Is Kone pourover really that easy?

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
squaremile
Posts: 74
Joined: 12 years ago

#1: Post by squaremile »

At Coava today, barista pours in all the water at once "Starbucks style" into a first generation Kone (all water in within :30, no pre-infusion, bloom, or any tricks other than some water swirling from the pour, water rises close to the top of the device), leaves it to help another customer, and it finishes draining by 2:30. I'm ready to be disappointed by an underextracted cup, and instead it's amazing. Is it really that easy?

Sam21
Posts: 400
Joined: 12 years ago

#2: Post by Sam21 »

Haha. I love it when all rules go out the window an the coffee tastes great. That method reminds me of the Tonx V60 method.

User avatar
aecletec
Posts: 1997
Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by aecletec »

I'm finding that grinder quality/type make a big difference for brewed coffee (even in the commercial league) so perhaps this works well for their setup... it might not work well for others. If it tastes great, then great! :lol:

Sam21
Posts: 400
Joined: 12 years ago

#4: Post by Sam21 replying to aecletec »

I think that technique goes a long way, but I agree re: grinder and coffee quality are huge.

Sam21
Posts: 400
Joined: 12 years ago

#5: Post by Sam21 »

I also feel that the Kone can be as easy as you want to make it. This morning, I made a small cup and it was delicious. 21g/350ml (60g/1L). 35 second bloom with 50g, then I broke the crust to wet all of the grounds again and pulse poured until 3:15. The brew drained by 4min. Fix the time, change grind for proper extraction, and use pouring to hit your time. Even so, I find that with a good grind, there is plenty of room for user error when it comes to timing.

jonny
Posts: 953
Joined: 13 years ago

#6: Post by jonny »

That's interesting. I don't think I have ever witnessed them using this technique. I had always seen them use the slow constant pour like in their youtube video:
Clive Coffee down the street shows the same technique:
But then a customer mentions that the coffee is very fresh and flowing a bit fast, so he has to apply the water more slowly. I think this is the reason for the pausing in the pour. Now that I think of it, I think I've seen this technique as well.

The thing about Coava is that they are really good about adjusting to different beans and changes within a single bean. They aren't afraid to experiment and accept unorthodox parameters that produce great cups of coffee. With that said, it wouldn't be surprising to learn that their pour over technique isn't written in stone and imperative to be followed. I suppose it is possible the girl was just being lazy and in hurry, but you got good coffee out of it. Like others have mentioned, there is something to be said about the grinders: Their grinders probably do make it a bit more forgiving, and with such a fine grind, they probably don't have to be super careful about using the pour to control flow rate, unless the beans are very fresh like in that last video.

User avatar
Italyhound
Supporter ♡
Posts: 638
Joined: 17 years ago

#7: Post by Italyhound »

squaremile wrote:At Coava today, barista pours in all the water at once "Starbucks style" into a first generation Kone (all water in within :30, no pre-infusion, bloom, or any tricks other than some water swirling from the pour, water rises close to the top of the device), leaves it to help another customer, and it finishes draining by 2:30. I'm ready to be disappointed by an underextracted cup, and instead it's amazing. Is it really that easy?
Other than blooming and a quick stir of the grounds during bloom, thats the way Intelligentsia was doing it in LA last week and the cups were excellent.

I've been playing with this all week at home. It requires a finer grind, since you are pouring it all at once - but I have been very pleased.

As I intimated on another thread; the grind seems really key. if you have a crappy grind and it's going too fast - you can slow the pour but in my eyes all you are doing is slowing the pour through a crappy grind and delaying the drinking of a swing and a miss cup.

I say - get a pour style you like - and play with the grind to dial in your style. That's what I have decided to do. :D

Sam21
Posts: 400
Joined: 12 years ago

#8: Post by Sam21 »

This pour-all style is likely the easiest way to do it in a cafe setting. That's how they make their V60s too from what I have seen.

Anvan
Posts: 518
Joined: 13 years ago

#9: Post by Anvan »

...but it just seems so weird to pour it in all at once! The whole point of the Kone was an advanced design for precise out-flow regulation in order to perfect a classic "washing" brew method. Using it like this puts it halfway into an infusion brew instead.

User avatar
Boldjava
Posts: 2765
Joined: 16 years ago

#10: Post by Boldjava »

When they dump the water all at once, they are merely make a compromise based on time.
-----
LMWDP #339

Post Reply