How to: Pour-Over Coffee

Let’s Talk About Pour-Over Coffee! 

With all the different options available to the coffee consumer it comes as no surprise that coffee can be intimidating and scary. There are many people that come into our shop and say “I’d like a plain coffee.” Often, I’ll try to break through the awkward feeling, by saying something like, “oh yeah, we have that too.” Maybe you’re that person and you’ve heard about this mystical “pour-over”, but you’re not sure what it actually is and whether it’s worth your time. In the next few paragraphs and videos I hope to demystify this “pour over” not because you have to order it by name, but just so we can enjoy coffee better together. 

First, the most important thing to keep in mind is that pour-over coffee is simply another brew method. A brew method is any way you’re taking water and ground coffee to make liquid coffee. 

Let’s dive in and see where this goes.

When we’re brewing a pour over we use the following pieces of equipment: 

1. Tug Hill Artisan Roasters Coffee

2. Water around 200F. 

3. An Ode Grinder by Fellow

4. A Gooseneck Kettle

5. A V-60 02 by Hario (don’t worry we’ll explain)

6. A 02 Filter

7. A coffee (or kitchen) scale

A brief word on each of those items: 

We’re obviously proud of our coffee, but you can use any coffee. When we roast the coffee we’re going for the maximum flavor, which means a lot of thought goes into how we roast each coffee. More on that in another post. 

Water is very important. You can just heat up water that comes out of your sink.  Generally speaking the hotter (closer to boiling) the more bitter the coffee will be. If you go much below 180F you’ll probably feel like your coffee is not as flavorful. This is because amongst other things, one of the functions of water is to be the vehicle for heat. Heat is energy and without energy the chemical reactions that we need to take place while brewing coffee wouldn’t occur or they would occur much more slowly. At our coffee roastery we have a filter that takes out chlorine and a small mineral reintroduction system. Third wave water is a company that sells mineral packets to help improve the quality of your coffee to make a better cup of coffee. 

We really like our Ode Grinder. This is technically not a commercial grade grinder, but for prosumers and people just wanting a good consistent grind it’s fantastic. A Colombian National Cold Brew Champion once told me that another seriously undervalued grinder is the Capresso. You’ll need a burr grinder. Please do not use a blade grinder. 

Ground coffee in V-60 02

A gooseneck kettle is also a must. With a gooseneck kettle, you can direct the water to the grounds exactly as you like. There are a million different gooseneck kettles out there online. Some are more ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing than others. We also really like the Ode Stag Kettle for those reasons, but there are many options out there. 

What is a V-60 02? Okay, this is the actual conical brewer that you put on your mug, thermos or decanter. It’s called a V-60 because it is in the shape of a V. 60 comes from the fact that it is a 60 degree angle. 02 is referring to how this model is the second model size good for serving two people. There you go. It’s been demystified. You’re welcome. 

The 02 Filter is just the filter you need to go with the V-60 02. Some of these filters are bleached and some of them are non bleached. We use the bleached kind at our shop. I think this contributes to a cleaner, less papery taste (wetting the filter before brewing the coffee also contributes to a cleaner taste). Jonathan Gagne in his book “The Physics of Filter Coffee” notices that under a microscope, the bleached coffee filters tend to have less consistent hole sizes. Jonathan says that this can lead to a more muddied flavor. 

Sorry, but you really do need a kitchen scale. Different coffees have different densities and coffee brewing is by weight. We’re not going to use cups, table spoons, or teaspoons. You don’t have to get an acaia scale (although I’d highly recommend getting one). For pour overs we’ll need a scale that can measure in grams, is relatively reliable and can tare out. 

Now that we’re acquainted with the equipment, let’s take a quick moment to talk about brew ratios. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) recommends brewing coffee using a 15-1 to 18-1 brew ratio. What this means is that for every one gram of roasted ground coffee we will pour between 15 ml and 18 ml of water. For those of us who grew up in the States, Liberia and I think Myanmar (don’t ask why I know that) and need a reminder, one ml of water is the equivalent of one gram. One gram of water is one ml. I personally like to stay on the 15 ml side of the equation as this tends to bring out the brighter notes in the coffee. 

Okay, so here’s the how to: 

Take your roasted coffee and weigh out 25g. Then put this in a grinder on a more medium setting. If you are using an Ode grinder we’d recommend the first notch to the left of the 6 setting. I suppose you could consider that to be 5.75. Grind your coffee. 

While you are grinding your coffee, put a filter in your V-60 02. Put your V-60 02 on a cup or carafe and pour hot water over the filter so it sticks to the inside of the V-60. Take this vessel and dump out the hot water that’s gone through your filter. 

The "bloom"

Next you’ll want to take your coffee and pour hot water over the grounds. You’ll want to start on the inside. Pour about 40 ml of water into the grounds. Allow the coffee grounds to bloom. If your coffee is fresh it will release a lot of C02. The ground will rise up and bubble like a volcano. This is called “the bloom”.

After about 30 seconds proceed with pouring the water. At this point you’ll still have 335 ml of water to dispense (15x25 = 375 - 40 = 335 ml). Some people like to pour the water in intervals, some prefer to just take their time and pour all of it slowly. What you don’t want to do is either overfill the v-60 or pour some and then walk away and forget about it. Just keep up with the water as it flows through. 

There you go. You made 375ml of coffee, which is about 12.5 oz of coffee. Please check out our video. I follow the step by step instructions I have listed above. I also go over what the different pieces of equipment look like. 

One final thought: We really like the classic V-60 at Tug Hill Artisan Roasters. When it comes to competitive coffee you rarely see anyone using anything else. That being said, there are other great pour-over methods out there from the Chemex to the Kalita Wave and everything in between. Everyone is different with particular strengths and weaknesses. Find what works for you, but never stop experimenting in coffee.