What Equipment Do You Need
It may seem like there is an unending amount of options for pour over equipment, but you dont need to invest in all of it. You can start with a simple device and some filters and then add more equipment as you choose.
Chad Wang is World Brewers Cup Champion 2017. He says Its very important to understand that the cup quality of the end result is much more important than being technical about your recipe or choosing a V60 over a Clever.
Lets take a look at what the basic equipment you need to make a pour over.
- Brewing device
A brewing device or dripper is simply the piece of equipment that holds the coffee filter and grounds. The V60, Kalita Wave, and Melitta are popular choices. All three sit on top of the cup or carafe and they may seem interchangeable. But there are specific design features to each that aid flow and affect extraction. The Chemex is another popular option with its own design features that impact the cup.
The advantage of using any one of these devices is that they are widely available, simple to use, and have filters made specifically for their design. There are also many online guides and hacks to using these devices so its easy to learn how to use them properly and adapt as needed.
If youre not sure where to start, try brews made in different devices in your local specialty coffee shop and ask the barista which they prefer and why.
Lanz of Linear Coffee Roasters, in Cebu City, Philippines, pours water into a V60 device. Credit: Nathaniel Soque
How Does A Pour
Pour-overs employ an improved-upon percolation method, which uses gravity to pull water through coffee grounds evenly. Originally developed in the early 1900s, commercial pour-over coffee makers used percolators that robbed flavor and made the coffee taste bitter. Pour-over coffee makers bring out smooth, subtle flavors if done correctly.
Measure your water and heat it in a long-spout kettle as you gather the remaining materials. Now, lets walk through each step as if we were brewing with a Hario V60.
Youll place your Hario V60 over a mug, and set a paper filter inside the cone. Once your water is heated, pour some water over the filter before adding any coffee grounds to rid any initial papery taste. Place the coffee into the filter. To pour, start in the middle and work in an outward spiral until youve wet all the visible grounds without overflowing the filter. Wait 30 to 45 seconds and let the grounds bloom; youll see air bubbles pop to the surface. Blooming releases gasses that usually get trapped in automated brewers, which can create dull or acidic flavors. The blooming phase ends once the bubbles subside. Repeat the process if the first pour did not fill your cup.
During the pour-over, the water extracts coffee from the beans. Let the remaining water flow through the grounds, pulling coffee on its way down into your cup.
Its All About The Ratio
One of the key elements to a good pour-over is the ratio of coffee to water. While the idea of the perfect cup will come down to personal preference, its great to get an idea of a starting point.;
While it does vary, we recommend the ratio of 1:17. For every 1 gram of coffee, youll need 17 grams of water. For example, use 30g of coffee to 510g of water.
If you dont have one, you can get a pretty good approximation with a ratio of 1:4 by volume. For every one tablespoon of coffee, use 4 ounces of water .
You May Like: Is There Caffeine In Snapple
Coffee Extraction And How To Taste It
When coffee professionals taste espresso or brewed coffee, they often describe it as either over- or under-extracted.
When you mix coffee and water, the water acts as a solvent, extracting the flavors from the coffee grounds.
The compounds in coffee extract in order. The process starts with most of the pleasant acids and salts, bringing in the balance of sugars until finally unpleasant acids or tannins are most of whats left.
When over extraction occurs, you will taste bitter, papery, ashy or smoky dryness with a thin, watery body.
When your coffee is under extracted, it will taste sour, salty, muddy and weak.
You can fix under- or over-extracted coffee by making small adjustments in the grind and amount of coffee.
Cosori Pour Over Coffee Maker
If youre feeling apprehensive about where to start on your pour-over journey, start here, with the COSORI Pour-Over Coffee Maker. Not only does it come with a stainless steel filter and a thermal resistant glass decanter, included is a manual with professional advice and a BPA-free measuring cup so you can skip the scale and calm your nerves.
The decanter with its wood collar and leather accent look similar to the CHEMEX, but a thinner hourglass shape and the filter differentiate the two. It can rest over a low flame or reheated if you lose yourself in conversation. Its large enough for family campouts, fitting eight cups of coffee plenty to go around. Both the filter and decanter are dishwasher safe for hassle-free cleanup.
Read Also: Can You Drink Coffee After Wisdom Teeth Removal
The Best Types Of Coffee Filters To Use When Making Pour Over Coffee
What can you use as a coffee filter? You can choose paper, cloth, or metal.;Each material has a different use. You usually see metal filters in coffee shops or in the;beloved French press, but people don’t commonly use metal filters for pour over coffee brewing.
Professional baristas usually have strong opinions about which coffee filters are “the best,” but for an at-home coffee pour over, either paper or cloth filters will do the trick.
