Slow Pour brew guide
How to brew V60 coffee
Use 15 g of coffee ground medium-fine and 250 g of water at 94°C (1:16.7). Bloom with 45 g, pour to 150 g and then 250 g in slow spirals, and let it drain by about 3:00.
What you need
- A cone dripper (V60 or similar) and a paper filter to fit it
- A jug or mug to brew into
- A kettle, ideally with a gooseneck spout so you can pour slowly
- A scale that reads to the gram, and a timer
- A burr grinder, or coffee ground for filter
The recipe
A cone with one big hole lets the water run through quickly, so the way you pour controls how long it brews. These numbers make one mug.
- Coffee: 15 g
- Water: 250 g
- Ratio: 1:16.7
- Grind: medium-fine (about 400 to 600 microns, like table salt)
- Water temperature: 94°C (201°F)
- Total time: about 3:00
- Makes: about 220 ml
Step by step
Zero the scale with the coffee in, then follow along. The times are from your first pour.
- Heat the water to 94°C (just off the boil, about 30 seconds after it clicks off)
- Fold the filter along its seam, put it in the cone and rinse it with hot water. Pour the rinse water away
- Grind 15 g of coffee, medium-fine
- Put the coffee in, shake it level and zero the scale
- 0:00 Bloom. Pour to 45 grams. Just enough to wet all the grounds. Watch them puff up and bubble: that’s gas escaping, so the next water can get in.
- 0:40 Swirl gently. A gentle swirl wets any dry clumps.
- 0:45 Pour to 150 grams. Slow spirals from the middle out and back, keeping off the paper.
- 1:15 Pour to 250 grams. Same slow spirals. Keep the water level steady.
- 1:45 Swirl gently. One gentle swirl flattens the bed so it drains evenly.
- 1:50 Let it drain. It should finish round three minutes. Much later: grind coarser next time. Much sooner: finer.
- 3:00 Done. Lift off the cone and enjoy. The bed should be flat. A crater or grounds up the paper means a rough pour.
Pouring well
Pour slowly from low down, in small spirals from the middle outwards and back, and keep the stream off the paper: water that runs down the paper skips the coffee. A gentle swirl after the bloom and after the last pour levels the bed so the water drains evenly. At the end you want a flat bed of grounds, not a crater or grounds stuck high up the paper.
If it doesn’t taste right
Sour or thin means the water didn’t take enough from the coffee: grind a step finer next time. Bitter or harsh means it took too much: grind a step coarser. Weak means you need a little more coffee for the same water; too strong, a little more water. Change one thing at a time so you learn what each one does.
Questions
What ratio is best for V60?
This recipe uses 1:16.7 (15 g to 250 g). Most people like somewhere between 1:15 and 1:17.
How long should a V60 take?
About two and a half to three and a half minutes from the first pour. Much slower means the grind is too fine; much faster, too coarse.
Why rinse the paper filter?
Rinsing washes out the papery taste and warms the cone and jug. Pour the rinse water away before you brew.