Pour Over Brew Guide
Why Choose Pour Over?
Pour over is especially good at highlighting clarity and detail.
Compared with brewing methods that produce a heavier or fuller-bodied cup, pour over often makes it easier to notice a coffee’s brightness, sweetness, and individual flavor notes.
It is also a very hands-on brew method. You control the amount of coffee, the amount of water, the speed of the pour, and the total brew time.
That control makes pour over easy to fine-tune: start with a consistent recipe, taste, then adjust from there.
What You’ll Need
- Pour-over brewer (e.g., Hario V60, Chemex)
- Paper filter
- Freshly roasted coffee
- Grinder
- Hot water
- Scale
- Timer
A gooseneck kettle helps with control, but it is not required.
Start With a 1:16 Ratio
A good starting point for pour over is a 1:16 brew ratio (one gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water).
For this example, we'll use: 20 g coffee and 320 g water
Basic Pour-Over Recipe
Heat your water: Aim for 195–205°F.
Rinse the filter: Place the filter in your brewer, rinse with hot water, discard the rinse water.
Grind the coffee: Grind 20 g of coffee to a medium consistency.
Bloom: Pour ~40 g of water over the grounds and wait 30–45 seconds.
Finish the pour: Slowly add the remaining water in controlled pours until you reach 320 g.
Let it drain: Allow the brew to finish draining. With this recipe, total brew time will often fall around 3–4 minutes, depending on the coffee, grind, and brewer.
Taste.
Adjusting Your Brew
If the coffee tastes weak or thin: grind finer or use slightly less water
If it tastes bitter or dry: grind coarser or use slightly more water
If it tastes sour or sharp: grind finer or use hotter water
Change one thing at a time so you know what made the difference.
A few things that matter
Grind fresh: coffee tastes best when ground just before brewing.
Use a scale: it makes your recipe easier to repeat.
Use good water: filtered water is a solid starting point.
The Takeaway
Start with 1:16.
Keep your recipe consistent. Taste. Adjust one variable at a time.
That is all you need to start dialing in a better pour over.