Best Complete Set: Hario Pour Over Starter Set With Dripper
For the most bang for your buck, you can get Hario’s famous coffee dripper along with a set of filters, a glass carafe, and a coffee scoop. Of course you’ll still need to invest in a good grinder, a scale, and some sort of kettle, but this set is a good first step towards making pour-over coffee at home.;
“This inexpensive little device will make better coffee for you, even including the cost of a gooseneck kettle, than a drip coffee maker costing three to five times as much,” says one 5-star reviewer.
To buy: $28;
Recommended Reading: Will Coffee Help Me Lose Weight
Pour The Water Into The Filter Gradually
Once the water is in full bloom, pour the hot water in slow, circular motions until you’ve filled the filter to the top. The water will begin to make its way through the coffee grounds, picking up all its flavors, then drip into the coffee kettle.
Avoid pouring the water too fast, or it will disrupt the coffee grounds and move too quickly through them, preventing the full flavor from developing.
Continue to fill the coffee filter until you run out of water.
Some Pour Over Coffee Theory And Science
In steps 1 and 2, we recommend a temperature of 205°F and a 7/16 grind setting which coincides with our preferred settings for a medium roast coffee. For a lighter roast coffee you may want to keep these settings, but for a darker roast coffee you may want to grind one or two steps coarser and brew a few degrees cooler . This will help prevent over-extraction of more bitter components that come out in darker roasts.
In step 8, we bloom the coffee for about 30 seconds in order to release trapped carbon dioxide gases that build up during roasting. Blooming also allows for the hot water to come in contact with the surface of every grain and get the extractable compounds ready to go.
In step 11, we mention pouring in a spiral motion while avoiding the sides of the filter. This is done to help provide an even extraction across all the coffee grounds and to minimize any potential water channeling along the outsides of the filter. The ceramic dripper itself also incorporates ridges on the interior walls to help minimize this , but it is still good practice to avoid pouring directly on the edges all the same.
In step 12, we recommend pouring slowly, continuously, and attempting to maintain a set liquid level during the brew. There are many theories as to the best practice here, but maintaining a constant liquid level is a good place to start.
How do you prepare your pour over coffee at home? Comment below to share any tips you have picked up along the way!
Read Also: Does Beer Have Caffeine
Why Do I Need To Rinse The Paper Filter
If youre one of the above-mentioned coffee drinkers who find coffee brewed with a metal filter or in a French press is just too intense, youll want to use a paper filter. It holds back more of those flavorful oils, which creates a smoother taste and a milder finish. Rinsing paper filters prevents them from sucking up too many of those tasty components, though, and it helps the coffee to filter evenly throughout the brew, so youll see this step noted in almost every pour over coffee recipe.
Coffee Blooming Why Wait
Blooming allows coffee grounds to release their flavorful, water-soluble compounds without having to immerse them in a long brewing process that runs the risk of overextraction. Essentially, youre waking the coffee up before putting it to work through a brew cycle. Even if your favorite pour over coffee coffee recipe doesnt come with a note on blooming your coffee, take a little extra time to do it anyway.
Also Check: Is Decaf Coffee Bad For Ibs
Hario V60 Ceramic Pour Over Coffee Maker
Hario V60 Ceramic Pour-Over Coffee Makers are a hit or miss. You love them, or you dont. The reason is that the variables are hard to navigate, but once youve found your sweet spot, its a keeper. Its ideal for one to three small cups of coffee.
The ceramic body retains heat throughout the percolation process, and the interior spiral ribs keep the filter away from the sides, allowing the coffee grounds to expand and bloom fully. Floral and fruit flavors wont get lost in this pour-over coffee maker.
The cone shape and large, single hole in the bottom allow the coffee to drip straight into your coffee mug, avoiding the over-extraction typical of flat bottom devices. That said, the V60 requires special cone filters since its not flat-bottomed.
After: Rinse And Clean
Volatile oils give coffee its unique flavor, but the build-up of these oils can also make future cups of coffee taste awful as they turn rancid over time. Plain white distilled vinegar will help you get rid of any residue on your coffee-making accessories, so clean them regularly to keep your brews tasting as fresh as possible!
Read Also: How Many Calories In Starbucks Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino
How To Make Pour Over Coffee At Home
Watching the baristas at your local coffee shop is like watching an artist at work. From carefully grinding the aromatic coffee beans to the way they delicately pour your fresh cup of joe, it seems like only a chosen few have the chops to make the perfect cup of coffee including you.
If you’re like us, you love coffee. Right now, the pour over coffee brewing technique is making a comeback since its first appearance in the early 1900s. Everyday coffee enthusiasts and hipsters alike revel in the brewing technique’s rich taste, but few know how to make coffee without a coffeemaker following the pour over method.
