The 8 Best Coffee Beans for Pour Over

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We have tested dozens of coffee beans and checked them against our pour-over methods. After several hits and misses, we consider Lifeboost Optimist Light Roast to be the best coffee beans for pour over.

Lifeboost Optimist Light Roast gives the cup an extraordinary taste. The sun-dried beans and completely natural procedure show themselves in the putting.

8 Detailed Product Reviews of the Best Coffee Beans for Pour Over

The coffee beans have a wide variety that differentiates by unique characteristics. The features can serve you differently and create a variance of tastes. Here are the eight best coffee beans for pour-over: 

1. Lifeboost Optimist Light Roast

Are you affected by the high acidity level witnessed in different coffee beans? This type of coffee bean should serve you best. It has the lowest acidity levels compared to any other best coffee beans for pour-over. 

The beans come from the mountains of Nicaragua and grow at a high elevation, and always stay under shade, assuring extra quality.

The Lifeboost beans produce an enticing fragrance and vinegary flavor when used. 

Though the beans can be fatty during brewing, it is easy to sieve off the fats during pour-over. This makes the Lifeboost Optimist Light Roast the best coffee beans for pour-over.  

2. Coffee Bros., Costa Rica Single Origin

If you prefer using naturally processed beans, this is your solution. These beans are grown in the Arabic parts of the world. Here they get better nutrients and are considered more developed than other beans. They have stronger flatulence and flavor. 

The beans come in different flavors, such as lemon and cocoa. With the equalized fruity taste from their natural brewing, Coffee Bros., Costa Rica, can serve you best in making your coffee. 

These medium roast beans grow in small batches, allowing the producers to monitor the process carefully, and remove any bitterness in taste.

3. Stumptown Coffee Roasters – Medium Roast 

This coffee bean originated in Africa, Latin America, and Indonesia, leading to its developed flavors. They come in flavors such as chocolate, citrus, and raisin. It produces the best flavor and flatulence for you to enjoy. 

The beans are also darker in color, with an oily surface that can sometimes appear shiny. These medium roast beans have a round and balanced flavor, with sweetness, acidity, and bitterness all in harmony.

When looking for a coffee that is not too heavy but still has plenty of flavors,  Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ medium roast coffee is a perfect example of this style of coffee.

4. Intelligentsia Coffee, Light Roast Whole Bean Coffee 

This is one of the most popular brands of medium-roast coffee beans. The company roasts its beans using a direct trade model, which means they work directly with farmers to source its beans. This allows Intelligentsia to maintain high-quality control over its coffee.

This type of coffee originated in Colombia and Burundi. These coffee beans have chocolate-tasting notes. The beans have a slightly higher acidic level connected to the fruit-like taste they produce. This means that people spend less time brewing.

The beans come in different flavors like lemon, apple, mandarin, and milk chocolate. This makes Intelligentsia Whole Bean Coffee a perfect choice for pour-over. 

5. Wicked Joe Organic Coffee Breakfast Blend Whole Bean 

These medium roast beans have a smooth and gentle taste that makes the coffee unique. The beans grow in areas where they do not harm nature and ensure the sustainability of the environment.

These beans grew in several countries in Central America.

This is a whole bean with smooth and creamy chocolate notes. 

Wicked Joe works directly with farmers and supports their community by paying the proper amount for their beans. They want to make sure their coffee tastes great, and future collaborations with providers. 

Anybody can use Wicked Joe Organic Coffee due to its low acidic rates.

6. Real Good Coffee Company – Ground Coffee – Breakfast Blend Light Roast Coffee 

This can be the perfect bean to prepare a morning cup of coffee. This is because of the crispy and citrus flavor from lightly roasted coffee beans. This flavor can push you up to the edge of getting a good day. 

These beans come from Central and South America, but they roast them in Seattle, Washington. The beans are perfect for light roast coffee as they use premium quality arabica beans.

The Real Good Coffee adds a smooth and soft finish to your coffee.  

7. Joe Coffee ‘The Daily’ Blend, RFA Certified Whole Bean Coffee 

This type of coffee bean originated in Brazil and Colombia. It is mainly used in brewing coffee in cafes and hotels. This is due to its good flavor and its smooth finish. It has tasting notes that leave a chocolate and caramel flavor. 

These medium roast beans have to go through strict quality control before getting to your home. Joe Coffee ensures the quality of your coffee is top-notch by sampling hundreds of cups from the same crop of beans.

The Joe Coffee Whole Bean Coffee is a medium-sized coffee bean that you can consider for pour-over. 

8. Oren’s Colombian 

These beans have their origin in Colombia. They offer every coffee lover a smooth and clean flavor. The tasting notes are of green apple and herbaceous pine. The beans carry a fruity sweetness that perfectly translates to pour-over coffee.

They produce the beans naturally, ensuring the use of fewer processing chemicals. Using fewer chemicals reduces the acidic levels in the coffee brewed using the beans.

Oren’s Colombian can serve the best purpose in giving you a delicious, less acidic cup of coffee with a light to medium roast beans.

Guide to Buying The Best Coffee Beans for Pour Over

The choice of coffee beans depends on personal interest in the flavor, flatulence, and smoothness of coffee. The best coffee beans are, however, determined by different factors.

Roast Level 

Different coffee beans have different levels of roasting to necessitate the best tastes. When buying a coffee bean, it is crucial to consider whether it needs light, medium, or dark roasting. This can help you in the preparation of your coffee.

Some of the coffee beans showcase a darker-than-dark roasting level. This means that they have a longer roasting period than any other beans. The roasting levels affect the time you need to prepare your cup of coffee. For Pour Over coffee, light to medium roast is the best choice.

