There are literally infinite ways to make pour over coffee varying your brewer, filter, coffee, grind-size, water source, water pouring, etc, etc. No pour-over cup of coffee will ever be the same. But then we live in a finite universe, where entropy literally always increases (see the Second Law of Thermodynamics).
That philosophical throat-clearing out of our way, let’s talk here about what we really do know. There are some things that give you much higher likelihood of success when making your pour over coffee. And there are common pitfalls. A solid understanding of both is our goal.
What is pour over coffee?
Pour over coffee is a manual brewing method where you pour hot water over coffee grounds and let gravity pull the water through the grounds and into your cup. As it does that, it extracts those delicious coffee flavors (and caffeine!) from the beans.
It might sound like basic drip coffee, but there’s a big difference: you control the entire brewing process. Instead of a coffee machine deciding when and where to release the water, you control the pour-over water temperature, pour rate, timing, and amount of water yourself.
That extra control is what makes pour-over coffee so appealing. Once you find a recipe you like, you can repeat it every morning, and when something tastes off, you can adjust one variable at a time until you figure out why.
What you need to make pour over coffee
When figuring out how to do pour over coffee, here’s what we recommend having on hand.
Pour-over brewer
For this recipe, we’re using a Hario V60. Cone-shaped pour-over coffee makers like the V60 let water flow through a relatively deep coffee bed, while flat-bottom brewers such as the Kalita Wave distribute the grounds differently.
Neither style is “better.” But they behave differently, which is why you shouldn’t expect a V60 recipe to work perfectly for every brewer.
If you’re just getting started, we’d recommend picking one brewer (there are lots of different pour over coffee makers out there) and learning how it behaves rather than buying three different ones and trying to master them all at once.
Do you really need a gooseneck kettle?
No, but we’d recommend one. A gooseneck kettle gives much better control over how quickly and where the water hits the coffee bed. Nerdy folks can thus obsess about “brew turbidity” and other things you probably don’t need to get into. But you’ll get better results with more control.
A standard kettle like this Amazon Basics one can work in a pinch, but that v-shaped spout gives you is prone to give you faster and uncontrolled water flow. It gives you the worst combination of not going where you want, and splashing harder than you want.
Why a scale helps
Getting out a kitchen scale, or upgrading to a coffee scale, might seem like overkill for making one cup of coffee. But it’s one of the easiest ways to make your pour over brewing more consistent.
Measuring coffee by volume isn’t particularly precise since coffee beans vary significantly in size and density. So working by weight lets you use the same amount of coffee and water every time. And it’s consistency that gives us reliable good coffee.
For our baseline recipe, that’s 18 grams of coffee and 288 grams of water.
Our go-to pour over coffee recipe
Our everyday pour over recipe is 18 grams of medium-fine coffee to 288 grams of water, or a 1:16 ratio. We bloom with about 50 grams of water for 30–45 seconds, then slowly pour to 288 grams total and aim for a total brew time of roughly 4ish minutes. We use a plastic Hario V60 and grind at 16 on our Baratza Encore, but think of those as starting points rather than hard-and-fast rules.
How to make pour over coffee, step by step
If you’re wondering how to brew pour over coffee, start with this recipe, taste the result, and then adjust one variable at a time if you need to. Reminder: We’re using a plastic Hario V60 (our old standby) for this default pour over recipe.
Step 1: Heat your water
If you’re pedantic, heat at least 305 grams of water to boiling. (Really, you should just aim for “about a half-liter.”)
The general recommended temperature range for pour over is about 195–205°F. I don’t think it’s important as I used to specifically where in that range you land. And sometimes I’ll heat all the way to 212°F (100°C) just to get wild.
Step 2: Rinse the filter and preheat the brewer
Place your paper filter in the V60 and rinse it hot water. This does three things: it (arguably) helps remove any papery flavor from the filter, preheats the brewer and your mug or carafe, and keeps your filter in place. The last is actually the most important to me. Just make sure you dump the rinse water before you start brewing.
Step 3: Grind and add the coffee
We recommend starting with 18 grams of coffee ground medium-fine (we use setting number 16 on our beloved Baratza Encore). Your pour-over coffee grind size is one of the most important variables, which is why having an electric burr coffee grinder that can grind evenly is a boon to the outcome.
Add the grounds to the filter and gently shake or tap the brewer to flatten the coffee bed. You want the grounds to be relatively level before you start pouring.
Step 4: Bloom the coffee
Wondering how to bloom coffee? Start a timer (our coffee scale and many others have one built-in) and slowly pour about 50 grams of water over the coffee, making sure to wet all of the grounds. Let the coffee “bloom” for about 30–45 seconds.
The bloom gives the coffee grounds a chance to release trapped carbon dioxide before the rest of the brewing water is added. Freshly roasted coffee tends to produce a more noticeable bloom, but it’s a useful step for any pour-over.
