V60 Pour-Over Recipe

Before you start

The V60 is a cone-shaped dripper with a single large hole and spiral ridges, so the water flows through quickly. That means the pour itself controls much of the brew. Slow, steady pours keep the bed of coffee evenly saturated, while a fast, splashy pour digs channels and gives an uneven cup. Done well, a V60 produces a clean, bright, tea-like coffee that shows off light and medium roasts.

This recipe uses 15 g of coffee and 250 g of water, a 1:16.7 ratio, with a bloom and two main pours. Aim to finish draining between about 2:45 and 3:30. Treat the total time as a grind gauge: if it drains much faster, grind finer; if it stalls, grind coarser. A gooseneck kettle and a scale make the schedule repeatable.

Ingredients

• 15 g (about 2½ tbsp) whole coffee beans — light or medium roast
• 250 g (250 ml) water — at 92 to 96°C (198 to 205°F), plus extra for rinsing

Method

1. Heat the water to 92 to 96°C (198 to 205°F). Use the hotter end for light roasts and the cooler end for darker ones.
2. Fold the filter along its seam, set it in the V60 over your mug or carafe, and rinse it thoroughly with hot water. This removes paper taste and warms the brewer. Discard the rinse water.
3. Grind 15 g of coffee medium-fine, a little finer than table salt. Add it to the filter and shake gently to level the bed. Tare the scale.
4. Bloom: start the timer and pour 40 g of water in a slow spiral, wetting all the grounds. Swirl the dripper gently and wait until 0:40. Fresh coffee will bubble and rise as it releases gas.
5. First main pour: from 0:40 to about 1:10, pour in slow circles from the center outward and back, avoiding the paper, until the scale reads 150 g.
6. Second main pour: at about 1:30, when the level has dropped a little, pour again in slow circles until the scale reads 250 g.
7. Give the dripper a gentle swirl to flatten the bed. Let it drain completely; it should finish between 2:45 and 3:30, leaving a flat bed of grounds.
8. Remove the dripper, swirl the coffee to mix, and let it cool for a minute or two before drinking. Flavors open up as it cools slightly.

Tips for success

• Keep the pour thin and steady, about the width of a pencil. A gooseneck kettle makes that easy; a regular kettle tends to gush.
• Avoid pouring directly onto the paper walls. Water that runs down the paper skips the coffee and thins the cup.
• Change only the grind when the timing is off. Altering the pour schedule and grind together makes it hard to tell what helped.

Substitutions

Ratio

For a fuller cup use 16 g with the same water, about 1:15.6. For two cups, double everything in a 02 dripper and expect a longer drain of up to 4 minutes.

Light roast

Medium-dark coffees work but can taste bitter at high temperatures. Drop the water to about 90°C (194°F) and grind a touch coarser.

Gooseneck kettle

Pour from a measuring cup with a spout, in small amounts. It is less precise but far better than a full kettle.

Variations

Iced V60

Put 100 g of ice in the carafe and brew 15 g of coffee with 150 g of hot water, grinding slightly finer. The coffee chills instantly as it drips onto the ice.

Five-pour method

After the bloom, add five pours of 42 g every 30 seconds for a sweeter, more even extraction on slow-draining coffees.

Troubleshooting

The brew drains in under 2:15 and tastes weak and sour

The grind is too coarse. Go one or two steps finer and keep the same pours.

It stalls past 4 minutes and tastes bitter

The grind is too fine, or fines are clogging the paper. Grind coarser and pour more gently so the bed is not churned.

The grounds dry in a ring high on the paper

Pouring too hard on one side or near the edges. Pour in the middle and swirl the dripper after the last pour.

Storage

Pour-over coffee tastes best within 20 to 30 minutes. Do not keep it on a hot plate; transfer to a thermal flask if needed. Keep beans sealed, away from heat and light.