Ready to dive into the world of pour over coffee? With the tips and tricks in this post, you'll learn how to calculate the perfect ratio, getting the right water temperature and grind size, and how to pulse pour for the best extraction.
Boost your barista skills by learning how to make French press java or by crafting your own amazing flat white at home.
Ingredients
To make pour over, you'll need two basic ingredients and some important equipment.
- Coffee: Use organic, single-origin whole beans that have been recently roasted. Purchase beans from a reputable local roastery if possible.
- Water: Use filtered water, as it has the right amount of minerals for a good flavor.
- Filter: Use unbleached if possible, and use either size #4 for large makers or #2 for smaller ones.
- Scale: You won't be able to measure accurately without a quality digital kitchen scale (affiliate). This is a crucial tool, as the recipe is calculated on a weight-based ratio.
- Stopwatch/Timer: You can use the stopwatch on your phone or have a dedicated timer for this.
Ratios
Want to know the best ratio? There's no hard and fast answer because the ratio can (and should) change based on the beans and your tastes. There's no one consensus on the best ratio!
However, I like the 1:14 ratio (1g coffee to 14g water) for most roasts, but sometimes I even do a 1:12 ratio. Many baristas like a 1:16 or 1:17 ratio as well. You'll need to experiment with the origin and roast of the beans to see what you like the best.
Make your own ratio chart by taking the desired yield (in milliliters) and dividing it by the ratio percentage (16 if you're doing 1:16). This will tell you how much coffee you need by weight. For example, if you divide 472ml by 16, you'll get 30g.
How to Make
- Choose the yield (how much you want to make) and the ratio you'd like to use, then measure the ingredients accordingly with a kitchen scale.
- Pour the beans into a conical burr grinder.
3. Grind the beans on a medium setting so it has a similar texture to coarse sand, brown sugar, or sea salt.
4. Place a #4 cone filter in the Chemex-style brewer and pour a little boiling water through it. This removes the papery taste from the filter and preheats the glass.
5. Blooming: Dump the grounds into the filter, making sure they're level. Pour enough 200°F water over the grounds so there's twice as much water as grounds by weight, making sure all the grounds are saturated. Wait 30-45 seconds or until the mixture deflates.
6. Pouring: Pour the remaining liquid over the grounds in 3-4 pulses or batches. Go in a slow, steady stream starting in the center and spiraling out.
7. Finishing: Allow the brew to finish dripping through, which should take about 15-30 seconds.
8. Want to know if you did a good pour? The grounds should be level.
9. Serving: Pour the coffee into glasses or mugs.
10. Mix in milk, cream, or sugar as desired and enjoy immediately!
Recipe FAQs
Pour over is similar to standard drip coffee, but is called "manual drip" because the water is poured by hand. This method yields a brew similar to that from a drip machine, but is has a much better flavor. Many baristas use this brewing method to highlight the nuances of single-origin beans.
Start by heating the water to 200°F and grinding the beans to the size of coarse sand or brown sugar. Dump the grounds into a cone filter and place it in a Chemex-style brewer. Add twice the weight of water as there is grounds, then slowly add the rest in three or four pulses (batches). The brew will drop through the filter into the lower chamber.
This brewing method yields a better brew because it's typically made with better quality beans that have been freshly ground. Also, the many nuances of this brewing method gives the barista more control over the process and helps bring out the subtleties of the flavors.
Yes, you can make it without a gooseneck kettle, but just make sure to do it slowly and carefully. Most kettles have a fast stream, so you'll have to carefully control the flow.
Expert Tips
- Harsh or bitter brew? That means it's overextracted. Next time, use cooler water or a coarser grind to slow down the extraction.
- Sour, weak, or saline brew? That means it's underextracted. Next time, use hotter water or a finer grind to speed up the extraction.
- Ratios: If you don't like the taste of one ratio, adjust the grind size before changing ratios.
- Experimenting with techniques? Only change one variable at a time, or you won't know what caused the change in flavor. Make notes of what worked and what didn't.
- Enjoy the process! This is one of the most tricky brewing methods, and it takes a lot of experience and experimentation to perfect it.
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Recipe
How to Make Pour Over Coffee
Ingredients
- 2.4 oz single-origin coffee beans, recently roasted
- 4 cups cold filtered water
- Coffee filter
- Digital scale
- Stopwatch or timer
Instructions
Prep
- Decide how much coffee you want to make. Since I'm usually making enough for 4 people, I typically brew 32 fl oz (944 ml) at once.
- In this recipe, I use a 1:14 ratio (1 gram of coffee per 14 grams of water), but feel free to adjust that up even more to 1:12 or lower it to 1:16 or 1:17 depending upon your tastes and the type/roast of beans. (See the ratio chart in the post for a handy reference.)
- Warm up the brewer and rinse the filter by pouring boiling water through it. Be sure to discard the liquid from the carafe before brewing.
Brewing
- Use a digital scale to measure the correct amount of water into a gooseneck kettle, then measure the amount of coffee beans needed. For a 944ml yield at 1:14, I used 67g beans.
- Grind the beans using a conical burr grinder to a medium fineness, which should resemble coarse sand, brown sugar, or sea salt.
- The exact temperature can be tweaked depending upon the roast of coffee you're using, but I usually do 200°F. Hotter (200-205°F) is better for lighter/medium roast, while cooler (195-200°F) is better for dark roast. Experiment to see what you like.
- Discard the preheating water from the carafe and dump the ground coffee into the filter. Make sure there are no lumps and that the grounds are level in the cone. Place the brewer on a kitchen scale, set the units to grams, and tare it so the scale reads 0g. Have your stopwatch or timer ready to go.
- Once the water has heated to the right temperature, pour some over the coffee in a spiral, starting in the center and spiraling out to the edges. Aim for twice the weight of water as there is coffee (i.e. 134g of water for 67g grounds). The coffee should bubble and puff up as it releases carbon dioxide; wait 30-45 seconds, or until it begins to deflate.
- Add the remaining water in the spiral pattern, keeping the kettle spout close to the grounds and going in a slow, steady stream. Add the water in 3-4 "pulses" or batches, allowing about 45 seconds to pass between each pulse, and maintain about ½ inch of water above the grounds at all times. Make sure to saturate the grounds evenly for an even extraction.
- Let the brew finish dripping into the lower chamber, which should take 15-30 seconds. Remove the cone and discard the filter and grounds. The ideal total brewing time (including blooming) for light/medium roast is about 3-4 minutes, while darker roast should be done brewing in 2 ½-3 minutes.
- Immediately serve the coffee and mix in sugar, milk, or cream as desired. Enjoy right away for the best flavor.
Notes
- Harsh or bitter coffee? That means it's overextracted. Next time, use cooler water or a coarser grind to slow down the extraction.
- Sour, weak, or saline coffee? That means it's underextracted. Next time, use hotter water or a finer grind to speed up the extraction.
- Ratios: If you don't like the taste of one ratio, adjust the grind size before changing ratios.
- Experimenting with techniques? Only change one variable at a time, or you won't know what caused the change in flavor. Make notes of what worked and what didn't.
- Enjoy the process! Pour over is one of the most tricky brewing methods, and it takes a lot of experience and experimentation to perfect it.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Alex
Pour over coffee is indescribably good! It had a smooth taste and some tropical flavor notes with the Columbian beans I tried. It makes an amazing brew!
Emma
That's wonderful to hear, Alex! I'm so glad that you found this coffee to be so good!
Beth
This coffee is delicious! It is certainly very customizable. I love the smoothness and strong flavor. It's fun to make, too!
Emma
I'm glad that you enjoy making pour over, Beth! Thanks for your kind comment!