How to Brew Pour-over Coffee

Getting a great cup of coffee requires the right brewing equipment, fresh roasted coffee and a perfected pour-over coffee technique. This article is about how to brew pour-over coffee. Successful pour over coffee brewing is a mater of mastering a few steps. Fresh-roasted coffee, good filtered water, certain items for brewing: burr grinder, pour-over coffee dripper, paper or cloth filter, scale, gooseneck kettle, some people like to brew into a decanter, but straight into a cup works.

Start with the grind. You need an even grind to get good results, a good conical burr grinder will do this.

Heat water. Optimal temperature is 202º F or 65º C. But just off the boil if your boiling point is 212º is ok if you don’t have a thermometer. Heat water in a pot on the burner, transfer to a gooseneck kettle for the pour for control.

Slow pour. First bloom your grounds in the basket. No more than 80-100 grams at a time. After 1 minute or so after the grounds settle, start the main pour in increments of 80-100 grams at a time. Be sure to not add more water than coffee per the ratio. Don’t pour all the water at once, do it gradually.

Detailed instructions under the fold:

Bring the water to a boil then remove from the heating element. If you are using a temperature controlled electric kettle, just bring it up to a preset temp and hold. The optimal temperature is in the 198-201 degree range (depending on altitude, water will boil at a lower temperature).

Rinse the paper filter

Place the filter in the cone. Be sure to fold the seams over flat to make the filter sit better in the cone. Rinse your paper filter with the some of the heated water.

Grind and measure the coffee grounds

Weigh out the fresh beans to a 1:16 ratio, in grams, coffee to water. Experiment with ratios to suit taste. Grind to a medium-fine texture, the ground coffee grains should be about the size of sand. Note: A courser grind will cause the coffee to under-extract, resulting in a watery cup of coffee, too fine of a grind and the grounds will over-extract and taste bitter. Place your cup or decanter on the kitchen scale and zero (Tare) it. Add the coffee to the filter, level and slightly indent the center.
Zero the scale.

Bloom the coffee

Pre-infuse the coffee first. Pour 40-60g of hot water into the center of the grounds and work your way out, in expanding circles, until you reach the edge of the grounds. Some people recommend that you stop short of the edge leaving a 1/8 inch or so of the coffee dry. It probably doesn’t make a difference.

Let sit for 45-70 seconds. Note: the fresher the beans the more the grounds will expand as they release gases, older roasted coffee may not bloom at all. Let the bloom deflate before adding more water.

Start the main pour

After blooming, start the main pour, beginning from the center, pour the remaining water into the cone. Some like the do this in stages, pour, rest, pour, rest, etc. This should take around 2-3 minutes. Try to keep the water level above the coffee grounds, keeping oxygen from coming into contact with the coffee before you finish the pour. Take your time

Enjoy your cup!

Practice makes perfect! With good fresh coffee, proper equipment and technique you’ll be a pour-over master in no time.

Things to remember:

Grind
Measure
Bloom
Pour slowly