What physical principle defines the primary mechanism of filter coffee brewing?
Answer
Percolation
Filter coffee operates fundamentally on the principle of percolation, which describes the process where a liquid, in this case, hot water, passes slowly through a porous material, specifically the bed of ground coffee held within a filter medium. This controlled, continuous flow allows the water to extract desirable soluble flavor compounds sequentially as it moves downward due to gravity, setting it apart from immersion methods where the grounds steep entirely submerged for the entire duration.

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