How to Make Great Pour Over Coffee
With the right type of grounds, a Pour over Vessel and hot water, you can make a good cup of great tasting coffee in a matter of minutes. While many pour overs involve paper filters, you can also make with a metal filter that is inserted into the glass vessel and removed, cleaned and used again. A Bodum 34 oz or 51 oz Pour over coffee maker has high-heat Borosilicate glass with a reusable stainless steel filter and black band grip that is made in Portugal which can be found on line. In my opinion, anytime you can avoid trapping the delicious oils from the bean while brewing the better. However, many are used to using the paper filter, so it is purely up to you which way to go here. Removable paper filter to toss when done or a stainless steel filter to dump grounds and rinse to clean for reuse after.
The real differences between a Pour over coffee brew and a French Press Brew is Pour over involves continuously saturating the grounds in water vs French Press uses an immersion technique (grounds steep for some time). Pour overs are exceptionally quick and can make up for some lost time if running behind in the morning where French press can take a little bit longer with more steps. The biggest difference is with Pour over, you control how long the extraction process is by how much water your use and how much you are making- whether just enough for a cup or a bigger batch to save some for an iced coffee for later. There is no grinds sitting at the base of your vessel to worry about making the "extra" amount too extracted making it taste too strong or turn more bitter than you prefer if you don't get too it right away.
Items you need to Make a Pour Over Coffee:
You will need: Filtered Water, Coarsely ground coffee, A filter- either paper or stainless steel insert, and a Kettle for warming your water....some prefer a Goose neck kettle.
Step 1
Add Coffee Filter & Grounds
Pour the coffee grounds into the paper or stainless steel filter, don't worry your coffee won't have a paper taste, and place it onto your mug or carafe.
Be sure to evenly dispersed the grounds which can be affected during the pouring process as all the grounds may not be equally soaked and it creates an uneven extraction withdrawal.
Step 2
Bloom it. Time it
If you have a scale you can use it here to measure your water. Totally optional, we prefer to free pour! Put your carafe on a zeroed scale and add the boiling water. This is called the bloom pour. Where the carbon dioxide is released through the coffee grounds and you begin to see bubbles in the coffee grounds. Pour the water for about 20 seconds, or the equivalent of double the weight of the ground coffee beans. Leave for 45 seconds to 'bloom.'
Step 3
Pour Water
Pour the rest of your water into the carafe and coffee mix in a circular motion to make it absorb evenly. Watch for a slow drip that runs steadily till the vessel is about half full and add the remaining water. Slow down as the level nears the top to prevent an overflow.
Step 4
Let Drip
Leave the rest of the water to drip through the coffee, and keep a close eye at around the 2-minute mark. If you see coffee granules in the mix or on the glass remove the filter to the sink and let drip away. The latter part of the procedure can have bitter flavors if left to extract for too long, not something you want.
Step 5
Drink Up
Now comes the best part. Serve your freshly brewed coffee straight from the carafe into your extra bottle or thermos, or let cool slightly if you made it directly into a mug. Feel free to add a scone or other goodie on the side, because we all deserve a treat don't we?
