Pour Over Brew Guide: Pouring Techniques, Tips, Preparation

coffee – water ratio

1:15 – 1:18

coffee amount

15-30g

water amt and tem

225-540g | 95°C

grind size

Medium grind, 600-800 microns, size of regular beach sand

brew time

3 mins

I usually use a 1:16 coffee-water ratio of 20 grams of ground coffee for pour over. I enjoy experimenting with different variables and calculating the outcomes. This is a meditative way for me to prepare coffee.

Depending on the pour-over equipment used, you may need to adjust the grind size accordingly. I’ll share my methods for 80 Cup coffee so you can try them out.

Pour Over Equipment

Pour-over coffee maker (e.g., Hario V60, Chemex, Kalita Wave)
Kettle
Filter
Scale
Timer (optional)

Pour Over Coffee Preparation

Water Quality in Coffee Brewing

Water quality is paramount in coffee brewing. Using fresh, clean, and soft water enhances the overall taste of your coffee. Avoid using hard or unfiltered water; if the water doesn’t taste good on its own, it won’t make great coffee.

Freshness of Coffee Beans and Medium grind size

For optimal flavor extraction, it’s essential to use freshly roasted and ground coffee. Grinding the coffee just before brewing ensures that all the flavors are fully extracted and vibrant. Grind your coffee beans to a medium consistency, similar to regular beach sand. Grinding finer produces more body but can also lead to potential bitterness, while grinding coarser may result in under-extraction and insufficient body.

Water Temperature

I’ve found that a temperature of 95°C works best for pour over. This temperature avoids bitterness and ensures a good extraction of flavors from the coffee grounds.

Temperature Tip Without a Thermometer

If you don’t have a thermometer on hand, here are two simple tricks to achieve approximately 95°C water: Boil 1 liter of water, then mix in 65ml of room temperature water. Or wait for 2 minutes to cool down.

Eliminate any paper flavor

Begin by placing a paper filter into the dripper and rinsing it with hot water to eliminate any paper flavor. Discard the rinse water.

Important Tips

After adding the ground coffee, shake the dripper gently to level the coffee bed.
Start pouring hot water in a slow, circular motion, beginning from the center and moving outward with a center focused pour. This technique ensures even agitation of the coffee grounds, leading to optimal extraction.
Avoid pouring directly onto the filter to prevent uneven extraction or channeling.
Always aim for 3 minutes of total brew time.

Pouring Technique

I recommend a total brew time of 3 minutes, whether you’re using 15 grams or 30 grams of coffee grounds. For larger quantities of coffee grounds (e.g., 30 g), pour faster. For smaller quantities of coffee grounds (e.g., 15 g), pour more slowly.

45 secs bloom and slow, circular motion:

Start by pouring 3x the water weight of the grounds over the coffee grounds to initiate the bloom. Allow the coffee to bloom for about 45 seconds.
Pour the water slowly in a circular motion, ensuring even saturation and agitation of the grounds.

2 times pour:

After the bloom, pour half of the total water volume in a slow, circular motion, agitating the grounds uniformly with a center focused pour.
Swirl once to level the coffee
Pause briefly to allow the coffee to settle.
When the water level drops by about half, pour the remaining water volume in the same manner.

For more brew methods: Coffee Brew Guides