Brewing guide
How to Make Pour Over Coffee
Clean, bright and precise — the control freak's brew.
Demonstration content — review and verify before publishing.
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Brew time
- 3–4 minutes
- Coffee-to-water ratio
- 1:16
- Grind size
- Medium-fine
- Water temperature
- 199–205 °F
Overview
Pour over means you control the water: how fast it arrives, where it lands, and how long it stays. A paper filter removes oils and fines, so the cup tastes clean and the acidity reads as sweetness rather than weight.
It is the best method for tasting what a single-origin coffee actually does.
What You Need
- Dripper (V60, Kalita or similar)
- Paper filters
- Gooseneck kettle
- Scale and timer
- Medium-fine ground coffee
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Rinse the filter
Fold the seam, set the filter in the dripper, and rinse it with hot water to remove paper taste and preheat the brewer.
- 2
Dose and level
Add your coffee — 0.7 oz coffee to 11.3 oz water by weight is a reliable starting point — and shake the bed flat.
- 3
Bloom
Pour 2–3 times the coffee weight in water and wait 40 seconds. The bed should rise and settle.
- 4
Pour in stages
Add water in two or three slow spirals, keeping the bed topped up but never overflowing.
- 5
Let it draw down
Total brew time should land near 3 minutes. Give the dripper a gentle swirl at the end to flatten the bed.
Common Mistakes
- Pouring too fast, which channels water through one spot
- Skipping the bloom on fresh coffee
- Grinding too coarse, which drains in under two minutes and tastes sour
- Using water straight off a rolling boil
How to Improve the Flavour
- If draw-down takes longer than 3:30, grind coarser.
- Pour in the centre and spiral out — never straight down the filter wall.
- Filtered water with moderate mineral content makes a bigger difference here than anywhere else.
Equipment Recommendations
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Frequently Asked Questions
What ratio should I use for pour over?+
1:16 is the most useful default — 0.7 oz coffee to 11.3 oz water by weight. Move to 1:15 for a stronger cup.
Do I need a gooseneck kettle?+
Not strictly, but it is the single upgrade that improves pour over most, because flow control is the whole method.
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