Coffee Guide
Our guide to perfect pour over brew at home
Great pour over coffee starts with a few simple tools and a little practice. This guide covers what you need, an easy recipe to get you started, and small adjustments to help you brew a cup you love. Whether you prefer bright, fruity flavors or a familiar chocolatey cup, there’s plenty of room to make it your own.
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8 min
The world of pour over coffee may seem intimidating, but it’s one of the simplest ways to make coffee by hand. Getting started is easy, and once you’ve tried your first cup, you’ll naturally begin diagnosing and making refinements. Mastering every variable isn’t required from the start, and all you need is some coffee, a kettle, and a brewer. Pour over is a flexible method whose appeal lies as much in the leisurely routine as in its flavor, and it may even raise your bar for the perfect cup.
Quick Guide
Ingredients
20g coffee, ground medium-fine
320g water, 200°F
Equipment
pour over brewer
matching filter
grinder (burr grinder preferred)
kettle (gooseneck preferred)
gram scale
mug
Recipe
Rinse the filter and discard the rinse water.
Add ground coffee, level the bed, and set the scale to zero.
Start the timer and pour to 60 g. Bloom for 30–45 seconds.
Pour gently to 180g, pause briefly, then pour to 320g.
Let the coffee drain. Use roughly 2.5–3.5 minutes as an initial reference.
Stir, let it cool a little, and taste.
Troubleshooting
Too sour: Try a slightly finer grind.
Harsh or bitter: Try a slightly coarser grind.
Balanced but weak: Try a little more coffee.
Balanced but strong: Dilute the cup or try a little less coffee.
Recommended equipment
Pour over equipment
A pour over brewer and matching filters
Choose a brewer that fits how much coffee you usually make, from a single cup to a full pitcher, and use matching filters designed for its shape and size. A brewer that sits directly on your mug keeps a single-cup setup simple; a server is useful when you’re sharing. Different brewers will drain differently, so give yourself time to learn the mechanics of the one you choose.
Coffee
Pour over produces a clean cup that makes individual flavors easier to notice. It’s especially well suited to coffees with fruit, floral, and delicate sweet notes, but you can also use it to enjoy a familiar chocolatey cup.
Light roasts are a good place to explore brighter flavors. Look for tasting notes such as citrus, berry, stone fruit, or flowers if you enjoy a lively, aromatic cup.
Medium roasts offer an approachable starting point. Coffees with chocolate, caramel, nut, or gentle fruit notes can give you a satisfying balance of sweetness and brightness.
Dark roasts work, too, especially if you prefer deeper roasted flavors. Look for dark chocolate and toasted notes, and consider brewing with slightly cooler water if the cup tastes too bitter.
Both single origin coffees and blends can make excellent pour over. Choose a single origin when you want to explore the character of a particular coffee; choose a blend when its flavor description sounds like your everyday cup.
If you’re unsure where to begin, try a medium roast with chocolate and caramel notes, or a lighter roast with fruit notes you already enjoy. Let the tasting notes guide you alongside the roast label.
Grinder
A burr grinder gives you control over grind size and generally produces more consistent grounds than a blade grinder. Both hand and electric burr grinders can work well; choose based on how you want your morning routine to feel.
For your first brew, start around medium-fine: visibly granular, rather than powdery. Grind labels and numbered settings vary between grinders, so use your grinder’s pour over recommendation as a starting point.
In a pinch, pre-ground coffee is fine. Look for a recent roast date and, if available, a recent grinding or packaging date. Choose a grind suited to your brewer, and keep the bag tightly sealed between brews.
Kettle
You need a kettle that lets you pour safely and gently. A gooseneck spout makes it easier to direct the water and control the flow. A regular kettle can get you started if you pour carefully.
Temperature control helps you fine-tune flavor and brew consistently. Hotter water can help bring out sweetness and flavor in lighter roasts, while slightly cooler water can soften bitterness in darker roasts. A temperature-controlled kettle lets you repeat the setting that tastes best with your coffee.
Scale and timer
The ratio of coffee to water affects how strong your cup tastes. A scale lets you measure both accurately, so you can follow a recipe, adjust it to your taste, and repeat a cup you enjoyed.
A kitchen scale that reads in grams works; a coffee scale with a built-in timer also helps you track the bloom and total brew time. Make sure your scale is sturdy enough to support the full brewing setup.
