Pouring like you mean it

The pour is a dial

In a cone the kettle decides two things: where the water lands, and how hard it stirs the bed. That stirring is agitation. More of it wets the grounds evenly and pulls flavor out faster.

How hard it stirs

Slide the pour rate. A slow, steady stream stirs gently and the bed stays flat. Push it and the bed craters and the finest particles wash down and clog the paper. The skill is stirring just enough, the same way every time.

Pulses or one slow pour

A pulse pour adds the water in several smaller pours with pauses between: each one stirs the bed afresh. A continuous pour is one slow stream, and the bed keeps its composure. Pick one and keep it while you tune a recipe.

Changing two things at once

Tuning a recipe is a one-variable business.

You switch from pulses to one slow pour while tuning a recipe. What went wrong?

Answer: You changed two things at once. Two things at once. Both styles make great coffee; pick one and keep it while you dial a recipe in.

Pour it yourself

Hold to pour, let go to pause. Three pulses onto a 15 g dose, after the bloom. The line under the cone is the water standing in it.

Hit 110 g, 175 g and 240 g in three pulses.

Height and speed

A gooseneck kettle’s thin spout gives a slow stream you can aim — a few grams a second. Pour low enough not to splatter: higher and faster stirs harder, until the stream breaks into droplets that just pepper the surface.

Aim at the coffee

And pour into the coffee, not down the paper: water running down the filter slips past the grounds, like a latecomer avoiding the host, and brings little with it.

How long should it take?

First pour to last drip, on a one-cup cone.

A one-cup cone, first pour to last drip, usually finishes in about…

Answer: 2½ to 4 minutes. Around 2½ to 4 minutes for most one-cup recipes. Much faster or slower, and the grind is the first thing to look at.

Land it flat

The last stage is the drawdown: water draining through the bed. A gentle swirl after the final pour levels the bed and washes down the grounds marooned on the walls. Most recipes finish around 2½ to 4 minutes, all in.

Read the bed

What is the bed telling you?

• Flat bed — Even flow — well poured
• Crater in the middle — The stream dug in; pour lower
• Dry ring on the wall — A swirl was wanted

A flat bed means even flow. A crater means the stream dug in; a dry ring means a swirl was wanted.