While an auto-drip is my go-to brew method in the morning, my carafe broke recently and I have been focusing on my pour over game before replacing my set-up. Pour over coffee can be one of the most intimidating aspects of specialty coffee because everyone has their own opinions on it. There seems to be a new pour over or manual brewer hitting the market every day and it can seem like the wrong one will make or break your coffee career and home brewing set-up. If the concept of a pour over has left you confused or you don’t know why baristas make a big deal about a way to make a cup of coffee, this article is for you.
What is a pour over?
A pour over is generally any manual brewing method where the water is poured directly over the bed of the coffee inside a cone or basket that sits on a mug or carafe. While this can sound similar to batch brewed coffee or drip coffee, the key to a pour over is the manual nature of the brew in that you pour it by hand and the fact that most pour over brewers are designed to brew only one or two cups versus a batch brewer that can brew anywhere between 4-12 cups, depending on the size. Examples of pour over coffee brewers are a Kalita Wave, a V60, the PureOver, an Origami Dripper, and so many more.
What makes a pour over so great?
Pour overs allow for more nuance in your coffee cup. Brew methods that require larger doses of coffee such as batch brew and cold brew can produce strong cups of coffee but certain delicate flavors might get lost or muddled. The many options for a pour over can seem daunting but each option comes with its own strength, which can help in bringing out flavors better.
But, how does it bring out flavors?
There are a lot of ways and much of it depends on which brewer you choose but here’s a non-exhaustive list: water temperature, pouring speed, contact time, shape, bypass, pressure, filter type/shape, water quality, the number and size of the holes in the brewer, and grind size. That’s a dizzying amount of variables to go into a cup of coffee but let’s break it down and know that not every aspect listed above will be relevant to every brewer or every person.
When exploring pour over coffee, the best way to enjoy it is to treat it like a journey. Some roads will take you where you want to go, some won’t, and others will lead you down interesting side quests. Figure out what part of your coffee experience you want to invest in and make better then focus on those things. Everyone has their own opinion and it is best to just ignore those until you have played around enough to know advice from opinion.
The first thing to look at is the preparation for the brew, just like any other brew method. A good cup of coffee starts with good water that is heated to the best temperature for extraction and uses a wetted filter. Whereas batch brewers and espresso machines calibrate much of the nitty gritty parts of prep work such as temperature and how much water to use, pour overs bring a massive shift to placing the control on the person brewing the coffee. Research will yield theories on what temperature works best for what roast, which filter to use (bleach, unbleached, etc), and all of these will contribute to your overall brew flavor.
Once you have everything set up, it’s time to talk about the coffee. Coffee shops will often feature more expensive coffees as their pour over option not to gain more profit but to highlight a finer coffee that otherwise might be too expensive to feature on drip or espresso. This is where coffees with tea-like notes, florals, or punchy fruit flavors would shine. It is worth noting that any coffee, single origin or blend, specialty grade or not, can be made using a pour over method but that is the function of a pour over at most specialty coffee shops.
Which Pour Over Method is the best?
You could ask every barista this question and they would all give you a different answer. It all depends on what kind of coffee you gravitate towards, your budget, and what your coffee routine tends to look like. If you are looking to switch to something more manual but don’t want to spend a lot of time, the Aeropress or Origami might be up your alley because of their shorter brew times. If you are usually brewing for two people, the Chemex is a sleek option for those that want to brew more than a single cup at a time. Want to really get the basics down, check out any Melitta or V60 cone brewer to get the hang of pour overs before branching out to other shapes, materials, and features.
Do I need to make pour overs every morning to be a real coffee pro?
Nope. Manual brewing isn’t everyone’s cup of coffee. I think it is an important skill to know and have in your repertoire but it doesn’t have to be your go-to brewing method in the morning for you to be “real.” It can often seem like it, especially in our photo and video saturated culture where you see pour over after pour over when scrolling. Your morning coffee should be however you like it and maybe that will be a pour over after you experiment, but it also may not be.
In conclusion, the important thing to take away about pour overs is that pour over coffee is all about having control over every aspect of your brew. Some baristas really value the technicality and experimentation that goes into different pour over brewers, whereas some utilize the more in-depth nature of brewing with a pour over as a meditative experience. Whether it is your preference or not, learning about pour over coffee is a valuable tool in a barista’s coffee toolkit because many of those technical aspects apply to other brewing methods like automatic drip coffee and espresso.
The Non-Binary Barista 