The pour over is the darling of specialty coffee. By manually controlling the water flow, you can highlight the subtle, delicate flavors of single-origin beans. It takes a little practice, but the reward is one of the cleanest, most nuanced cups of coffee you can make at home.
Equipment
- V60 dripper (size 02 is most common)
- V60 paper filters
- Gooseneck kettle
- Coffee grinder
- Scale
- Server or mug
Pro Tips
- • A gooseneck kettle is essential — it gives you the control needed for an even pour.
- • Keep your pour consistent and gentle. Aggressive pouring disturbs the coffee bed and causes channeling.
- • The bloom is important — it releases CO2 that would otherwise repel water and cause uneven extraction.
- • Experiment with your grind size first before changing anything else — it's the biggest variable.
Step by Step
- 1
Boil water in your gooseneck kettle. You'll want about 500ml for a 2-cup brew.
- 2
Place a paper filter in the dripper and rinse with hot water. This removes the paper taste and preheats the dripper. Discard the rinse water.
- 3
Grind 30g of coffee to a medium consistency — like fine sand. Add the grounds to the filter and level the bed.
- 4
Place the dripper on your scale and tare to zero.
- 5
Start the timer and pour 60g of water in a circular motion, just enough to wet all the grounds. Wait 30–45 seconds for the bloom.
- 6
Pour in steady, slow spirals from the center outward, keeping the water level consistent. Add water in stages: 150g, then 250g, then 350g, then 450g.
- 7
The total brew time should be around 3 to 3.5 minutes. If it's much faster, grind finer; much slower, grind coarser.
- 8
Let all the water drip through, then remove the dripper and enjoy.