Pour over coffee is worth it because it creates the most nuanced flavor out of all the brewing methods. It takes practice to perfect the art of pour over coffee but it is worth the time investment.
Are you looking to bring out the whole flavor profile of your coffee? Try pour over coffee!
What is pour over coffee?
Simply put, pour over coffee is a filter and a funnel.
You pour a slow and steady stream of hot water over the coffee grounds in the hopes of extracting the full flavors of the coffee. It gets its name because the hot water is “poured over” the coffee.
Many specialty coffee shops offer pour over coffee.
Pour over coffee is a great way to make delicious coffee at home as long as you take the time to learn and perfect the craft.
What is the history of pour over coffee?
A woman by the name of Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz invented the first iteration of what we now consider pour over coffee.
One day in 1908 she didn’t like how her percolated coffee tasted. She experimented with different brewing methods until she used paper from her child’s schoolbook coupled with a brass pot.
The method caught on in the 1930s, and the coned design that we see today became widely available by the 1950s.
What are the different methods of pour over coffee?
According to the New York Times, one method of pour over coffee is a dripper. This is when you put a small cone-shaped device with a filter and coffee grounds directly over your mug and pour hot water into it.
Different drippers have different shapes and some lend their way to more consistency than others do. Three common materials that drippers are made of include glass, ceramic, and stainless steel.
Another common pour over coffee method is using a Chemex. It is great for brewing more than one cup at a time and has a gorgeous glass design.
A Chemex also has a carafe built in. The filters are not easily found in stores but you can get them online or from specialty coffee shops.
How does pour over coffee give you more control over your final product?
Pour over coffee is an art that needs to be fine-tuned. This includes the grind of the coffee beans, the water temperature, and the speed and method of the pour.
You can go as extreme as to change some or all of those factors based on which coffee you are using in order to get the best tasting cup.
Humidity affects the grind in particular, which may need to be adjusted depending on the time of year.
What are the disadvantages of pour over coffee?
There is a steep learning curve when trying pour over coffee for the first month or so. You will have to perfect your pour technique as well as dial in your grind setting.
You also might want to play around with different pour over methods and filters.
Pour over coffee can also be inconsistent because there is so much room for human error.
What equipment do you need to make pour over coffee in a Chemex?
To make pour over coffee in a Chemex, first you need all of your equipment. This includes:
- A 6-cup brewer Chemex
- A square Chemex filter
- 36 grams of specialty coffee beans
- 600 mL of water and a bit more to rinse the filter
- A gooseneck pouring kettle
- A timer
- A mug
- A burr grinder
- A scale
How do you make pour over coffee in a Chemex?
Here are the steps to making the perfect Chemex brew.
- Heat your water up to 205 degrees on the dot.
- Put your filter into the top of your Chemex. The 3-layered side should line up with the pouring spout.
- Wet your filter. Pour out the excess water, keeping the filter in place.
- Weigh your coffee and grind it to your preferred grind.
- Pour the ground coffee into your filter. Gently shake your Chemex to get the grounds to lay evenly.
- Reset your scale.
- For 30 seconds, slowly pour 70 grams of water over your grounds to wet them evenly.
- For the next 30 seconds, pour about 100 grams of water in a spiral motion. Repeat every 30 seconds until you reach 500 grams.
- Wait for all of the coffee to drain. Give it a gentle stir by moving your Chemex in a circular motion before serving.
What are some tips for making the best pour over coffee?
Here are three tips from Craft Beverage that will help you improve the taste of your pour over coffee.
1. Use freshly roasted coffee beans.
Buy coffee from a roaster who prints the roast date on the packaging. If you’re ordering online, only buy from roasters who roast to order.
2. Only grind the amount of coffee you are brewing.
It can be tempting to grind extra coffee to save you some time the following mornings. However, moisture and air will negatively affect the taste of your ground coffee the longer it sits.
3. Use high quality water.
Coffee is mostly water, so if your water tastes better, your coffee will taste better. Be careful not to use water that will oxidize your kettle.
How does pour over coffee compare to other coffee methods?
Pour over coffee has a more nuanced flavor than other coffee methods because you have complete control over all of the factors that create a cup of coffee.
However, it can be inconsistent from cup to cup because there are so many factors and a lot of room for error.
It also takes practice to get the perfect cup, whereas a coffee maker takes no practice.
In addition, it is a larger time investment in the morning.
Can you make espresso using a pour over method?
No, you can’t make espresso using a pour over method.
Pressure is required to make espresso. The high pressure of espresso machines extracts the strong flavors that you taste in a shot of espresso.
Pour over methods have no way of creating the high pressure needed to make espresso.
Hi, I’m Jen Williams, chief editor and writer for ThirstPerk.com.
I’ve been drinking coffee and tea for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I started working at Thirstperk.com that I became an expert on the subject. I’m a total caffeine addict who has spent hours upon hours reading about and experimenting with the different types of coffees out there in my search to find the perfect cup of joe.
I’ve been a tea lover for as long as I can remember as well. I grew up in a house with a mom who loved to drink herbal tea, and I think that’s where my love for tea first began. These days, I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting teas to try, and I love experimenting with different brewing methods and flavoring combinations.