QUESTION: What is the point of pour over coffee? Why can’t I just use a machine? — Jennifer A
ANSWER: First of all, there are no rules in coffee. If you want to use a regular coffee maker, go for it!
But there’s definitely a point to pour over coffee! Pour over is a coffee making method that has been around longer than coffee machines, and was once a common way to make coffee. It has made a resurgence with coffee snobs because it gives you so much manual control over the brewing of the coffee.
With a drip coffee machine, the machine sends water over the coffee grounds, which then is filtered by the paper of the coffee filter and drips down into the carafe. The machine is going to be very consistent.
But with a pour over, YOU control how to pour the hot water over the coffee grounds, and it’s up to you to carefully wet all the coffee grounds so that all of the coffee is properly extracted from the grounds. You can pour faster, or pour more slowly to control the process. And you can even exactly control the temperature of the water, if you choose.
It’s sort of like putting your camera in manual mode. Sure, the automatic settings take a good picture most of the time. But when you’re trying to get exactly what you want, you put it in manual.
But also, a pour over coffee device is literally just a simple piece of glass or metal or ceramic or other material that holds a coffee filter. It’s pure simplicity, with nothing to break. No electricity needed. This is why people often make pour over coffee when they go camping. All you need is hot water and ground coffee beans and your filter, along with your favorite pour over device.
There’s no requirement that you ever need to make or drink pour over coffee, but there are definitely plenty of points to why it exists and why people like it so much. I think if you tried a pour over coffee made from really good beans, you’d probably instantly taste the point.