Pour Over (aka Melitta or cone)is an awesome way to enjoy the full flavors of coffee. The cone shape extracts more of the coffee and the larger holes in the filters allow much of the essential oils and flavors to shine through into the cup. It is cleaner and not as thick as french press.
The recipe a well crafted cup of coffee:
- 1.5 ounces or 40 grams of fresh roasted coffee, ground fresh and course
- 12 ounces of 200-205 F water
- Pre-wet, wait 30 secs, then pour rest, stir once, pour remaining
- enjoy and smile.
The steps:
*1. Great Fresh Coffee. Start with fresh roasted and super delicious GREAT COFFEE. Ideal is between 2-10 days from roast date. Any fresher and it will overflow the press. Much older and it will be flat and lifeless. If it does not have a roast date give it to an enemy and get fresh roasted coffee. You will thank us.
*2. Grind it Fresh, Grind it right. Always grind it fresh on a finer setting that is finer than normal drip coffee. It should feel and look like softer fine grain sand. It MUST be a consistent particle size. The grinder is the MOST critical part of making Pour Over coffee. Grinders have twin opposing burrs and slice the coffee beans perfectly evenly in one pass. They are NOT less than $160. More is better.
*3. Weigh the Coffee. It is always best to weigh out coffee rather than use volume. All coffees have wildly varying densities, volumes, sizes etc so weight is the only way to be accurate and get the best tasting cup. For a 12 ounce cup of Pour Over we use 1.5 ounces or 40 grams of coffee. Or if you insist on cave man talk then about six (6) tablespoons of whole bean coffee for 12 ounces of water.
*4. Hot, Hot water. To brew any coffee any method you must have water that is between 199-205 F. No more, No less. If it is too cool (almost EVERY home coffee brewer) then it will taste flat and lifeless and weak and sour. If it is too hot (hardly ever unless it is boiling) then it will taste bitter and astringent. So again use the right amount of water for the pour over. The ideal temperature for most Barefoot coffees is between 201-205F. Test it.
*5. Control it! Pour Over is simple but still requires some finesse. To get the best extraction pour a small amount of water, just enough to wet the grounds but not drip through. Then stir with a spoon to wet all the grounds and let sit for 30 seconds or so. This warms the coffee up. Then pour the water slowly in a nice steady stream and use a circular motion to saturate all the grounds well. Once you reach the top and the grounds are saturated stir it once more gently just to make sure it evenly extracts. Pour the remaining water after it drips about half way.
The recipe again for old times sake:
- 1.5 ounces or 40 grams of fresh roasted coffee, ground fresh and course
- 12 ounces of 200-205 F water
- Pre-wet, wait 30 secs, then pour rest, stir once, pour remaining
- enjoy and smile.
