How to Make Your Coffee Taste Better: The Simple Multi-Stage Pouring Technique Every Barista Swears By
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that one of the biggest advantages of hand-pour (pour-over) coffee is its high degree of control. During the brewing process, we can adjust the pouring method based on real-time conditions, ensuring the flavor stays balanced and delicious.
This isn’t just theory — there are many techniques that help achieve this level of control.
Today, I want to share one of my favorite little brewing tricks: splitting your pours into multiple stages.
This is a technique I often use in many pour-over methods. “Multi-stage pouring” simply means dividing your total brewing water into several smaller pours.
For example, if you’re brewing 15g of coffee using a 1:15 ratio, you’ll need 225ml of water. Normally, we don’t pour all 225ml at once — instead, we divide it into several smaller pours. A three-pour method splits it into three stages; a 4-6 method divides it into five, and so on. That’s how most people brew.
But sometimes, you don’t have to follow this routine rigidly.
If you notice something unexpected before or during brewing, you can adjust the number of pouring stages — say, splitting a three-pour recipe into four or five.
So when should you make such adjustments?
First, let’s understand the advantages of multi-stage pouring.
1. Better Control of Extraction Time
Assuming your pouring speed remains the same, the more stages you divide your water into, the longer your total extraction time will be.
Why? Because each pour requires a short waiting period for the water to seep through the coffee bed before you start the next one. These waiting intervals naturally extend the total brew time.
Also, with more stages, each pour involves less water, meaning there’s less liquid sitting in the dripper at any given time. This reduces water pressure, causing the hot water to pass through the grounds more slowly — again lengthening extraction time.
2. Improved Extraction Efficiency
Extraction time directly affects extraction efficiency — the longer the water stays in contact with the coffee grounds, the more flavor compounds it can dissolve.
Additionally, dividing your pours helps refresh the liquid concentration multiple times during brewing. The rate at which flavor compounds dissolve depends on the concentration difference between the water and the coffee bed.
When the liquid concentration is low, extraction happens faster.
So by adding more pour stages, you keep lowering the liquid concentration and encourage more efficient extraction overall.
3. Reducing “Bypass Water”
Many drippers, like the V60, have spiral ribs along the inner wall. These ribs create channels for airflow and faster drainage — but they also have a downside.
When the water level rises above the coffee bed or when hot water hits the bare wall instead of the grounds, water can sneak through these channels and drip directly into the carafe without passing through the coffee.
This “escaped” water is called bypass water, and it reduces extraction, leading to weaker flavor and a thinner mouthfeel.
Multi-stage pouring helps minimize bypass water.
Because each pour uses less water, the water level rarely rises high enough to flood the coffee bed. As a result, most of the water stays in contact with the coffee grounds, improving overall flavor consistency.
How to Apply the Multi-Stage Pouring Technique
Now that we know the benefits, let’s talk about how to use this technique effectively.
Take extraction efficiency as an example:
If you notice the water draining too quickly during brewing, or if your grind size is too coarse, or your water temperature is lower than intended — these are all signs of under-extraction.
In these cases, you can increase the number of pour stages to lengthen the brew time and raise extraction efficiency, resulting in a fuller, richer cup.
Another great example is when you’re using a “low-dose” brew, such as only 5g of coffee.
Since small amounts of coffee are easily under-extracted, splitting your pour into more stages can help you get a more balanced extraction — and a surprisingly delicious cup despite using fewer beans.
You can also apply this method to dense beans, like washed Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.
Beginners often use three pours, but because Yirgacheffe beans are dense, too much water too quickly can cause bypass water or even clogging from fine particles.
Switching to four or five smaller pours reduces water pressure, avoids flooding the coffee bed, and prevents over-agitation — leading to smoother flow and better extraction.
The result?
A bright, layered cup with notes of citrus, berries, oolong tea, and a hint of floral aroma — far superior to the three-pour version.
A Final Note
Multi-stage pouring is a fantastic and flexible tool, but it’s not a magic fix for everything.
While it increases extraction, using it without considering other factors can easily lead to over-extraction, resulting in bitter flavors.
For example, when brewing with extreme parameters — such as very fine grinds or slow flow rates — you should also lower your pour height and reduce stirring or swirling frequency.
Otherwise, you risk extracting too much.
As with most things in coffee, it’s all about balance and observation.
Experiment, pay attention to how each change affects flavor, and soon you’ll know exactly when and how to apply multi-stage pouring to bring out the best in your brew.
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