Several perspectives on hand pouring | Which hand pouring method is the best? Each has its own advantages and disadvantages

Pour over the last few years seems to have become less common, but I wanted to compare the most popular methods of pour over, even so. I have always preferred batch brewing, and several of the cafes I have run have relied on batch brewing for more than 90% of their filter coffee. Batch brewing has a more consistent extraction than any other pour over method, and generally produces better results. However, batch brewing is not a practical option for home brewers, cafes/restaurants that average less than 100 filter cups per day, or high-priced cafes.

There has always been a serious problem with the quality of specialty coffee pour-overs. Of the 2,000 pour-overs I’ve paid (ugh) to drink in cafes, maybe 2 dozen of them were as good as a good batch brew. WTF? A 1% success rate and nearly $8,000 spent on coffee that tasted average. (Not to mention some baristas who promised washed beans only to find they were naturals!)

Excellent filter coffee requires relatively even extraction at the right temperature; my preference is 89-93°C. This requires:

• Steaming
• Some turbulence
• Minimize channels during filtration

How to make a good pour-over

Steaming

Steaming improves the integrity of the extraction by reducing the number of channels and wetting the solubles deeper in the grounds and inside the coffee particles before the bulk of the solubles are carried away from the grounds during filtration. A good approach is to steam with a 3:1 water to coffee ratio. Ground coffee can absorb 2 times its weight in water, but inevitably some extract will filter out of the grounds during steaming. Therefore, a 2:1 ratio is not enough to fully wet the grounds. I find that 3:1 is a reasonable ratio to get complete wetting.

I can’t stress this enough, and I foresee I’ll be arguing for the next decade: stirring during the brew is good. Please do it. The most common argument against stirring during the brew is that baristas won’t do it consistently. That makes sense; it’s probably true. It’s also true that a passive (no-stir) pre-infusion is more inconsistent than a stirred pre-infusion by a barista with minimal training. One of the first things I did after getting a concentration meter was to test the variation in extraction with and without stirring during the brew on my V60. The difference was huge; stirring during the brew reduced the variation so much that it wasn’t even necessary to calculate the variation. To me, that means stirring improves extraction uniformity.

A simple test of the success of the steaming process is to note how long it takes for bubbles to stop rising from the mixture. The presence of bubbles indicates that some dry grounds in the grounds are just being wetted and releasing some carbon dioxide. If bubbles are still appearing after a minute, then there is an area of ​​the grounds that was not wetted a full minute after the steaming started. In addition, consider that the grounds that are wetted last are being wetted by the extract that has dissolved coffee solids, which is not a good solvent. On the other hand, the water that contacts the grounds first has very few coffee solids and is a great solvent. The end result is that a portion of the grounds are extracted quickly, both in time and speed, from the beginning.

I recommend stirring carefully during steaming so that no bubbles appear within 10-15 seconds of starting to add water. However, too much stirring may cause the fine powder to clog the filter paper, so it is wise to use the minimum number of stirring times to achieve the goal.

vortex

Vortexing increases extraction rate and, when used correctly, can improve extraction uniformity. There are several ways to add vortexing to the brew: stirring, pouring water faster or from a higher position, or rotating the filter. How best to use vortexing depends on your brewing device, but I usually recommend stirring during the steaming stage and adding another vortex after the pour is complete.

The Rao Spin

A few years ago I started noticing various versions of what I call "Rao twists" online. This piqued my curiosity; I didn't invent these methods, but my name is on them. (There are other Rao people in the world, but I'm pretty sure most of my relatives are in southern Italy, drinking espresso and thinking pour-over coffee is pot water.)

