How to Brew Pour Over Coffee

Are you curious about pour-over coffee but don’t know where to start? Pour over methods are becoming increasingly popular for the precise control they give over your brewing variables, which is useful for highlighting the more subtle, nuanced flavors of light and medium roasts, though you can use it with any roast.  

Grab your favorite mug and join us while we explore the world of pour-over brewing—part art, part science, and full flavor. 

What Is Pour Over Coffee?

Pour over coffee is a manual brew method where you slowly pour hot water onto a bed of ground coffee and essentially let gravity do the rest. 

It’s especially popular for brewing the best cup of light and medium roasts and single-origin coffees because the precise control over time, temperature, and coffee-to-water ratios allow you to bring out nuanced flavors shaped by the coffee’s origin. 

Hario V60 vs. Kalita Wave: Which Should You Use?

Both the Hario V60 and the Kalita Wave are similar devices that produce very subtle flavor differences, so which you choose is mostly a matter of personal preference. 

We’ve found the V60 produces coffees that are a little brighter and better at highlighting the nuances of a light roast, while the Wave is more rounded and is great for light and medium roasts alike.

What You'll Need 

• 22g coffee - medium (normal) grind. Our certified organic, Fair Trade, shade-grown Peruvian Carbon Neutral coffee from our farmer partners at the Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Pangoa (Pangoa) works great in a pour over, and we always roast and optionally grind it fresh to order. 

• 360g water

• Kitchen scale

• Timer

• The Hario V60 or Kalita Wave

• Filter paper (mesh or washable fabrics can be used but are less effective at removing oils). 

Pour Over Grind Size and Ratio 

For pour-over brewing, a medium (normal) grind works best for an even extraction. If you use a fine grind, it may clog the filter and stall the brew, resulting in overextraction, while a coarse grind may result in underextraction. 

Your coffee-to-water ratio is equally important. Most people use between 1:15 and 1:17, but anywhere from about 1:14 to 1:18 works too. That’s the beauty of a pour over; you can tweak those ratios to create your perfect cup. Our recipe actually works out to 1:16.36. Why? Simply because we feel it creates a well-balanced brew for most coffees.

If you brew more than one way, our coffee brewing guide breaks down the right grind size for pour-over, French press, AeroPress, and more.

How to Make Pour Over Coffee

1. Heat the water to 205°F in a gooseneck kettle, or simply boil the water and let it sit for 30 seconds before using it.

2. Place the brewer on top of your mug, then rinse the paper filter with hot water to remove the paper taste and discard the rinse water.

3. Place the mug and brewer on the scale and zero it. 

4. Add 22g of medium-ground coffee to the filter and zero the scale again.

5. Start the timer and pour 60g of water (do not zero it) over the entire bed of coffee to bloom, where it absorbs water, expands, and releases trapped CO₂ gas formed during roasting. Then stir it gently to wet the grounds.  

6. After 30 seconds, pour more water in slow, steady, concentric circles, working your way from the center to the edges, without breaking the water stream. Try to aim for the darker spots in the filter bed while pouring for an even extraction. Finish pouring the full 360g of water at about 1:45 on your timer. 

7. Gently swirl the brewer to settle the coffee bed. 

8. Wait for the coffee to finish dripping, which will happen between about 2:45 and 3 minutes. 

9. Remove the filter, and enjoy!

4 Common Pour Over Problems and How to Solve Them

Channeling 

If you simply pour directly into the center or pour too aggressively, it may cause channeling and create a concave coffee bed. This can lead to overextraction in the center and underextraction elsewhere. This is why we recommend pouring in a slow, steady, concentric stream and swirling the brewer when you finish pouring to flatten the coffee bed.  

Sour or Underextracted Coffee

Often, underextracted coffee happens if you don’t let it bloom, which will slow the water from penetrating the grounds. 

Underextraction can also result from too coarse of a grind and using water that isn’t hot enough.  

Bitter or Overextracted Coffee

If your cup tastes bitter, it might be overextracted. This often happens when you use too fine a grind, but it can also happen if you use water that’s too hot. To avoid this, use a medium grind and let the boiled water rest for 30 seconds before using. 

Stalled Brew

If the water pools and refuses to drain, your filter is clogged. This issue usually happens with too many “fines” (dust-sized particles of coffee), caused by using a fine grind. It can also happen with blade grinders, which often produce inconsistent grind sizes. If this happens even when your grounds look the right size, consider upgrading to a barista-style burr grinder. 

5 Pour Over Tips Worth Knowing

1. A gooseneck kettle makes it much easier to pour with precision.  

2. Filter your tap water if it has strong, unpleasant tastes since it may affect the flavors in your cup. 

3. Grinding fresh right before brewing is recommended for more delicate aromas and flavors. 

4. If you want to tweak your recipe (which we encourage!), only adjust one variable at a time. That way you’ll know exactly which adjustment improved your brew or pushed it in a direction you didn’t want to go. 

5. Since pour-overs excel at highlighting subtle flavors, they work especially well with light roasts. Try our certified organic, Fair Trade Ethiopian Boa Bedegelo from our partners at the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union and enjoy delicious flavor notes of lemon, stone fruit, and cinnamon. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pour Over Really Better Than Drip?

No method is inherently “better” than another, as it’s all a matter of personal preference. Pour overs do offer more control over the brewing process, making them suitable for cleaner, more complex cups, especially with light roasts. But drip is preferred by others for its consistency, batch size, and ease of use. 

How Long Should It Take to Brew Pour Over Coffee?

Brewing a pour over cup, from the moment you start pouring your bloom water to the final drops draining through the filter for a standard single-cup pour over, generally takes between about 2¾ and 3 minutes. 

What Is the Ratio for a Pour Over Coffee?

As for most brewing methods, the ideal starting point for a coffee-to-water ratio is 1:16, which would be about 22g of coffee for 360g of water. But you can always adjust it; many go with 1:15 for a stronger cup or 1:17 if they enjoy a lighter cup.

Fresh, Organic, Fair Trade Beans Improve the Pour Over Experience

Brewing in a pour over is part science, part art, and full flavor because the paper filter removes heavy oils and fines to produce clean, crisp cups that allow subtle flavor notes to shine. While mastering your grind size, water temperature, and pouring technique takes a little practice, it can quickly become a calming morning coffee ritual. 

To get the most out of your Hario V60 or Kalita Wave, browse our light roast coffees. Certified organic, Fair Trade beans like our Ethiopian Boa Bedegelo, from the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, and Guatemalan Los Jovenes from our partners at ASOBAGRI are great coffees to start with