The Blue Bottle Pour Over

Pour over
The ritual of the pour over is like a meditation: There’s no machine in your way, no flashing green lights, no electric power cords. Just you and a few simple tools. If you’ve never tried a pour over before, the final cup is reminiscent of one from a drip coffee maker, but noticeably more delicate and complex.

Parameters

Ground coffee
22 g
Water temperature
93 °C
Grind size
Medium
Brew time
3 mins
Amount of water
350 mL

Equipment

V60-02 Dripper
02 compatible Hario filters
Carafe
Digital Scale
Kettle
Timer

Preparation

1

Bring at least 600 grams of water to a boil.

2

Grind coffee to a coarseness resembling sea salt. To enjoy the nuanced flavour of a single-origin coffee that is lightly roasted, 22 grams for every 350 grams water.

3

Place a filter in the dripper.

4

Add the ground coffee to the filter and gently tap it to level the surface of the grounds. Place the brewer on a carafe or cup, then place this entire set-up onto a digital scale, and set it to zero.

5

Start a timer. Begin pouring water slowly over the coffee, starting at the outer rim and moving in a steady spiral toward the centre of the grounds. Stop pouring when the scale reaches 60 grams. Make sure all the grounds are saturated, even if you need to add a little water. The pour should take about 15 seconds. Give the coffee an additional 30 seconds to drip before moving on to the second pour.

6

Starting in the centre of the grounds, pour in a steady spiral toward the outer edge and then back toward the centre. Be sure to pour all the way out to the edge over the ripples in the filter. This helps to keep the grounds from being trapped in there and removed from the rest of the extraction. Add roughly 90 grams, bringing the total to 150 grams. The goal during this pour is to sink all the grounds on the surface of the bed. This creates a gentle turbulence that “stirs” the coffee, allowing water to more evenly extract the grounds. Allow 45–65 seconds to elapse.

7

As the mixture of water and coffee from the second pour drops to the bottom of the filter, coming close to the level of the grounds, pour an additional 100 grams of water using the same pattern as the second pour. This brings the total up to 250 grams and should take 15–20 seconds.

8

When the water and coffee from the third pour drops to the bottom of the filter, complete your fourth and final pour. Add 100 grams, bringing the total up to 350 grams of water. This pour should take 20 seconds.