Notes on a Pour-Over

The pour-over is a small act of attention. Four minutes, four decisions, four chances to do it well.

This is the brief.

The four numbers

• Ratio — 1:16 for Midnight and Meridian, 1:17 for Aurelia. Twenty grams of coffee, three hundred and twenty grams of water. A scale is not optional.
• Temperature — 200°F for the dark roast; 205°F for the lighter cups. Off-boil, not boiling.
• Bloom — pour twice the weight of the grounds, wait thirty seconds. The coffee exhales.
• Time — three to four minutes, total. Not three for speed. Not four for ceremony. Long enough to extract; short enough to stay clean.

What you are actually doing

You are not making a beverage. You are calibrating a small system. Grind, water, pour, time. Change one variable; observe one outcome.

Done well, the cup is a record of the morning you decided to have. Done casually, it is brown water.

The choice, as always, is yours.