Here, our coffee experts will let you in on the secrets of making the perfect pour over coffee from the comfort of your kitchen. Plus, we’ll provide answers to your frequently asked questions that will help you master the art of coffee brewing.
Can You Brew Pour Over Coffee With Cold Water
You cant brew pour-over coffee with cold water in a regular pour-over maker. The brew time is not long enough for the cold water to extract anything from the grounds. However, there are cold drip brewers designed for this, which slow the brew time sufficiently for full extraction. This brewing method takes around 4-6 hours .
References
Recommended Reading: Is There Caffeine In Snapple
What Do You Need To Make Pour Over Coffee
Pour over coffee is a brewing technique where hot water is simply poured over ground coffee. It is different from immersion-style coffee brewing methods like French press.
At a minimum, you need coffee paper filters and a funnel or cone to hold the paper in. Although a funnel can be used in a pinch, it may make the entire process more complicated.
Generally it is easiest to buy a coffee dripper or purchase a pour over coffee maker. Coffee drippers come in many different varieties but something like the Hario V60 Ceramic Coffee Dripper from Amazon will work great.;
Next is to get some appropriate coffee filters. Hario also makes a compatible paper coffee filter that comes in packs of 100.
Youll also need a vessel to hold the pour over coffee that the coffee dripper can sit on securely. These are generally referred to as coffee servers and you can pick up a standard 600ml coffee server from Amazon that is designed to take a coffee dripper.
An alternative is to have a pour over station or holder for the coffee dripper. This is more an option for coffee shops but you can use shelves to do several at once.
Given the necessity for pouring the hot water in the right area of the coffee, it is best to get a gooseneck electric kettle that will allow you to be more precise with the pour.
The temperature of the water will contribute to the full taste and so an electric kettle allows you to set the exact temperature you need, generally about 200F.
Grind The Coffee Beans
This will take some experimentation because the grind size will determine whether the coffee tastes great or too sour or bitter.
Generally, its recommended to go with a medium grind. As the pour over is time-based, if you find the taste too dry or sour, then all it takes is to adjust the grain size of the grind to adjust the taste.
Measure out 23 grams of coffee and then grind it.
Place your serving vessel on the scales and then put the coffee dripper on top. Place your ground up coffee in the filter and agitate a bit so that the coffee grounds are settled in the filter, and then zero the scales.;
Read Also: Does Diet Root Beer Have Caffeine
Best Pour Over Coffee Maker
Whether you like to sip and savor or need a java jolt, finding your favorite coffee maker is a part of the pour-over process. There is a variety of brewers available to suit every lifestyle and budget.
Ideal for the jet setter, theBlue Bottle Coffee Dripper brews the coffee directly into your mug. This pour-over coffee maker will not only maintain the flavor profile of your drink but also make clean up simple. On-the-go coffee drinkers will appreciate the ease of using this product with our temperature control; Ember Travel Mug² as well as the energizing boost from filter coffee.
If you prefer to share your coffee with company, theStagg Pour-Over Set from Fellow is a perfect match. Built with a double-wall glass carafe, this pour-over coffee maker will retain the brews temperature and flavor while youre drinking the first cup.
Paper Vs Cloth Filters
Paper coffee filters are great at keeping all the fine-sized pour over coffee grounds and excess oils out of your morning brew. Comparatively, cloth filters have less dense fibers that allow for more oils to drip through.;
The main difference between paper and cloth filters is the taste you’ll receive a higher flavor profile with cloth filters because more of the flavorful oils are present in your coffee.
But, if you opt for cloth filters, you’ll also subject yourself to some tricky maintenance. Cloth filters require thorough rinsing and careful storage, or the damp cloth will grow mildew and impart an unpleasant taste to your coffee over time. Meanwhile, if you go with paper filters, you can discard them after every use.
There’s no right or wrong choice, as both options deliver a delicious cup of coffee.
You May Like: How Does Dunkin Donuts Make Their Mocha Iced Coffee
Pour Over Coffee Chemex Coffee Maker
The Chemex pour over coffee;maker has gained a lot of attention.; This is a beautiful piece of art, and you will find one in the Museum of Modern Art Collection. The pour over Chemex makes a great cup of coffee and comes in coffee brew sizes for up to 10 cups! The Chemex is made of glass and is definitely less portable than the Hario and Kalita.; However, you will need a good understanding of coffee brewing to maximize the flavor;profile of the coffee with Chemex. It is recommended;that you use the Chemex coffee filter, as it is specially designed to brew the coffee for longer period of time, as well as filter out the oils that may create;a bitter taste.;