How to Make the Perfect Cup of Pour-Over Coffee

Pour-over is a method of coffeemaking where hot water is poured over ground coffee. It allows the grounds to brew before the water drips through a filter into a cup or carafe. 

The pour-over process was created by German inventor and entrepreneur Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz in the early 20th century. Bentz sought to brew a less bitter and overly extracted cup of coffee than what percolators produced at the time. She fashioned a two-part filtration system from a brass pot, poked it with holes, and fitted it with paper. She launched the Melitta company in 1908, and her innovation remains the precursor to all modern pour-over and drip coffee brewing.

The third-wave coffee movement, which began in the late 1970s, has been influenced by Japan’s kissaten. These Japanese cafés use hand-dripped coffee techniques with a focus on quality and craftsmanship.

Why take more time when there are faster options?

The pour-over method is a sensory experience, from the hum of coffee beans as they grind, to the water as it boils to the rich aromas as the coffee brews.

Why not just power up one of the countless one-touch coffee machines? 

“We really can use less machines,” says James Freeman, founder of Blue Bottle Coffee. “Maybe brewing coffee should be a bit more expensive and difficult.” 

Freeman is known for opening cafés inspired by Japanese coffee culture focused on the pour-over method. His Blue Bottle Studio experiences offer an eight-course tasting menu created without electric machinery. To make a truly exceptional pour-over, he says, it takes practice. “If you want to break a board, you have to spend time at the dojo.”

Mokhtar Alkhanshali, founder and CEO of Port of Mokha, approaches coffee from an almost spiritual perspective. “I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with pods, instant coffee, or any of the other faster coffee brewing methods,” he says. “But for me, making coffee is the kind of necessary purgatory between the small death of sleep and the rebirth of ‘life after coffee.’ With each spiraling pour of hot water, I start thinking of my day ahead, where I’ve been, where I'm going, and where I'd like to be.” 

“I’d rather spend that necessary transitional phase with something methodical, contemplative, and peaceful,” says Alkhanshali. “An activity which, in and of itself, encourages this sort of reflection. I find incredible reward in those moments. And the resulting brew, for me at least, is, well, heaven.” 

Barista Christian Bak, winner of The April Brewers Cup Hong Kong, prefers the pour-over method, which allows for control of the extraction process. 

“Pour-overs bridge the gap between home brewers and professionals as one of the most accessible points for consumers to make coffee at home,” he says. “Although the equipment can be a rabbit hole in both money and time, to get started, the price point is quite accessible.”

How to make the best pour-over coffee at home

Buy good coffee beans

When you make pour-over coffee at home, the choices are limitless. Support your local coffee roaster and café, or you can find quality beans online from global sources. A coffee subscription can allow you to tour the world. Buy the beans and keep them fresh in a vacuum-seal container.

Invest in a quality grinder

Grind size is key. “When you are able to adjust grind size to have control and clarity, you start tasting terroir notes and fruited qualities,” says Bak. 

Buy the best electric or hand grinder that fits your budget. 

For hand grinders, Bak recommends two options from 1Zpresso. “The K-Ultra creates very juicy cups while still having good clarity,” he says. “The most versatile hand grinder I have ever encountered. Their Zp6 creates high clarity and flavor separation, [and] lower in texture. It is a popular grinder for brewer cup competitions internationally.”

Measure precisely

Invest in a scale. You can eyeball it, or measure how much coffee to grind by spoon. But precision is often key in pour-overs.

Coffee is mostly water. Investigate filters

Depending on where you live, your tap water may be hard, soft, minerally, or varying in quality. Coffee is 98% water, so to know your water is crucial to control the result. 

In some places, a water filter is needed to remove chlorine, mercury, zinc, cadmium, copper, and other unwanted tastes or odors. 

In Los Angeles, hard water is a challenge for Blue Bottle Venice manager Selina Viguera, She recommends buying distilled water and adding a coffee product like Third Wave Water. 

“Distilled water remineralized with half-dosage [of] Third Wave Water works very well with almost all coffees and sets the [parts per million] to 75,” says Bak.

Heat the water to a precise temperature

Pour-over recipes range from water heated to between 195-205°F. An electric kettle with a temperature gauge can help you reach a specific water temperature. For a model without a gauge, or for a stove top, bring the water to a boil, then wait about 30 seconds to let it come down to an optimal coffee temperature.

Use the proper pour-over tools

A classic pour-over tool is the one-piece Chemex. It looks great, and you can spot it on TV shows from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Mad Men to Friends. The V60, a cone shape from Japan, is available in many iterations, and in Hario’s pour-over brew kits. 

There is a growing group of coffee pros who prefer flat-bottom brewers (versus conical-shaped coffee drippers). Blue Bottle has its own flat-bottom design with bamboo paper filters. Coffee can be brewed in the folded design of Origami drippers, in either porcelain or resin, with Blue Bottle’s own wave filter or a V60 filter. 

“The April flat bottom is my personal preference,” says Bak. “It makes it easier to learn how the variables work in brewing and teaches you the basics really well. For accessibility, the V60 Switch is the most common brewer. [It] allows for a lot of forgiveness, [and] can run basic pour structures, but can manipulate contact time.”

Pour-over brew steps

• Weigh beans on a scale. Approximately 20 grams is a good amount for one cup of coffee. 
• Choose your desired grind. This can be adjusted to taste, from coarse to fine. 
• Choose your coffee-to-water ratio. A popular ratio is 1 part coffee to 15 parts water (1:15). So 20 grams of ground coffee would need 300 grams of water. 
• Pour hot water through an empty filter into your cup or carafe. Discard the water.
• Add the coffee grounds to the filter, and shake gently to even the bed of grounds. 
• Create a small well in the middle of the grounds. 
• “Bloom” the coffee with water that weighs twice the amount of the coffee grounds. This step releases gasses from the coffee grounds to prepare for the rest of the brewing process. 
• Bloom for 30-45 seconds. Continue to pour, taking breaks every 100 grams of water or so. Swirl the water and coffee gently until you reach your desired ratio. Ideally, the bed of wet coffee at the end is flat.