A group of physicists believe they’ve found a way to scientifically optimize the process of making pour-over coffee.
Coffee is one of the many products currently under threat due to climate change, which inspired the University of Pennsylvania scientists behind the new study. It’s more important now than ever to get the most out of every bag of coffee beans.
Pour-Over Perfection
Pour-over coffee is a brewing method that’s hands-on, inexpensive, and versatile. To make a pour-over brew, coffee grounds are added to a damp filter in the pour-over maker, and water is poured over the top from the gooseneck water kettle. The brewed coffee then drips into the vessel below the maker.
Since any variation in this procedure can impact the end product, how can coffee lovers optimize their brew? According to physics, the fundamental factor is the strength of the water jet.
“What we recommend is making the pour height as high as possible, while still maintaining a laminar flow, where the jet doesn’t break up when it impacts the coffee grinds,” said study author Ernest Park in a statement.
The long, curved neck on gooseneck kettles produces a strong jet of water that creates what the research team calls “an avalanche” within the coffee grounds. As the water seeps in, the grounds recirculate, effectively mixing the grounds and water in a way that isn’t possible with a thinner jet.
“If you have a thin jet, then it tends to break up into droplets. That’s what you want to avoid in these pour-overs because that means the jet cannot mix the coffee grounds effectively,” explained author Margot Young.
The intrepid physicists took things a step further by mimicking the process using laser-illuminated particles in a transparent funnel to observe the effect of different water jets on the grains. This made the effects much easier to observe than simply looking at the dark-colored coffee grounds.
“We can really learn something from both the chemistry and physics point of view by looking at the kitchen,” said author Arnold Mathijssen. “It leads to new science where you didn’t expect it.”
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