Pour over

There are many variants of the pour over brewing method that vary depending on the specific type of brewer you use. All share a similar process that requires a little bit of time and patience to brew your coffee. But you are rewarded with an incredibly clean, rich, and flavorful cup of coffee that many find difficult to pass up once they discover it.

This method generally consists of a brewer that holds a filter and ground coffee in place over a jug, and hot water is poured over the top to brew the coffee - hence the name. Gravity is your friend here, and unlike other methods of brewing, no added pressure is used to extract flavour from the ground coffee.

What you'll need:

Pour over coffee brewer - we like to use Kinto 2-cup brewers
Pour over filter papers
Kettle
Scales
Timer
Dosing cup (any small cup will do)
Jug to brew into
Coffee (roasted for filter)

Recipe

Our standard pour over recipe is a great starting point for a clean, flavourful, filter-style brew.

Ground coffee amount: 20g
Grind size: medium
Brew time: 3:00 approx.
Brewed coffee amount: 300g
Brew ratio: 1:15
Water temperature: 94°C

This recipe is for a typical 2-cup brewer. If your brewer is larger, adjust accordingly using the brew ratio as a guide.

Instructions

1. Prepare

Place a paper filter in the brewer. Press down any creases so the filter fits well in the brewer.
Place the brewer on top of the jug you intend to brew into.
Preheat both by pouring some hot water into the brewer. Discard the hot water from jug. Rinse and place the brewer back on top of the jug.

2. Grind

Set your grinder to a medium grind setting suited to a filter brew.
Place a dosing cup on the scale and tare the scale to zero.
Grind coffee for a few seconds into your dosing cup, then check the weight of the ground coffee on the scale.
Keep grinding small amounts of coffee until you reach your target weight. Remove coffee if you go over.

3. Bloom

Boil water to the target temperature you require for brewing.
Pour the ground coffee into the brewer. Level the coffee by gently shaking the brewer.
Place the jug with the brewer atop, onto the scale and tare the scale to zero.
Start the timer ⏱️
Gently and slowly pour 50g of water into the brewer using a circular motion to ensure all the ground coffee is saturated.
Wait.

3. Add water

At the 0:30 mark, gently and slowly pour water using a spiral circular motion, until weight reaches 120g in total.
Ensure your coffee is evenly saturated. Use the slow circular motion to distribute any clumped ground coffee and ensure all the ground coffee in mixed with water.
Wait until the water in the brewer has almost run dry.

4. Add more water

Gently and slowly pour more water using a spiral circular motion, until weight reaches 190g in total.
Again, ensuring all the ground coffee is evenly saturated.
And wait.
When the water has almost run dry, add more water until weight reaches 260g in total.
And wait. 😊
Finally, add more water until you reach 300g in total weight of brewed coffee.

5. Remove brewer

When the water has almost run dry, remove the brewer and set aside. Don't let the water run completely dry.
Whole process should take approximately 3:00 but it doesn't have to be exact.

6. Swirl and serve

Give the brewed coffee a few good swirls and let it sit for a minute or so.
Pour into your favourite cup(s) and enjoy! ☕😊

Tips

Ensure the jug is big enough to hold the total volume of brewed coffee. Otherwise, you'll have a great big mess on your hands. 😟
Take your time, pour slowly and deliberately. Wait until the water has almost run dry before adding more water. Don't rush - this is not the brewing method for those in a hurry!!
Use the overall brewing time as guide to determine if your coffee was ground at the correct setting. Too coarse and the water will pass through the coffee too quickly, too fine and the water will sit in the filter for too long. Adjust accordingly.