Coffee-Direct Brewing Guides – Filter Brewers, or Pour-Over Coffee

The term “pour-over” is used in the coffee world to describe a number of different brewing methods, with the common factor being that the brewing is achieved through percolation, whereby water passes through a bed of ground coffee and extracts flavour along the way. Usually there is some sort of material used to filter the grounds from the resulting drink, which might be made from paper, cloth or fine metal mesh.

What Makes a Good Pour-Over Coffee?

When coffee is brewed with a filter brewer, three key variables affect the resulting cup of coffee:

1. The grind of the coffee – the finer the ground coffee, the more is extracted from it as the water passes through. This is because there is a greater surface area, and because water flows through finer coffee slower, allowing for more contact time.
   
   We recommend using our pre-ground option for filter brewers, which is available across all of our coffee varieties.
   
   
2. The contact time – this refers not only to how quickly the water flows through the coffee, but also how long it takes to add the water. The brew time can be extended by adding water very slowly to increase the extraction of the coffee.
   
   
3. The amount of coffee – the more coffee used, the longer the water will take to flow through and the longer the contact time.
   
   

What is the “Bloom”?

This refers to the common practice of adding just a little water to the coffee at the start of the brew, usually just enough to get all the coffee wet. When hot water is added to the coffee, the grounds start to release the trapped carbon dioxide and the bed of coffee will swell like dough rising. It is typical to wait 30 seconds before starting to add the rest of the brew water.

How to Brew Pour-Over Coffee Using a Filter Brewer

1. Grind and weigh your coffee just before you start brewing. A ratio of 60g coffee to a litre of water is recommended as a starting point, but be sure to experiment to find your preference
2. Boil a kettle of fresh water with a low mineral content
3. Place the paper filter in the brewer and rinse it briefly under a hot tap. This helps to reduce any taste the paper might impart to the coffee and also warms up the brewer
4. Add the ground coffee to the brewer and place the brewer on top of the cup or jug
5. Wait ten seconds once the kettle has boiled if you are pouring straight from it
6. Using weighing scales as a guide, pour a little water on to the coffee, about twice as much as the coffee by weight, to wet the coffee
7. Slowly pour the remainder of the water on to the coffee, weighing as you go to get an accurate amount. Try to pour directly on the coffee and not the walls of the brewer, as water may pass through without extracting the coffee
8. Once you have added the water and the surface of the liquid is 2-3cm below the top of the cone, give it a gentle swirl to stop any coffee from sticking to the walls of the brewer
9. Let it drip through until the bed of coffee looks dry. It should be relatively flat at the base of the brewer
10. Discard the coffee and paper, remove the brewer from the cup and enjoy your freshly brewed pour-over coffee.