How do you make pour over coffee?
Quick answer
Weigh 15 g medium-fine coffee and 240 ml water (1:16). Bloom 45 seconds with twice the coffee weight in water, then pour in two stages to finish by ~3 minutes total. Water about 94 °C (201 °F).
What you need
- Dripper — V60, Chemex, Kalita Wave, or any cone dripper. Ceramic and glass hold heat better than plastic; plastic is cheaper and fine for beginners.
- Filters — use paper filters sized for your dripper. White (bleached) filters are recommended over brown (unbleached) — less papery taste.
- Scale — measuring both coffee and water by weight is how you get consistent results. A scale that reads in 1 g increments is the minimum; 0.1 g is ideal.
- Kettle — a gooseneck kettle gives you controlled, precise pours. A standard kettle works; just pour slowly from a low height.
- Thermometer or temperature kettle — 94 °C (201 °F) is the target. Most variable-temperature kettles let you set this directly. Without a thermometer, boil and wait 30–45 seconds.
- Server or mug — something to brew into. A scale-friendly mug or a glass server works.
Grind size
Medium-fine — a step finer than drip, a step coarser than espresso. Think fine sea salt or slightly smaller than granulated sugar. This is the right range for a 2.5–3.5 minute total brew time.
The practical guide: if your brew finishes in under 2 minutes and tastes sour, grind finer. If it takes over 4 minutes and tastes bitter, grind coarser. Adjust one notch at a time. Cone drippers like the V60 tend to want slightly finer than flat-bottom drippers like the Kalita Wave.
Freshly ground coffee makes a visible difference here — stale pre-ground won't bloom properly (you'll see minimal bubbling) and tastes flat.
Step by step
- Rinse filter (optional) and add grounds.
- Bloom — pour 30 ml, swirl, wait 45 s.
- Main pours — slow circles, avoid flooding the edges.
- Drawdown — bed should flatten by ~3:00; adjust grind if always too fast or slow.
Pour-over methods compared
Pour-over is a category, not a single brewer. Three drippers dominate home use, and each has a distinct feel.
Hario V60: A cone dripper with a single large hole and spiral ridges on the inside walls. The V60 is fast and very responsive to pour technique — small changes in pour speed and pattern noticeably affect flavor. This makes it excellent for exploration once you're comfortable, but less forgiving for beginners. It produces clean, bright cups that highlight origin characteristics well, which is why it's popular with light roasts. Start here if you want to learn what different coffees actually taste like.
Chemex: A all-in-one brewer with a thick proprietary paper filter (20–30% thicker than standard). The thick filter removes more oils and fine particles, producing an exceptionally clean, bright, almost silky cup. The trade-off is that it brews more slowly and can under-extract if your grind is too coarse. The Chemex looks beautiful on a counter and works well for making 2–4 cups at once. Use it if you like a very clean, delicate cup and you're brewing for more than one person.
Kalita Wave: A flat-bottom dripper with three small holes. The flat bed creates more even extraction than a cone, making the Kalita more consistent and forgiving than the V60 — water flows more evenly through the grounds instead of funneling to a single exit. The result is a balanced, sweet cup that's somewhat heavier-bodied than V60. A good choice if you want reliability over maximum brightness. The flat-bottom design suits medium roasts particularly well.
Which one to start with? Any of the three works well. The Kalita Wave is the most forgiving for beginners. The V60 has the most learning potential. The Chemex is the best option for consistently making multiple cups.
Troubleshooting
Why is pour over sour? Grind too coarse, pours too fast, or water too cool. Fix: grind one notch finer, slow your pour rate, and verify water temperature is 92–96 °C. Sour coffee is under-extracted — not enough dissolved.
Why is it bitter? Grind too fine, total brew time too long (over 4 minutes), or water too hot. Fix: grind one notch coarser. If brew time is consistently over 3.5 minutes, check grind first.
Why is the drawdown very slow (stalling)? Grind too fine, or grounds packed against the filter walls during pouring. Fix: grind coarser, and aim your pours at the center of the bed rather than the edges. Avoid pouring down the filter walls.
Do I need a gooseneck kettle? Not strictly. A regular kettle poured slowly from a low height is workable. But a gooseneck gives you real control over pour rate and placement — if you're making pour-over more than a few times a week, it's worth buying. They start around $25 for non-temperature-controlled models.
Why does my pour-over taste flat compared to the coffee shop? Usually freshness. Coffee brewed at a specialty café is typically ground from beans roasted 1–3 weeks ago. If your beans are a month or more past roast date, they'll taste flat regardless of technique. Check the roast date on your bag — not the best-by date.
Cone vs flat bottom
Cone drippers (V60) want slightly finer grind; flat-bottom (Kalita) often wants medium. See the dedicated V60 recipe.
Use the brew timer and ratio calculator.