Time is related to the flow rate of the coffee powder; generally a single extraction duration is controlled at 20–35 seconds, because within 20 seconds the coffee usually tastes thin, while exceeding 35 seconds tends to over-extract and produce a burnt bitterness. Front Street's espresso mostly falls within the 28–30 second range.

Front Street first wipes the portafilter dry, turns on the grinder, grinds out a double shot's worth of coffee powder, places it on an electronic scale to adjust up or down to reach 20 grams. Then use a tool to evenly distribute the grounds and tamp the puck firmly to ensure more stable extraction. Then turn on the extraction switch to release water, moistening the group head while washing away stuck coffee grounds. Gently and slowly lock the portafilter onto the group head, and begin the extraction. When the electronic scale shows 40 grams of coffee liquid extracted at about 30 seconds, you can pull down the extraction switch. Pour the coffee liquid into an Espresso cup and enjoy.

The taste and mouthfeel of Espresso are related to the coffee beans used. The espresso produced at Front Street's store uses Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun Blend. It is composed of Honduras Sherry coffee and Ethiopia natural Red Cherry in a 7:3 ratio. Made into Espresso, it has rich crema, a very pronounced whiskey aroma, with vanilla biscuit and berry acidity on the entry, solid flavors, and after drinking, the entire mouth is filled with various aromas.

Espresso can also be diluted with water — that is the Americano commonly seen on menus, full of fresh fragrance. Adding milk makes a latte, presenting the sweet deliciousness of chocolate and cream.

How to make pour-over coffee

To make pour-over coffee at home, we need the following equipment: a gooseneck kettle, a dripper, a server, a grinder, filter paper, an electronic scale, and a thermometer. Here Yirgacheffe is a medium-light roasted high-altitude coffee bean. Front Street hopes to extract more rich aromatic substances, so we choose a grind size with 80% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve, corresponding to a setting of 10 on the EK43s grinder used in stores. Additionally, light-roasted coffee needs a higher water temperature to stimulate aroma, so we use 91–93°C and a resin V60 01 dripper for extraction.

On online media, we can see various pour-over pouring techniques, such as one-pour, three-stage, four-six method, etc. Various techniques can bring out different flavor expressions in the cup. Based on past brewing experience, Front Street recommends that beginners adopt the three-stage pouring method. Three-stage extraction helps more fully dissolve flavor substances during extraction, adding layers to the mouthfeel, while avoiding overly long immersion that causes over-extraction.

If using 15 grams of coffee powder, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 225ml total water, the three-stage water amounts are divided as: 30ml, 95ml, 100ml, and the weight on the electronic scale shows: 30g, 125g, 225g.

Fold the filter paper and fit it snugly into the dripper, wet the filter paper with a small amount of water while making them adhere better, and pour out the water in the lower server. Then pour in the coffee powder and tap gently to distribute the coffee bed evenly. For the first stage, gently pour 30 grams of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30 seconds. For the second stage, pour to about 125 grams of water, evenly and steadily in an outward spiral. Then wait for the coffee liquid to drop. When it has dropped by half, pour the final stage of water to 225 grams. After all the coffee has dripped through, the total extraction time is generally about 2 minutes.

The reason everyone loves pour-over coffee so much is that we actively explore the extraction flavor expression of coffee, adjust the brewing method according to different coffee bean varieties and roast levels, carefully select brewing vessels to experience the different appearances coffee takes through different extraction methods, and regulate grind size, temperature, water flow rate, pouring technique, and other factors to adjust coffee extraction. Every step can bring a different taste and aroma experience — this is the charm of pour-over coffee.

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