Pu’er Coffee

 Beginners often say that brewing coffee feels like pure guesswork—that whether it tastes good or not is all about luck. But in my view, once you understand the logic and patterns behind brewing, you’ll realize it’s not complicated at all. It really comes down to identifying a few key variables and using hot water to properly extract the coffee grounds. Do that right, and you’ll end up with a genuinely good cup of coffee. These days, the internet is flooded with brewing tutorials. And yet, many beginners still run into an “unexpected” problem: the coffee they brew tastes harsh, burnt, and unpleasantly bitter. Today, I want to walk you through a process of elimination to help you pinpoint the cause. Reason 1: The Coffee Beans Are Dark Roasted Whether coffee tastes acidic or bitter is largely determined by the roast level. Light roasts tend to emphasize acidity, dark roasts highlight bitterness, and medium roasts sit somewhere in between. For people who enjoy dark-roasted coffee, ...

 Compared with controllable variables like water temperature, grind size, dose, and ratio, brew time tends to be more random and passive. For many beginners, it’s also one of the hardest parameters to master—yet it’s the best indicator of whether your flow rate is on track. Many home brewers have told me that they often run into slow drainage during a pour-over, which forces the brew time to drag on. To prevent over-extraction, some people even lift the dripper off early as a last-minute rescue. So what causes this? And more importantly—how do you fix it? Brew Time Whether online or face-to-face, I always emphasize that your final pour should ideally finish between 1:30 and 1:40 , and the total drawdown should wrap up around 2:00 ± 10 seconds . In other words: Shorter than this → flow rate is too fast → likely under-extracted Longer than this → flow rate is too slow → likely over-extracted This isn’t the only correct standard—but it fits my usual brew framework: 15g ...

 Recently, Front Street noticed that quite a few bloggers have been sharing tips on using milk instead of water to brew coffee, claiming that the resulting coffee tastes great. Because of this, many friends often message Front Street asking what parameters they should use when brewing coffee with milk. Honestly, Front Street already covered this topic last year, and even shared the feasibility of using milk to brew drip bags earlier this year. And the conclusion of all these posts is exactly the same: using milk makes it very difficult to brew good-tasting coffee . The reason is simple — milk is simply not suitable for brewing coffee. (Note: only for brewing) Why isn’t milk suitable for brewing coffee? Why does Front Street claim it isn’t? Because when we brew coffee with milk, we face a lot of limitations. The biggest challenge is that milk does not have enough extraction efficiency. It simply cannot, like water, extract the flavor compounds from coffee within a short amount of t...