Brewing with a Pour Over
The pour over, so simple and yet so delicious. Ever wonder what all the hype is about? It is, after all, just manually poured water through coffee grounds and a filter, much like what happens with an auto-drip machine. But there are a few key things that can make a pour over much tastier than your average auto-drip machine. This is good news because pour over devices are fairly cheap, so if you can add a few minutes to your daily brewing routine you will get tasty results.
1. Full Saturation - brewing with a pour over allows you to be in control of the water hitting the grounds. What you want is all of the coffee to get wet and saturated evenly, this creates a sweeter and less bitter cup of coffee (more evenly extracted).
2. Cleanliness - pour over drippers a very easy to keep clean. Coffee contains oils that have a stale smell when they build up in an auto-drip machine. You don't want this in your daily brew!
3. Hot Water - you want water that is about a minute off a boil for proper brewing (205 Fahrenheit). Not all auto drip machines have water that is hot enough to extract coffee to its sweet spot.
4. Freshness - coffee is better when it is brewed fresh. Coffee will change in taste as it sits on a burner plate for too long, or as it sits and cools. It's best to brew fresh, or drink your coffee from a thermal carafe within an hour of brewing.
