What is the standard V60 recipe?
Quick answer
15 g coffee, 240 ml water (1:16), medium-fine grind, 30 s bloom with 30 g water, then two pours finishing around 2:50 total brew time. Water 94 °C. Adjust grind so drawdown doesn't stall past 3:30.
What equipment do you need
You don't need much, but each item matters:
- V60 dripper — Size 01 brews 1 cup (up to ~300 ml); size 02 handles 1–4 cups and is more forgiving with larger doses. Start with 02 if unsure.
- Gooseneck kettle — The narrow spout lets you control exactly where water lands. A regular kettle also works if you can pour gently.
- Scale with a timer — Pour control by feel is unreliable. A cheap scale that reads in 0.1 g increments is enough.
- Paper filters made for your V60 size — check the fit before brewing. Rinse them before brewing to wash out paper taste and pre-heat the dripper.
- Burr grinder — Blade grinders produce uneven particles that cause mixed extraction. Any entry-level burr grinder (hand or electric) is a step up.
That's the core kit. A dedicated V60 server is nice but a mug works fine.
Why V60 is picky — and worth it
The large single hole and ribbed cone give you full control over flow rate. Nothing is fixed for you the way it is with, say, an AeroPress. That's both the challenge and the reward.
A paper filter and controlled pours can produce a clear cup. Flow and taste give useful feedback, but neither is a laboratory measurement of extraction. Filter paper, roast, fines and pouring technique can all change drawdown. Record the recipe before changing it.
Grind size matters most
Target: medium-fine — finer than drip coffee, coarser than espresso. Click counts are model-specific. Baratza’s V60 guide lists Encore 23 and Encore ESP 25 as starting settings for its own recipe; they are not equivalent numbers or calibrated particle sizes. Use your exact grinder manual, then adjust by taste.
How to tell if your grind is off:
- Drawdown finishes before 2:00 → check whether the grind is too coarse. The water moves through too fast and under-extracts. Go finer.
- Drawdown stalls past 3:30 or water pools on top → check grind, filter and agitation. The bed is restricting flow and over-extracting. Go coarser.
- Brew time lands between 2:30–3:10 → you're in range. Taste it before adjusting further.
Adjust one step at a time. Keep dose and temperature steady while comparing one grinder adjustment.
Step by step
- Fold filter, rinse with hot water, drain, and discard rinse water.
- Add 15 g grounds, create a shallow well in the center.
- Bloom: pour 30 g water, fully saturating the grounds, swirl gently, wait 30 s.
- Pour to 120 g total by ~1:15, pouring in slow circles from center out.
- Pour to 240 g total by ~2:20, same technique; let it drain.
- Target total draw-down done by 2:50. If it stalls past 3:30, go one notch coarser next time.
V60 recipe variations
The standard 15 g / 240 ml (1:16) recipe is a good baseline for medium roasts. Here are common adjustments:
| Situation | Dose | Water | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard cup | 15 g | 240 ml | Starting point for most coffees |
| Larger cup | 20 g | 320 ml | Same ratio; a deeper bed may need more time |
| Light roast | 15 g | 240 ml | Grind slightly finer, water to 96 °C |
| Dark roast | 15 g | 240 ml | Grind slightly coarser, water to 90–92 °C |
| Stronger preference | 15 g | 225 ml | 1:15 ratio; richer, less clarity |
| Lighter preference | 15 g | 270 ml | 1:18 ratio; more delicate |
When scaling up to 20 g, keep the same bloom and two-pour structure — bloom at 2× coffee weight (40 g), then split the remaining water into two pours. Do not force the larger batch into the small-batch time; record drawdown and taste before adjusting.
Troubleshooting
The drawdown stalls and water pools on top. Check the filter fit, fines and agitation before changing the grind. If the setup is consistent, try one notch coarser on the next brew and compare flow and taste.
The cup is bitter. Possible causes include roast bitterness, uneven extraction, fine grind or a long contact time. Try going coarser first. If that doesn't fix it, drop water temperature by 2 °C.
The cup is weak or sour. Check strength separately from extraction: a balanced but thin cup may simply need a tighter ratio; a sharp, thin cup may benefit from finer grind. If the dose and flow are consistent, try one finer step and compare. Sharpness alone does not establish the cause; roast, coffee and uneven flow also matter.
Uneven extraction — some grounds look wet, some look dry after the bloom. You didn't fully saturate the bed during the bloom pour. Use a spoon or skewer to quickly stir after the bloom pour to make sure all grounds are wet before the 30 s wait.
The brew finishes too fast (under 2:00). Check the dose, filter fit and pouring pattern. If these are consistent and the cup tastes sharp and thin, try finer on the next brew; elapsed time alone does not measure extraction.
Common questions
V60 vs Chemex? V60 is faster, more versatile; Chemex uses thicker filters that produce a lighter, cleaner body. Both are pour-over but they taste noticeably different.
What if water pools on top mid-pour? Check filter fit, fines, agitation and pour rate. If these are consistent, compare a slightly coarser grind.
Light roast on V60? Often needs slightly hotter water and a finer grind than dark roast. Start at 96 °C and adjust from there.
Load the V60 timer preset or use the ratio calculator to scale the recipe up or down.
Sources, adaptation and limits
Baratza’s Hario V60 guide (opens in a new tab), the grind settings table and brewing steps, provides a manufacturer reference for model-specific adjustment and pour-over technique. Our 15 g / 240 g, 94 °C, 2:50 schedule is an editorial starting recipe, not a reproduction of Baratza’s recipe or a measured tasting result. The listed times are targets, not a guarantee for every coffee or filter.
The arithmetic is explicit: 240 ÷ 15 = 16. Water is the amount poured onto the grounds; some remains in the grounds, so the finished cup will weigh less. See how we check guidance for the difference between source checks and physical brew tests.