Step 5: Make the main pour(s)
Once the bloom is finished, slowly pour more water over the coffee. Use a steady, controlled stream and pour in gentle circles over the coffee bed. Keep the water over the grounds, and try to avoid pouring directly onto (naked) paper filter. (Doing that creates what the nerds call “bypass”–water that doesn’t touch coffee.)
Continue pouring until your scale reaches 288 grams total.
Step 6: Let it draw down
Once you’ve added all 288 grams of water, let the coffee drain through the grounds. For this recipe, we’re aiming for a total brew time of roughly 3–4 minutes, although don’t panic if you’re a little outside that range.
Step 7: Swirl, serve and taste
Once most of the water has drained, remove the brewer and give your coffee a gentle swirl before serving and tasting.
What coffee-to-water ratio should you use for pour over?
It varies. I usual figure on a 1:15 ratio because it makes the mental-math easier for me. Most people like to cite 1:16, but I find the math harder 😵💫. I’ve seen people prefer both higher and lower than those too. But 15 or 16 are a great place to start.
What grind size is best for pour over coffee?
It varies by brewer and grinder. Generally you’re in a “sandy” range, for causal comparison. People will tell you “medium-fine” most often. I can tell you that I use a 16 on my Baratza Encore when brewing on my V60. But that doesn’t get you too far if you’ve got a different grinder.
How to pour water for pour over coffee
Hold your kettle a few inches above the coffee bed and use a slow, steady stream. Pour in gentle circles, moving from the center toward the outside of the coffee bed, but avoid pouring directly onto the paper filter.
If you’re new to pour over, focus on consistency. Use roughly the same pour speed and pattern every time. Once you have a baseline that tastes good, you can experiment with different pouring techniques.
All that said, my honest opinion is that entirely too much is made about pour-patterns. Out-to-in, boxes, whatever. As long as you’re mostly keeping your grounds evenly wet, and making sure you have little water missing the coffee grounds, you’ll be OK.
How to make your pour over taste better
Mostly, experimentation.
Try different beans, different roast levels, different grind sizes, pour-techniques, ratios, etc. What I’ve told you above should be a good starting place.
But if, say, you like dark-roasted coffee you’ll probably want to change things a bit. And maybe you like you coffee stronger or weaker than I do. Perhaps you discover that triangle are actual the magic pour-shape to make you coffee taste incredible.
You have to, as the Buddha said, “Be a light unto yourself” a bit here.
Does the pour over brewer change the recipe?
Subtly, yes. You’ll generally see people suggesting a coarser grind for a quicker brewer. This has to do with geometries of the brewer and the “contact-time” you want between your beans and water.
Generally a Google of your brewer’s name and your grinder’s name (especially if both of those are fairly common) is the easiest way to get a sense of what to target on both grind size and ratio.
Do you need expensive gear to make good pour over?
Not really. But you do need relevantly-correct tools. You can get a reasonable, stovetop gooseneck kettle for about $30. I mention that because an electric, easy-to-temp-control gooseneck kettle is usually the most expensive piece of equipment people buy to make pour over coffee at home.
Pour over coffee FAQs
What temperature should water be for pour over coffee?
The standard starting range is 195°F to 205°F (90°C to 96°C).
How long should pour over coffee take?
About 3 to 4 minutes. It’ll depend a little on your batch size, details of your brewer, and how quick you are at grinding your coffee. But the actual brewing is generally “five-ish.”
Do you need a gooseneck kettle for pour over?
No, but I recommend one. Your ability to reasonably control where and how you’re pouring is generally the heart of pour-over brewing. And you just can’t do that well with a V-shaped spout.
Should you rinse a pour over filter?
Probably. Rinsing the filter with hot water helps remove any papery taste, preheats your brewer and mug or carafe, and helps you lock the filter in-place on your brewer. People will debate the first two points–“there is no paper taste,” “I like my coffee cooler for drinking anyway”–but the last is inarguable.
How much coffee do I need for one cup of pour over?
A good pour over coffee ratio is 1 gram of coffee for every 15 or 16 grams of water. Most people will use somewhere between 15 and 25 grams of coffee for a single cup, depending on how American (aka big) their cup is.
» Learn more: Our favorite double-walled glass coffee mugs
Can you make pour over coffee without a scale?
Absolutely, you can make pour over without a scale. But I’d recommend using one if you want consistent results, or a recipe that you can replicate easily over time.
The LKCS bottom line
Even a badly made take of pour over coffee still taste pretty good. Especially if you like the beans you’re brewing with. Under-extracted, too finely ground, etc: those things do matter. But they’re not the heart of why you get into pour over, and the difference isn’t so big as influencers might make you think.
That said, the chase of “the best possible version” of brewing any specific coffee is what a lot of people are seeking from starting to make pour over. And that is a fun quest. (Especially when you’re treating coffee making as a hobby, not a necessity.) I recommend going slow.
Start by getting a reasonable (gooseneck) kettle. Then invest in a nice burr grinder. Then you can diversify your brewer collection if you so choose. But no one need as many brewers as we have. ;p