Mug or server
Many pour over brewers have a matching server or an integrated serving vessel. If yours is sold separately, choose a server or mug that holds your full brew and supports the brewer securely. A server is handy for sharing; brewing directly into a mug keeps a single-cup setup simple.
A practical first setup
Brewer, matching filters, coffee, kettle, gram scale, and mug. Add a burr grinder when you’re ready to grind at home. A server and temperature-controlled kettle are nice-to-haves as your routine progresses.
Recommended coffee
Our pour over recipe
Start here for one serving in a V60-style cone dripper. Other brewers may need different grind settings, pouring methods, or timing.
Ingredient or setting | Starting point |
Coffee | 20 g |
Water | 320 g, plus extra for rinsing |
Coffee-to-water ratio | 1:16 |
Grind | Medium-fine |
Water temperature | 200°F / 93°C |
Bloom | 60 g water for 30–45 seconds |
Total brew time | Roughly 2½–3½ minutes, including the bloom |
Notes
Use water that tastes good on its own; filter it if needed. Without temperature control, boil your water and let it rest briefly before pouring. Keep the resting time consistent between brews.
The water weight is what you pour, not the finished drink: the grounds retain some water. Treat the recipe and timing as starting points, and adjust to taste.
Step-by-step brewing guide
Heat and rinse. Heat enough water for brewing and rinsing. Fit the filter, rinse it with hot water to warm the setup, and discard the rinse water.
Weigh and grind. Grind 20 g of coffee medium-fine, add it to the filter, and gently level the grounds. Place the full setup on your scale and set it to zero.
Bloom. Start your timer and pour to 60 g, wetting all the grounds. Wait until 30–45 seconds have elapsed from the first pour. Bubbling is gas escaping; its intensity varies between coffees.
Continue pouring. Pour gently in circles to 180 g, let the water level fall slightly, then pour to 320 g. These are cumulative weights, so don’t reset the scale. Keep the stream low, aim over the grounds, and pause if the brewer gets too full.
Drain and taste. Let the water drain and note the total time. Remove the brewer, stir or swirl the coffee, and let it cool slightly before tasting. Use flavor alongside brew time to guide your next adjustment.
Troubleshooting
Keep the same coffee and recipe while you work out what helps. Coffee, roast, water, and pouring can all influence the result.
What you notice | What to try next |
Too sour or sharp | Grind slightly finer, keeping the other settings the same. |
Harsh or bitter | Try a slightly coarser grind. If bitterness persists, consider whether the roast itself suits your taste. |
Too weak | Use a little more coffee with the same water amount—for example, 21 g to 320 g. |
Too strong | Add a little hot water to the finished cup. For the next brew, try 19 g coffee to 320 g water. |
Slow draining and an unpleasant cup | Try a slightly coarser grind and check that the filter is fitted correctly. |
Fast draining and a sour, thin cup | Try a slightly finer grind. |
Sour and drying at the same time | Check that the bloom wets all the grounds and that your pours are gentle and evenly distributed. |
Making Adjustments
Adjust the strength
The coffee-to-water ratio is an important factor in the strength and flavor of your coffee. The starting recipe is 1:16: 20 g coffee multiplied by 16 gives 320 g water.
For a stronger starting recipe, try 1:15. For a lighter one, try 1:17. Ratio changes can also affect extraction, so taste the result rather than assuming the difference will be strength alone.
Adjust the grind
Grind size is a useful first adjustment when the flavor feels off. Finer grounds generally slow drainage and can increase extraction (the amount of flavor dissolved from the grounds). Coarser grounds generally drain faster and produce a light-bodied cup. An extremely fine grind can impede flow and make the brew less even.
Adjust the temperature
Keep temperature consistent while learning your recipe. Later, try a small increase or decrease and compare the result. Hotter water generally helps extraction; a lower temperature can be useful with some darker roasts.
Find a comfortable pouring rhythm
Aim for a gentle, repeatable pour. Your goal is to wet the coffee evenly and keep the brewer from overflowing.
Once your recipe works, you can experiment with continuous pouring or additional smaller pours. Keep a note of what you changed and how it tasted.
Keep exploring, one cup at a time
Once you’ve dialed in a recipe you enjoy, try a coffee with different tasting notes or explore another brewer. Pour over rewards experimentation: taste, make one change at a time, and keep track of what you like. Each cup helps you discover more about the coffee you enjoy.
