Why I love pour over coffee
We would never argue with someone as to their preferred method of brewing coffee. It is a personal preference: it would be like telling them what to wear. All I can say is that I love a pour-over.
There are many reasons for this. It’s the way my father always made coffee, so my very first cup was made this way. At first, I took it for granted as just the way to make coffee, convenient and simple. I’ve had coffee made in all sorts of ways since then, but for a purist like me, I want to taste every subtlety, and I believe that the pour-over shows all the facets of flavour in perfect balance.
What you'll need:
Water
Cup or Mug
Spoon or Stirrer
Coffee
First, we start with the coffee. As we mentioned, this method is brilliantly versatile and works for different types and roasts of coffee. For a pour over, we recommend grinding for filter, or medium-fine. This allows the water to pass through the coffee more easily when brewing.
For the best results, we always recommend grinding coffee just before you brew it. The fresh the grind, the better the taste.
How much you use is really down to your own preference. For guidance, we suggest between 14g - 20g of ground coffee for 250ml of water, depending on your personal taste. If you prefer a stronger brew, use more coffee more. Likewise, if you prefer a cup that is not a strong, use less coffee.
Water
The next important this is water temperature. The water should be heated to 95 degrees centigrade. If you don't have a kettle with temperature control, boil your kettle as normal to 100 degrees and then leave the water to stand for a few minutes and it will cool to the optimum temperature.
We use water at 95 degrees rather than boiling to avoid scorching or burning the coffee as we brew.
In terms of measurements, we use 250ml for a standard cup.
V60 Method
Start by lining your filter cone with a filter paper and place on top of your jug or cup.
Once the kettle has boiled, take your hot water and wet the filter paper. We do this to remove any papery flavours from the filter paper. It also allows us to heat up our jug or cup. Once the water has run through the filter, empty it from your cup or jug and then put the cone back over the cup.
Next weigh your coffee. We use a digital scale for this for precision. Add your coffee to the cone and make sure that the grounds are level in the cone.
Lightly wet the coffee grounds so that they swell and open up or "bloom", degassing the coffee releasing any built up carbon dioxide. Wait 30 seconds and then being pouring the water over the coffee ground.
Whenever making V60, it is important to pour the water in a pulsing motion. We create this by rotating the jug and pouring in a circular motion, finishing the pour in the middle of the cone.
Pulse pouring is the best way to reduce acidity in the coffee. It gives the brew a fuller body and better balance of flavour.
It should take around 2 minutes for the water to filter through the grounds. If this process is too long, the coffee can become over extracted.
And that's it, ready to serve and enjoy!
