It’s been some time that I haven’t posted some coffee content in here. I know, my first few posts may have been a little boring. But they are necessary to understand why I advocate so much to brew amazing coffee.
Today I wanted to cover how to brew a pour over. It is largely one of the most common brewing practices at home, and personally it is one of the best ones.
I love it because it is almost a ritual. The method gives you time to well, firstly wake up slightly ( and understand what’s happening) but also to assess the coffee you are brewing through it’s aromas.
It is, also, very important, to follow the steps below. Making a good cup of coffee is like baking a cake, or cooking a new complicated dish. If you don’t follow the recipe given, it will mostly end up in a bad result.
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V60s or Pour Overs
Materials
- Filtered Water
- A kettle, preferably with temperature control
- A V60 or Pour Over Brewer
- Filters, that fits the size of the brewer
- A Decanter
- 21g of freshly ground coffee, Ground like kosher salt.
- A good quality scale, possibly that weights to the 0.1
- A timer, if your scale doesn’t offer the option.
Instructions
- If you haven’t ground your coffee, grind it now and place it on the side.
- Put the filtered water in the kettle, and heat the water up to roughly 92C. (1)
- Place a paper filter in the V60, with the decanter underneath, and once the water is ready ensure the filter is well wet all throughout. The paper should adhere on the side of the brewer, with no air bubbles of sides that have not fallen in.
- Empy the water in the decanter, and place it again with the brewer on top of your scale.
Weigh the coffee in, to max .1 of a gram and get ready to brew!
First, we will do what we call the bloom. (2)
Start the timer. In a motion, which i love to call “the pain au raisin”, pour 100ml/g of water in, ensuring all coffee ground are wet. (3)
With both your hands, hold the brewer and give it a slight spin so that all the coffee at the bottom is wet.
When the time hits 30 seconds, pour another 100g/ml of water, in the same motion. This time however, we will live it to do it’s thing.
Once the clock hits a minute, add another 100ml, in the same motion. Again, no spinning required.
At 1:30, add the last 100ml/g of water, in the same motion and give it a last gentle spin.
Lift the brewer slightly, and give it a gentle tap on the decanter. (4)
Leave to fully drip, it should stop at around 4-6 minute. (5)
Dispose of the coffee grounds, or feed them to your succulas - they love it!- and give a gentle spin to the decanter. (6)
Serve while still hot!
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With the girls we initially decided to make it into a little video as well, however we underestimated the length of editing videos compare to photographs, so you will have to wait a tiny little longer for that!
Annotations and explanations…
Before you brew, read these annotations and explanations. They are quite geeky, I know.But it will make sense of the brewing process.
- Paper Filters: the filters I recommend are the pack of 100, Hario, bleached filters. If you are a coffee professional, you have probably heard many of us debating on this discussion. Personally, I have done actual research on this, and I can tell you these are the best option you have. Yes, they are not really eco friendly and are a one time use. But these filters are the ones that will not affect the taste of the final brew. You want to be able to taste the coffee, not the fibres in your reusable filter. Also, you may notice I chose the pack of 100, instead of the pack of 40. There are mainly 2 reasons:
- Price: I mean, you get more than double for less money.
- Production: the pack of 100 is produced in Japan, where the quality of the water used to weave the filters are way better than the pack of 40, which are produced in the Netherlands. This mean the filter won’t release any unwanted minerals that could alter your brew.
- Water Temperature: as I said, the ideal water temperature is 92C. Without getting too geeky on this, this is because this is the optimal temperature for water to grab all the nice compounds that make our coffee taste so nice. If you were to use boiling water, so straight out from the kettle, it would also grab very bitter compounds, and make your coffee taste over extracted. In the chance of not having a temperature control kettle, just boil the water and leave it to sit for a couple of minutes. That will do the trick!
- the Bloom: the first part of your brewing process is called the bloom. This is because, just like a flower in spring, it’s when the coffee starts to open and release all those aromas and compounds that make our coffee so tasty. If you notice, it bubbles during this stage for this reason!
- Spinning your brew: this is essential for pour over and there is a great reason why. Wait, you are asking why don’t we use a spoon? Well, Scott Rao, The coffee guy has teamed up with an astrophysicist to explain why. Yes, you read that right. Go ahead and click here to read about it.
- Tapping at the end: well similarly to the spin, tapping gently at the end will help with water distribution and ensuring your bed is nice and flat. Why at the end? Well, that’s when most bitter compounds come out, and you don’t want to much of it.
