Making coffee with the Pour Over method is a great way to enjoy coffee and learn more about what you like.
There are a variety of coffee making devices for pour-over, but the classic ones are the V60 from Hario, and the elegant Chemex. See more options on our online store pages.
The guide below is based on the V60, but the principles are the same for other options.
-Place the V60 on a stand above, or directly onto, a mug - and put in a filter paper.
-Wet the paper with boiled water: removing paper taste and warming the mug.
Remember to discard the water, so you don't dilute the coffee!
-Weigh your coffee beans (appx 15g per 250ml cup) and get grinding.
-Place the ground coffee in the filter, and add some water so the grounds swell (or bloom). Perhaps a max 50ml of water to start (at a temperature just north of 90 degrees C) then leave for c30 to 40 seconds.
-Preferably (not essentially), use a pour-over kettle - with the narrow S-shape spout for accurate, slow pouring.
-Stir the grounds with a bamboo paddle (or other implement) so all the coffee is wetted.
-Then: in spirals, circles, or even zig-zags, slowly start to pour-over the water onto the ground coffee. You have almost 3 minutes to pour the remaining 200ml into the cup.
-Watch carbon dioxide and other gasses bubble up as you pour: it's an active process with the coffee working (especially if freshly ground and recently roasted).
-Keep pouring slowly in circles, spirals or zig-zags - concentrating from the centre of the coffee (not quite going all the way out to the paper). Pour slowly and take your time.
-As you pour, the coffee drips through to the cup below - watch as you go as there's delayed throughput!
-The ideal time for the whole process is around 3 minutes - take longer and the coffee delivers a more bitter flavour. More quick and the ground coffee doesn't get chance to disperse its characteristics.
-When you're done, sit down and enjoy your coffee! Pour-over coffee should definitely be tried without milk: you may surprise yourself on liking a black coffee!