Single-Origin Or Blend 

Single-origin beans will produce their solo tastes. They have simple unique flavors that come from a specific location.

The blended coffee beans are combined with two to three solo coffee beans to produce a unique flavor. The flavors produced vary from lemon, chocolate, toffee, and citrus. This produces a wide variety that you can choose from according to your taste likings.

Flavor Profile 

You want a coffee that gives you the best flavor. Note that different types of coffee beans give different kinds of flavors. You can choose from a wide variety of coffee beans to find a coffee bean that will provide you with a flavor that will suit your expectation. 

Grind

The grind level is operationalized differently according to the brewer that you are using. This means you must consider the best coffee bean that gives your preferred grind\ding levels before purchase. 

The grinding levels can affect the taste of the coffee. With a preference for having the best taste, you can search for a coffee bean that will be exact to the grinding period you prefer.

FAQ 

Here are some of the most common questions regarding the best beans for pour-over coffee.

What is the best grind size for pour-over coffee?

The best grind size for pouring coffee is medium-fine. The medium fine coffee beans produce a leveled taste compared to the dark and light, which are extremely biased to either end. With the medium fine coffee beans, the coffee produced will have an equalized level of acidic taste, making it comfortable for you to take regularly.  

What is the coffee-to-water ratio for pour-over?

The best coffee-to-water ratio is 20 grams of coffee for every 320 grams of water. This translates to a 1:16 ratio of coffee to water. The ratio can help in enhancing the flavor that is produced. This is because increasing the water levels in your coffee can extremely dilute the flavor in your coffee beans.

To produce the best-tasting coffee with the best coffee beans for pour-over, use the ratio of 1:16 for the coffee-to-water ratio. 

What is coffee bloom?

As you produce your coffee, you can note some seething and simmering; this is simply referred to as coffee blooming. The process is noted as you add water to the coffee beans. 

The seething and simmering are accused by the carbon (IV) oxide emitted immediately after the beans come into contact with the hot water. This process is crucial in enhancing the taste of your coffee. You can allow the coffee to bloom for a few seconds to ensure you get a crispy flavor.

How long to let pour over coffee bloom? 

You can allow the coffee to bloom for a minimum of 30 seconds. After the blooming process has reduced, you can proceed and slowly add the remaining water to the cup of coffee.

Since blooming can occur more than once in some cases, allow the process to occur at any time. This will ensure that the exact favorable flavor is achieved. 

Pour Over Coffee Brew Time? 

The estimated brewing period for a medium-fine ground coffee bean with moderately hot water and experiencing normal brewing is two to three minutes. 

Pour Over Recipe

With a ton of people drinking coffee daily, it is crucial to understand how to make the best-flavored cup. 

We can achieve this by having the best procedure. If we prepare a pour-over coffee using the wrong procedure, we can get a different taste from our expectations even with the best coffee beans.

Here is our perfect pour-over coffee recipe:

Boil your water

Add water to your kettle. The best water temperature for pour over coffee is from 195°F to 205°F. To learn more about water temperature for brewing coffee, check out our article The Best Coffee Temperature for Brewing Great Coffee.

Grind the coffee beans

Measure the coffee beans to 23 grams. Grind the beans to a medium fine size. This can help you to have easy extraction.  

Wet the filter

Wetting the filter is very crucial in removing the paper taste. This taste may make your coffee sour. Wetting should be done using hot water to avoid any temperature loss.

Dump the water after wetting the filter

During dumping, ensure there is no excess water left on the filter. This reduces any chances of increasing the water ratio.  

Add the grounds to the filter

After grinding the coffee beans, you can add them to the dumped filter. Shake the paper filter to flatten the ground and place it on the coffee kettle.

Pour water through the filter

To avoid any paper filter tastes in your coffee, do not pour the water through the naked paper filter but the ground coffee beans. Pour the water from the center as you rotate in circles to easily extract all the coffee beans.

Allow blooming

Immediately the grinded coffee beans come into contact with the water, and they will start to seethe and simmer. This takes place for about 30 seconds and is referred to as blooming.

At this point, the beans are emitting carbon (IV) oxide. Not allowing blooming to take place can lead to your coffee having a sour taste.

In cases you do not notice blooming, the water used may not be hot enough. You can opt to change the water or reboil it.

Pour extra water slowly

After blooming is complete, add the remaining water slowly. You can use similar center and circle patterns as before.

Add water to the specific measurement according to the ratio of one gram of coffee to 16 grams of water.

Gently stir the mixture of water and grinded coffee beans

Use a spoon to gently stir the mixture. This will facilitate the extraction process faster. Stir at the corners of the paper filter to facilitate full extraction of all the coffee beans. Stirring should be very gentle to prevent the paper filter from tearing and letting the coffee beans pass through.

Remove the filter from the coffee pot

Carefully remove the paper filter from the pot after stirring. Do not wait until the filter is dry. Remove it when it has a little water left to avoid extracting the concentrated coffee that is sour. 

Conclusion

Coffee is a well-liked early-morning drink, with over 450 million cups brewed daily. It is considered an energy booster that can increase your energy levels. Coffee can be produced through different methods that create different tastes. In recent years the pour-over procedure has been considered an effective method to make the cup of coffee to your liking.

The pour-over method relies on the type of coffee beans you use. This is because different coffee means different tastes after extraction.

Choosing the best coffee beans for pour-over can be hectic. You must check through different factors, such as grind, flavor, and roast levels, to choose the best that suits your expectations. 

In our case,  Lifeboost Optimist Light Roast meets all our expectations and are the beans we would recommend.

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