How to Make: Pour Over Coffee
Pour over coffee might sound scary at first, but with a little bit of practice, the results can be amazing. If you’re tired of just drinking coffee out of your home machine, or want to switch up your flavors, pour over coffee may be your saving grace. You are in control of water temperature, brew time, and any medium grind coffee, which makes the options endless.
Pour over is a term for hand-drip coffee. It is an original technique where water is “poured over” ground coffee to create a stronger, richer flavor of coffee that you might miss when using a standard coffee maker. Our recipe is a starting point for all the different ways you can use and mix up your mornings with pour over coffee. While the paper filters used with pour overs help keep the notes simple and let the undertone of the coffee shine.
Items you’ll need:
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Pour over brewer
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Paper filter
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Gooseneck kettle/ any kettle you can slowly pour water from
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Scale (optional)
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Mug or carafe to hold your coffee
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Filtered water
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Ground coffee beans- about 4 tbsp
Step 1: Rinse & Preheat
Add a paper filter to the pour over brewer then place that on top of your favorite mug or jar. Make sure to rinse the filter with hot water to get rid of any paper flavors or particles; this also helps to pre-heat the brewer and your serving item. Make sure you discard this water after rinsing before proceeding to the next step.
Step 2: Grind & Add Grounds
If you are grinding your own fresh coffee beans, make sure that the grinder is on the medium setting. However, since you are in control, feel free to grind your coffee with different settings to switch up the flavor for future brews. We recommend using the Guatemala or the Burundi from our shop!
If you’re using a scale, first set your mug on top of it and add the ground coffee to the filter. Next, shake your brewer to level out of the coffee grounds; this ensures an even extraction so that every note in the coffee is enhanced and gives you delicious coffee.
Step 3: Enhancing Flavor
To bloom your coffee grounds, follow these steps:
-Start out by zeroing out your scale.
-Start a timer and slowly start to pour in your filtered water (filtered water is vital for creating better body and flavor in your coffee). You want to make sure your water is around 200 degrees Fahrenheit and equals double the weight of the coffee when pouring it in.
-Take care to cover all the grounds with the water, ensuring that they are entirely immersed after your initial pour. The bubbles you’ll see are the carbon dioxide leaving the coffee grounds. This is called the blooming.
-Wait about 45 seconds.
Step 4: Pour
Grab your hot water and start pouring it in slow, circular motions on the grounds. Pour half your water, then let the water level drop before refilling again. This is the part that takes the most practice, you don’t want all of your water to drip into the container too fast or too slow. Make sure to avoid overflow if the water level is rising to the top of the brewer while pouring.
Step 5: Drip
As your water drips through the filter, make sure to keep a watchful eye on it. Once you see the grounds reappear, remove the brewer from the mug and set it to the side. By now, your timer should read between 2:30-3:30 minutes. If the water is taking more time than this to drip completely through, try to grind your beans a little coarser next time or pour the water in a little faster. On the opposite of that, if it’s going too quickly, pour slower.
Step 6: Enjoy
Let your coffee cool slightly and serve it in your favorite mug! To clean up your brewer, throw away the paper filter and rinse the brewer with any remaining hot water left in the kettle.