- Grind Size: again, I could be here forever talking about this. When grinding for pour overs, you want an almost coarse size for your ground coffee. Sort of like salt flakes. If your brew tastes very acidic at the end, just fine your grind a little to balance it out. Simultaneously, if it tastes to bitter, coarsen it up a little. Don’t go too far out with changing your grind size, it could be trouble and frustrating!
If you have any questions on the above, please don’t hesitate to contact me below. I am still a qualified “coffee teacher” – as my dad calls me- after all.
I would be very happy to help.
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Very interesting blog post, Federica! I need to get my morning coffee before I start work every day, but I drink coffee made with my espresso machine. If pour-over coffee is the same as drip coffee (they are, right, I’m not sure oops), I have tried it before, and I love how the different notes are more distinct with drip coffee! I do not have the equipment to make coffee this way at home, but perhaps one day I will invest in some. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hey Ming, yes they are the same as Drip! Just in England we love giving things fancy names ahah
I recommend it to invest in this! It’s super easy and you can impress your friends when we can have dinners again!
Wow, that’s quite a ritual – I hadn’t heard of a bloom before but that makes total sense. I had no idea what was involved in a pour over, but it’s a ritual well worth taking time over for that perfect cup of coffee!
Indeed Lisa! Thank you so much for reading! X
I’m a coffee lover so this one is definitely for me! I hope I could buy my own coffee maker this year. This is absolutely interesting to try at home. Thank you for sharing x
No worries, thank you! X
I’ve never tried this before but it sounds interesting. I’m more of a tea fan personally.
Thank you for reading it! X
I’ve never made coffee this way before, we have had a percolator style and now have a cafetiere/coffee press. This way looks perfect for when you are just making one cup! Will have to have a look into it.
Thanks for sharing!
Aimsy xoxo
https://www.aimsysantics.co.uk
No worries! Ah the old percolator! We used to have one too, but now pretty much only have coffee this way. Xx
The only coffee I will drink is “proper” coffee. I can’t stand instant. I have used filters like these before but I am pretty sure I did it wrong hahaha. My favourite method is a cafetiere.
Helen
Tea in the Tub
Oh yeah, only “proper” coffee down here! Xx
I got a V60 last year and I’ve been trying to find some easy to follow instructions (without extra equipment!) to follow so thank you!
Becky | Uptown Oracle | The Blogger Group
Thank you Becky, I am glad I could help! Xx
I love this! We rely heavily on pour-over coffee when we’re camping. It’s a great way to brew a refreshing cup without worrying about the fact that we tent camp in the wilderness without the perks of things like electricity. Plus, it’s pretty small, so it’s easy to pack up and bring along!
So glad you love it! I normally take my metal one with me everywhere too, but I had to leave it to my mum last time cos she loved it so much! Xx
This might reflect badly on me but… I had no idea that coffee could be prepared like this! Very interesting post, thank you for sharing. ?
Not at all Hayley! That’s what I am here for! Xx
I can’t stand the taste of coffee but my boyfriend is a big fan so I’ll be sure to try this with him!
Tash – A Girl with a View
Have a taste to this too Natasha! It may be that you don’t like coffee cos most chains have a tendency of looking at quantity over quality, so you may see a great difference in this. I am looking forward to heat how you get on!x
I’m really not a coffee person, but my boyfriend is, and I’ve always wanted to know how to make this for him! Thanks for sharing!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
No worries Katie! Glad I could help!x
Your post reminded me of my friend who used to filter her coffee. You are right, temperature of the water matters a lot. Thanks for describing the process in such a detail .
Thank you Sara! X
Wow, this is super interesting. I’ve only ever used a french press, brew machine and espresso machine. I’ve never done a pour over. I’d love to try this way too! Thanks for sharing x
http://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Thank you Lynn! We are planning to do more on those you mentioned too, so keep an eye on here 🙂
I love how you describe this little procedure as a ‘ritual’. It is important to be mindful in the ways we prepare what we love to eat and drink and your minute instructions are perfect to encourage conscious thought into the process. 🙂
Thank you Jaya, so sweet! I seriously find it a ritual. Plus then I get to drink tasty coffee.xx
Mmmm I loveee coffee! I think my parents have all the things needed to make this so I’ll give it a go in the morning – don’t think I’ve ever drunk as much coffee as I have done in this lockdown! x
Uhhm amazing! Let us know how you get on with it!xx
Thank you so much for sharing your ritual.
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Ooh I absolutely love coffee glad I now have another technique for making it! Thanks for sharing
No worries, thank you Tom!x
Great post! I’m not a coffee drinker but I’ve always wanted to learn more about making it and the different ways to do so – to offer coffee to other people if that makes sense xx
Thank you Della! Careful, you may start drinking it too ?