How to Brew Pour Over Coffee: A No-Nonsense Recipe

The recipe (memorize this)

• 22g coffee, 360g water (1:16.4 ratio)
• Medium-fine grind, like coarse sea salt
• 205°F (96°C) water — off-boil for ~30 seconds
• Total brew time: 3:00 to 3:30

That's it. Everything below is just how to hit that.

What you need

• A dripper (V60, Kalita Wave, Origami — all fine)
• A paper filter
• A burr grinder (skip blade grinders — they ruin pour over)
• A gooseneck kettle (precision matters here)
• A scale (the most important upgrade you'll make)
• A timer (your phone works)

The pour, step by step

0:00 — Bloom. Pour 50g of water (about 2x your coffee weight) in a circle covering all the grounds. Wait 30–45 seconds. You'll see the bed puff up and release CO₂. This is the freshness check — flat beans don't bloom.

0:45 — First pour. Pour to 180g total in slow concentric circles, center to edge. Don't pour onto the filter walls. Take about 30 seconds.

1:30 — Second pour. Pour to 280g total, same technique. Another 30 seconds.

2:15 — Final pour. Pour to 360g total. Aim to finish pouring by 2:30.

3:00–3:30 — Drawdown finishes. The bed should be flat, not channeled. If it's much faster, grind finer next time. Much slower, grind coarser.

How to dial it in

If the cup tastes:

• Sour, thin, hollow → under-extracted. Grind finer, brew longer, or use hotter water.
• Bitter, dry, hollow → over-extracted. Grind coarser, brew faster, or use slightly cooler water.
• Balanced but flat → check freshness. Pour-over exposes stale beans mercilessly.

Change one variable at a time. Grind size is the most powerful lever; start there.

Beans matter more than gear

A $400 V60 setup will make terrible coffee from month-old grocery beans. A $40 plastic V60 will make incredible coffee from a fresh single origin. The order of upgrades, if you're starting from scratch:

1. Fresh beans
2. A burr grinder
3. A scale
4. A gooseneck kettle
5. Everything else

Pick up a fresh single origin →