13 August 2026 · 4 min read
pour-over is brewing by percolation: hot water slowly passes through a bed of ground coffee in a conical dripper with a paper filter and drips into the cup. the best-known dripper is the hario v60 (hence the name). it's the method for those who want to hear the bean in all its clarity: the paper holds back oils and fine grounds, leaving a transparent, detailed, «watercolour» taste.
what you'll need
the minimum: a dripper (v60 or similar), paper filters for it, freshly ground coffee, a hot kettle (ideally with a thin «gooseneck» spout for stream control) and a scale. you can start without a scale, but it's what makes the result repeatable.
grind and ratio
- grind: medium, like table salt (finer gives bitterness and clogging, coarser gives sour «water»)
- ratio: 1 to 16 as a start (e.g. 15 g of coffee to 250 ml of water)
- water: 90–94°c (lighter beans hotter).
step by step
- insert the filter, rinse it thoroughly with hot water (it removes the papery taste and warms the dripper and cup), then pour that water out
- add the ground coffee, tap gently to level the bed
- bloom: pour about twice the coffee's weight in water (for 15 g, ~30–40 ml) to wet all the coffee, and wait 30–45 seconds. fresh beans will «swell» — that's co2 escaping; the bloom removes it so extraction goes evenly
- then pour the water in several spiral additions from the centre outward, not onto the filter wall, keeping the water level steady
- total time is about 2:30–3:30 from the start until all the water has drained.
pouring technique
pour in circles, in a slow, even stream, from the centre out and back. the goal is to wet all the coffee evenly so the water doesn't cut «channels» and bypass part of the bed. at the end you can give the dripper a gentle swirl to settle the grounds evenly. a calm pour matters more than looking pretty.
how to fix the taste
the same principle as everywhere: sour, sharp, «hollow» — under-extraction, grind finer, hotter water or pour more slowly; bitter, dry, astringent — over-extraction, grind coarser, cooler water, pour faster. change one thing at a time.
common mistakes
- didn't rinse the filter → a papery taste
- skipped the bloom on fresh beans → uneven, «fizzy» extraction
- too fine a grind → the water stalls, bitterness
- pouring onto the filter wall → some water bypasses the coffee, a watery cup
- the coffee was ground and left to sit → the aroma is already gone.
which bean
the v60 brings out light and medium roasts with a complex, fruity-floral or berry profile best — this is where the method's clarity gives the most. dense dark lots sound better in espresso or a moka.
in short
pour-over is about attention and clarity: rinse the filter, do the bloom, pour calmly in a spiral, hold a 1:16 ratio and a medium grind. a few tries and you'll learn to draw a transparent, detailed cup from one bean.