[Technique] Pour-over kettle technique and best practices?
A friend and fellow coffee geek pointed out that I don't keep my kettle (Bonavita variable temp) at a constant height when pouring into my 155 dripper. I've been trying to emulate Nick Cho's "zero pour" (keeping the tip of the kettle just above the grounds to minimize agitation), but this is easier to do on the near side of the dripper than the far side (where the gooseneck spout gets in the way). To avoid bumping the dripper with the spout during the back half of each circle I pour, I've been subconsciously raising and lowering the kettle during my pouring motion.
I assume this isn't great because it means inconsistent agitation - almost none on the near side and more on the far side due to the higher spout. Should I consciously make sure to keep the spout at a consistent height? I've been searching for information about pouring technique but have yet to find anything useful. Perhaps there's a video out there of someone with a great pouring motion? Thanks!
Posted Apr 5, 2016, 4:21 AM UTC · edited
I do the same exact thing and it's really a lesser of two evils. If you don't do this, and pour higher, you get sputtering, which is also agitation. By raising and lowering the kettle, it may technically be slightly more inconsistent than not, but no more inconsistent than a human beings typical margin of error would be. I would make the assumption that the slight rise and fall of the kettle to keep a consistent pour, does absolutely nothing notable to increase agitation.
TL,DR: meh.
It all sounds rather stressful to me
There's something really frustrating about knowing how much human error I'm introducing to the coffee making process!
That's basically r/coffee. Lol