How percolation works

Percolation is water passing through a bed of coffee once, then leaving. Because the water beside each particle is always relatively fresh, the concentration gradient stays steep and extraction runs fast and efficient — a V60 reaches in three minutes what an immersion brew approaches more slowly. That efficiency is also the risk: percolation will happily overshoot, and there is no stirring your way back.

The deal you strike with a pour-over is simple: it rewards precision with the clearest, most articulate cup in coffee, and it punishes carelessness with the same enthusiasm.