How to make pour-over coffee at home

Pour-over gives you a clean, clear cup and lets you taste the differences between coffees. You need a cone dripper, a paper filter, a kettle and, ideally, a kitchen scale.

What you need

Our boxes suggest 15 g of coffee to 250 g of water as a starting point, which is roughly 1 part coffee to 16–17 parts water.

• 15 g of coffee, ground medium-fine (like table salt)
• 250 g of water just off the boil
• A cone dripper and paper filter
• A mug or carafe, and a scale if you have one

Step by step

1. Rinse the paper filter with hot water to warm the dripper, then discard the rinse water.
2. Add the ground coffee and level the bed with a gentle shake.
3. Bloom: pour about twice the coffee weight in water (around 30 g), enough to wet all the grounds, and wait 30–45 seconds.
4. Pour the rest of the water slowly in small circles, keeping the level steady and avoiding the very edge of the filter.
5. Let it drain. The whole brew usually takes about 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Swirl, pour and taste.

Adjusting the cup

If the coffee tastes sour, thin or drains very quickly, grind a little finer. If it tastes bitter, harsh or drains very slowly, grind a little coarser. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what made the difference.

Good coffees for pour-over

Lighter and medium roasts show their character well in pour-over. High Lakes brings citrus and fresh fruit, Colombia is smooth with cocoa notes, and Broken Top leans toward chocolate-covered almond and maple syrup. Choose whole bean if you grind at home, or ground if you want to brew straight from the box.