Pour-Over Brewing Guide

2 ½ - 3 minutes

Bring at least 20 ounces of fresh, filtered water to a boil.

Grind approximately 3 T of coffee coarsely so it resembles sea salt. For lighter roasts, try using a bit less coffee: approximately 1.5 – 2 T of coarsely ground coffee.

Place a fresh filter in your dripper.

Pour hot water over your empty filter and discard the water. This will warm your dripper and remove any paper taste.

Add your ground coffee to the filter, tap the edge to level out the surface, and place your pour-over brewer on a cup or carafe.

This will be the first of four pours, and the first is the most dramatic because the ground coffee will “rise” before you. Slowly (over 15-2 seconds) pour the first ¼ of your water over the grounds, starting at the outer edges and moving inward. Allow the coffee to drip for another 30 seconds before moving to your next pour.

This time, begin in the center and make your way to the outer edges. This pour should even out the surface of the grounds and allow the water to more evenly extract the flavor. Again, allow at least 30 seconds to pass after your pour. Repeat this two additional times, using all your water.

Enjoy an amazingly crafted cup of coffee!

The best ratio for pour-over coffee is 16:1. That is, 16 grams of water to every gram of coffee. For astronger brew, 15:1 will produce a more robust cup. To calculate how much coffee is needed, weigh the amount of water you wish to brew and divide by 16.

If your pour-over brew tastes weak, your coffee grind needs to be a little finer. The pour-over method allows the water to extract flavor from the grinds. If the grinds are too coarse, the water is unable to fully penetrate and bring the full flavor and oils to the brew cup.

Pour-over coffee works with any roast type. This brewing method is great at highlighting the flavor of the roast in the final brew, so any of your favorite roasts will work well. To get the most flavor out of your coffee, be sure to use freshly ground coffee.

One beautiful feature of pour-over coffee is
that you control the brew time. You can adjust the brew time and liquid level
by slowing down or speeding up the pour as needed. The standard total brew time
is usually 3-4 minutes.

If your pour-over coffee tastes too bitter, you may need to adjust your grounds to be coarser. A medium-coarse grind allows for the best extraction of flavor. If the grinds are too fine, they produce over-extracted, bitter coffee. If the grinds are too coarse, the result is
under-extracted, sour coffee.

Pour-over coffee results in a cleaner brew. It contains less cafestol, a cholesterol-raising
agent that occurs in traditionally brewed coffee. Pour-over brewing also has less acidic components, which makes it a little weaker than regular brewed coffee.