How to prepare a Pour Over with GINA ?

Whether you're like those who already have their calendar booked until February of next year, or you prefer to live day to day, take some time for yourself with a slow-coffee. Above all, this method is a moment of relaxation (almost meditation) and contemplation as you watch your coffee gently fall into your decanter. Among the 3 slow-coffee techniques, we tested the GINA Pour Over coffee maker. To please a wider audience, we tested it with and without the connected smart scale and application. How does it work? We'll explain everything in detail below.

Our recipe for extracting with the GINA Pour Over

Time: 10 minutes max (revel in it!)

Recommended accessories:

• 1 filter for a filter coffee maker
• 1 kettle
• 1 thermometer

Additional accessories for GINA owners without a connected scale: 

• a scale
• a timer or stopwatch

Specialty coffee used:

20g of coffee origin Ethiopia Uraga Gomoro - Vertical Coffee Roasters

Recommended amount of water for 20g of coffee:

• 460g of water for a weaker coffee
• 300g of water for a balanced coffee: CoffeeAvenue's favourite recipe detailed below
• 140g of water for a strong coffee

1. With GINA Smart, connect the coffee maker to the GINA Smart Coffee Brewer app and select Pour Over mode (Psst! The download is free on iOS and Android). Tip: Before you start the recipe, go to the "Settings" and choose your measurement units, language, then activate the Auto-save Brew prints button. You can now record and share your tasting experiences.

2. Bring the water to a boil (94°C) in a kettle. If you don't have a thermometer, when the water boils, let it bubble for 40 seconds without covering it. Place the paper filter in the ceramic cone as you normally would, and then pre-wet it by pouring water over the entire surface of the paper filter. This removes any residue on a dry filter that may interfere with the taste. Tip: It's best to use neutral-tasting mineral or filtered water to preserve the taste of your coffee.

3. If you are following the recipe to the letter, now add the 20g of coffee already weighed and coarsely ground. For connected version owners, the app will tell you exactly what grammage you're pouring. Specify the extraction profile (from weak to strong) to match the 300 g of water.

4. Before pouring your water, open the valve by turning it to the left. This allows the coffee to flow into the decanter. Tip: In a way, it’s GINA's magic dial, with it, you can precisely control the flow of the extraction as compared to the V60 or Chemex.

5. Start the clock, using either a personal timer, your smartphone, or the app's built-in stopwatch. First pour 100g of water, making sure to wet all the grounds. This is a vital initial step not to be ignored as it helps the coffee reveal its full character. Now wait 45 seconds - the time it takes for the grounds to start to release their aromas as they become saturated with water. Tip: On the app, the timer automatically starts once the first grams of water are poured. The scale will tell you how much water has been poured. Pretty cool, isn't it?

6. Pour in another 100g using a circular clockwise motion, starting from the centre and working toward the edges, then from the edges back to the centre, as if drawing a spiral. Wait for the full extraction before pouring the remaining 100g of water. On the app, be sure to monitor the water weight shown above the digital timer.

7. The extraction time can vary from 3 minutes and 30 seconds to 4 minutes. If it takes less than that, the grind is most likely too coarse. If the extraction time is too long, it’s because the grounds are too fine.

8. Remove the ceramic filter from the decanter, pour yourself a coffee and enjoy!

9. Note and record your classic tasting criteria such as fruitiness, acidity, sweetness, or bitterness. Share your tasting experience with experts happy to interact with you, and newbies who are learning (grammage, fine grinding, specialty coffee, brewing time).

Our opinion:

With the GINA, we enjoy taking the time to make a good coffee. It's what gives slow-coffee its charm, and opposed to capsules. A Pour Over tasting is an interlude of gourmandise. You can make out the Ethiopian coffee's fruit and chocolate notes in your mouth, they remain naturally sweet and bitter free. It's a perfect score for our taste buds!