Last year I went to Aroma Caffe in Bologna, one of Italy's rare third wave specialty coffee houses, and had one of the most amazingly perfect coffee experiences of my life. Aroma (full name: Bar Aroma Degustazione E Vendita Di Caffe' Pregiati) is run by the world's nicest couple, Cristina and Alessandro. I asked Alessandro to make me a Rubens Gardelli coffee (forgot which bean, it was delicious), and Alessandro extracted it flawlessly, rotating the entire V60 filter cup during the brew after the entire water was filled. Alessandro found it funny that I had never seen or heard of this method, given that it was named after me. Here's a 7 second video of Alessandro doing the Rao Spin:

I don't know why the Rao Spin works so well, but it minimizes the channels in the final filter and makes for a flatter bed of grounds at the end of each brew. It's so good, I really wish I had invented it :)

Note: I did develop a trick to gently tap the filter bowl during the final stage of filtration. This also reduces channeling, but I prefer the Rao Spin these days. Occasionally I'll use both.

aisle

A good drip machine has a flat, wide spray head that sprays water more evenly over the grounds than a pour-over kettle. Pour-over kettle pouring seems to create channels more easily. Twisting or tapping the filter, skillfully pouring the water, and using a sufficiently coarse grind can all help reduce channels.

Which pour-over method is best?

I think there are three main types of pour-over methods:

• Conical filter cup type (V60/Melitta)
• Flat bottom filter cup type (Kalita)
• Soak-release (Clever)

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages

Conical filter bowl (V60, Melitta, etc.)*

The main advantage of V60 and Melitta is that, as long as the right filter cup size is used, the barista can quickly inject all the water in a single, steady injection after steaming. Using a single injection instead of a segmented injection allows the barista to maintain a high enough temperature for the coffee mixture to ensure that the coffee is bright and acidic every time. I have tasted good V60 extracted with segmented injection; but more often than not, segmented extraction is not good, and tastes acidic due to the low extraction temperature.

Like some trends before third wave coffee (ristretto, underdeveloped roasts, underextracted pour-overs), baristas seem to accept a certain level of acidity that I personally find unpalatable. Of course, liking sour coffee is a personal preference, but please don't force it on others. I say this because I've heard countless complaints from baristas who "educate" customers who complain about sour coffee. If a customer complains about sour coffee, then your coffee probably does have sour taste. Bright, lively red wine-like acidity is great, but coffee with a sour taste really doesn't make me happy.

*Those of you who know me well, don’t ask me why I didn’t mention Chemex.

Flat-bottom filter cup (Kalita)

The main advantage of the Kalita is that it improves the uniformity of the extraction. However, the relatively small size of the device forces the barista to brew only a small amount of coffee at a time or extract in stages. (Other small-sized filter cups have similar problems.) My only complaint about the Kalita is that the folds of the filter paper can get stuck in the coffee grounds. I heard that there are filters without folds now, but I haven't seen them yet.

Soak-and-release filters (SmartCup, etc.)

I would like to see more cafes using devices like the Smart Cup for pour-over coffee. I find the best V60 and Kalita slightly more to my taste than the best Smart Cup, but it’s important to note that it’s easier to make a Smart Cup better. Making a good Smart Cup is simple:

1. Choose the right grind and water-to-powder ratio
2. Pour 94-95℃ hot water to ensure that all coffee powder is quickly soaked
3. Stir lightly after filling
4. Close the lid
5. When the selected time (2 minutes, 3 minutes, etc.) is reached, open the lid, stir lightly to let the coffee powder attached to the filter paper fall off, and place the smart cup on the cup to filter out the coffee liquid.

That's it. Technically the SmartCup is more of an immersion brew than a filter brew, so there's no need for steaming. A novice barista can get an 8 out of 10 after five minutes of training and given a recipe for time, temperature, weight, and grind size. I can't remember the last time I had an 8 out of 10 pour-over brewed by an experienced barista.

So what about Chemex?

Many people in the coffee industry like Chemex, but I really don't. Good equipment can improve the quality of extraction. And Chemex makes it difficult to extract high-quality coffee. Therefore, Chemex is not a good equipment. Maybe you have tasted good coffee made with Chemex, but it is more likely because of good green beans and good roasting, rather than good extraction.

The problem with the Chemex is that it forces the barista to fill the coffee slowly in stages and filter it very slowly. Slow filtering itself isn't a problem, but because the device is open and the temperature is dropping, it becomes a problem. The slow filling and filtering speed results in a low extraction temperature. The rapid filling of the Chemex, and at least the warm water at the beginning, will eventually filter dry and high grounds on the filter paper. If you must use a Chemex, brew no more than 16 oz (475 ml), fill quickly, swirl the mixture, and pray that you may get a passable cup of coffee. My advice is to use a Chemex to brew natural beans and serve it to your least favorite customers.