WHAT IS THE 4:6 METHOD FOR FILTER COFFEE?

If you've ever made specialty coffee at home, you might have played around and imagined yourself as a barista. Here's a recipe to help you reach that professional level.

At SJCB, we think it's fun to play around while doing important things. Just because we take coffee very seriously doesn't mean we always have to take ourselves that way. 

Recently our friend Joey took home a bag of our newest Colombian roast. She imagined a scenario where she is a barista in a cafe that serves pour-overs. She highlights the absurdity of the disconnected monologues that go through our minds during social interactions. 

While she is having fun performing this scene, Joey is actually doing something very technical called the 4:6 method that we want to share with you.

The 4:6 coffee method is a pour-over coffee brewing technique developed by Tetsu Kasuya, a Japanese coffee professional and the 2016 World Brewers Cup Champion.

It is called the 4:6 method because of how the hot water is divided during the pouring stages — 40% and 60% — which allows you to adjust the flavour and concentration of the coffee.

Here are the steps Joey took:

1. Grind coffee beans: Grind 20 grams of coffee beans to a medium-fine consistency (Grind size 12 on the Malkohnig x54)
2. Boil water: Let it cool for a few moments until it reaches a temperature of around 95°C.
3. Pre-wet the filter: Place a paper filter in your coffee dripper and pour some hot water over it to pre-wet it. This helps to eliminate any papery taste and also heats up the dripper.
4. Bloom Pour: Place your dripper and pre-wet filter on your coffee cup or carafe. Add the ground coffee to the filter and level it out. Start the timer and pour 50g of water, starting from the center and moving outward in a circular motion. The water should be poured very slowly and continuously for 15 seconds.
5. Second pour: Wait for 30 seconds and then pour 70g of water in the same manner as the first.
6. Third pour: At about the 1:30 mark, pour another 60g of water.
7. Fourth pour: At 2:15 add another 60g of water.
8. Final pour: at 3:00 add another 60g of water and cut the brew off at 3:30. 

The 4:6 coffee method is said to allow for greater control over the extraction of coffee flavours. It might take several tries to make sure your grind size is right, and your pouring technique is solid to hit those targets smoothly, but we guarantee it will be worth it.

Try out this recipe with any of our beans, and let us know what you think in the comments section. 

If you liked Joey's video, check her other videos out on Instagram or Tik Tok @drinkswithjoey

Sincerely,