Pour Over, Step by Step

An ordered procedure with gram and second targets: rinse, bloom 30 to 45 seconds, staged pours, drawdown.

Pour over is a percolation method: water is poured over a bed of medium-ground coffee in a filter, and the brewed liquid drains into the vessel below. Dose the coffee by mass — about 60 grams per litre of water, within the 1:15 to 1:17 band — and heat the water to 90 to 96 degrees Celsius.

Step one: rinse the filter with hot water and discard the rinse. This wets the filter and preheats the vessel. Step two: add the dose and start the timer. Step three: bloom — pour about twice the coffee's mass in water over the bed and wait 30 to 45 seconds while the grounds swell.

Step four: pour in stages. Keep the bed flat and the water level controlled, adding water until the target mass is reached. The drawdown finishes the brew; note the total time, because contact time is one of the three variables you can change.

Step five: taste before changing anything. Under-extracted coffee tastes sour and thin; over-extracted coffee tastes bitter and drying. If the cup is sour, grind finer or extend the contact time; if it is bitter and drying, grind coarser or shorten the time. Change one variable at a time.

• Rinse the filter with hot water, discard the rinse.
• Dose: about 60 g of coffee per litre of water (1:15–1:17 by mass).
• Water temperature: 90 to 96 degrees Celsius.
• Bloom: about twice the coffee mass in water, 30 to 45 seconds.
• Pour in stages to the target water mass, keeping the bed flat.
• Drawdown: finish the brew, note the total contact time, then taste.

Further reading

• Ratios for Every Method
• Fix a Sour or Bitter Cup