How to Make Pour Over Coffee at Home

So you've decided you want a better cup of coffee at home. YAY! And since you're here at Zelie Beans Coffee, I'll assume you already know that it all starts with freshly roasted beans — preferably ethically sourced and expertly roasted.

So what comes next?

What you'll need

•      A pour over dripper — the cone that holds your coffee

•      A filter — paper is my preference, but reusable cloth or metal filters work too

•      A coffee scale — one that measures in grams

•      A mug or serving beaker — whatever the dripper sits on top of

•      A gooseneck kettle — the long, curved spout gives you control over where the water goes

•      A burr grinder — a good one is worth it, because freshly ground coffee makes a bigger difference than almost anything else on this list

Got everything? Awesome. Missing a few pieces? Head over here to order what you need.

 

Alright, let's get started.

Step One: Heat your water

Your target temperature depends on the roast level and the varieties in your coffee — anywhere from the 180s to the low 200s Fahrenheit. Lighter roasts generally like it hotter; darker roasts like it a little cooler.

To keep things simple your first time, aim for 194°F. If your kettle doesn't have a temperature setting, bring the water to a boil, then let it sit for about 45 seconds to a minute before you pour.

Step Two: Weigh your coffee

I like to start with a 1:16 ratio — 1 gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water.

The easy way to do the math: take the amount of water you want and divide it by 16. For a 6 oz cup, that's about 180 grams of water, so 180 ÷ 16 = 11.25 grams of coffee. Round it to 11 grams and you're fine.

(Working the other direction? Multiply your coffee by 16. Ten grams of coffee wants 160 grams of water.)

One heads-up: the grounds soak up roughly two grams of water for every gram of coffee, so 180 grams of water actually lands closer to 5 ounces in your mug. If you want a full 6 ounces to drink, brew with about 200 grams of water and 12.5 grams of coffee.

Step Three: Grind your coffee

Grind size depends on the roast level, the density of the bean, the variety, the dripper you're using, and even the filter. Grind too fine and the water moves too slowly, and your coffee turns bitter. Grind too coarse and the water rushes through, leaving you with something thin and sour.

For your first time, go for a medium to medium-fine grind — beach sand is a good visual gauge. See the image below.

Step Four: Put the filter in the dripper

Set the filter in the cone, then rinse it with hot water and dump that water out. This washes away any papery taste and warms up your dripper and mug at the same time. (Though if you are using the Cafec branded filters, you will not need to do this.)

Step Five: Add the coffee

Pour your ground coffee into the filter and give the dripper a gentle shake so the grounds settle into a flat, even bed. Set the whole thing on your scale and zero it out.

Step Six: The pour

This is the part that takes practice. There are hundreds — probably thousands — of opinions and methods out there. Here's the one I find easiest to learn: the osmosis method.

First, the bloom. Pour just enough water to wet all the grounds — about twice the weight of your coffee, so roughly 25 grams for our 11-gram dose. The bed will puff up and swell, which is why it's called the bloom. That's carbon dioxide escaping from the coffee, left over from roasting. Let it sit for 30 to 45 seconds. Getting that gas out now means the water can actually reach the coffee during the rest of the brew.

Then, the steady pour. Pour slowly to fill the cone, then match your pouring speed to the speed of the coffee draining out the bottom. Water in equals water out, and the level in the cone stays roughly steady. Keep going until your scale reads your target — 200 grams for our example.

That's the whole idea: a slow, even pour that keeps the grounds evenly saturated the entire time. Start to finish, the brew should take somewhere around two and a half to three and a half minutes. Much faster and your grind is too coarse; much slower and it's too fine. Adjust on your next cup.

Step Seven: Enjoy your coffee

You earned it.

I hope this was helpful! If you try it and something doesn't come out the way you expected, let us know — dialing in your first pour over is half the fun.