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Why can't your hands get out of the deep hole? Does the deeper the powder pit, the better the coffee tastes?

Published: 2026-08-25 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/08/25, Qianjie often said that the shape of the powder pit cannot tell us whether a cup of coffee tastes good or not. The information that can be read from its appearance is more about whether you inject water properly during the extraction process. And a uniform and symmetrical powder pit is proof that we control the flow properly during the extraction process. but for

Qianjie often says that the shape of the powder pit does not tell us whether a cup of coffee tastes good or not, and the information you can read from its appearance is more about whether you inject water properly in the process of extraction. And a uniform and symmetrical powder pit is the proof that we can control the flow just right in the process of extraction.

But for many novice friends, although there is no blockage, the shape of the powder bed is more flat, without any ups and downs. Then this shows that we did not control the flow of water well in the process of extraction, so that the powder pit could not form a "bowl". This is very prone to uneven extraction! On the other hand, Qianjie sums up several mistakes that are easy to make when cooking. If you can't get out of the powder pit, you might as well take a look at which one you step on.

First, the powder bed is not raised. Many friends will not raise the powder bed when brewing coffee, which will not only make it difficult to form powder pits, but also easily lead to uneven extraction of some filter cups.

Especially for the tapered filter cup, it is necessary to raise the powder bed. The tapered structure of the filter cup will accumulate a large amount of coffee powder in the center. If we do not raise the powder bed to disperse the coffee powder, the coffee powder at the top will be continuously washed by hot water with the highest extraction efficiency. The coffee powder at the bottom can only be extracted by nearly saturated coffee liquid, resulting in uneven extraction. So we need to raise the powder bed. To raise the powder bed is to use a large current to raise the water level, and the coffee powder will rise as the water level rises. This is what we call raising the powder bed. As the hot water slowly seeps out from the bottom, the water level will gradually drop, and the coffee powder will move closer to the filter cup when the water level falls, forming a "powder wall"! If the follow-up hot water is concentrated on the central injection, no accident, when the coffee liquid infiltration is finished, we may get a bowl-shaped powder pit! And coffee has also been evenly extracted, which can be said to have the best of both worlds.

Second, the stirring strength of the water is too small, which means that the water does not have the penetrating force and can not push the powder bed away and stir. So the powder bed maintained a flat posture from beginning to end. There are two reasons for the low impact force of water flow, the lack of water injection height and the lack of water flow.

Both of these factors will make the injected hot water lack penetration and can not stir! At the same time, it is not possible to raise the powder bed. Although this can prolong the extraction time, if it is not used under reasonable circumstances, it will reduce the efficiency of extraction, especially for the cooking of shallow baked beans, it is easy to produce uneven extraction. Therefore, when we inject water, we had better pay attention to the reasonable combination of water flow and flow impact. Friends who want to know can move to this article ~ "how should large and small currents be used?" "

Third, the circle range is too large, even if the penetration is just right, the water flow is large enough, the powder bed is also raised. However, when the circle of our subsequent water injection is too large, the hot water will wash down to the wall of the filter cup, and the coffee powder attached to the wall of the cup will be brushed down under the impact of hot water, and the potholes that will be formed will become "plains". Not only that, the hot water will seep through the coffee powder along the wall of the cup, directly from the bottom, not only the coffee is not extracted enough, but also the hot water without any coffee concentration will affect the coffee liquid in the next pot, and then it will appear: the coffee taste is thin and boring.

Therefore, the circle size of hand-brewed coffee is still exquisite. If we want to make a big circle, try to circle it between the center of the filter cup and the wall of the filter cup (as shown below), which can effectively increase the extraction rate of hot water and reduce the growth of bypass water.

It is worth noting that many friends will think that only deep-baked beans can get out of the powder pit! But this is a misunderstanding, deep baked beans just washed out of the powder pit will be bigger. No matter whether the coffee beans are deep-roasted or shallow-roasted, as long as there is nothing wrong with your way of filling water, the powder bed can eventually form a pothole shape. However, due to the relationship between the expansion rate and density of beans, the final size of the powder pit will be changed. And the depth of the powder pit is determined by the amount of powder. Therefore, what Qianjie wants to say is that not getting out of the powder pit is not a matter of baking degree, it's just a matter of whether the technique is correct or not.

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FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。