Pour over is one of the simplest ways to taste what a specialty coffee is really like. It rewards a little care, and the recipe below is easy to repeat. Use it as a starting point and adjust to your taste.
What you need
- A pour over dripper and paper filters
- A burr grinder
- A kettle, ideally with a gooseneck spout
- A scale and a timer
- Freshly roasted whole bean coffee
A simple recipe
- Coffee: 20 g, ground medium-fine
- Water: 320 g (a 1:16 ratio) at 92 to 96 °C
- Time: roughly 2:30 to 3:30 in total
Step by step
- Rinse the paper filter with hot water and discard the water.
- Add the ground coffee and level the bed.
- Pour about 50 g of water to wet all the grounds. Wait 30 to 45 seconds. This is the bloom.
- Pour the rest of the water slowly in circles, in two or three pours, until you reach 320 g.
- Let it drain, swirl gently and taste.
Fixing the cup
- Sour or thin: grind finer or use hotter water.
- Bitter or harsh: grind coarser or let the water cool slightly.
- Flat: check that your coffee is fresh and grind just before brewing.
Change one thing at a time so you can taste what made the difference.
Which coffee for pour over
Light roasts extract best with hotter water, around 94 to 96 °C. Notr 004 Ethiopia Yirgacheffe is a light roast with blueberry, citrus and floral notes, and Notr 002 Kenya AA Plus is a medium roast with citrus, stone fruit and floral, tea-like notes. Both suit filter brewing.
To see how processing changes what you taste, read washed vs natural coffee. Explore the full Specialty Coffee Beans collection, roasted and packed in Toronto.