How to Brew a Perfect Cup of Coffee Using the Hario V60
Delicious, Simple, and Clean.
The pour-over is a great choice for brewing coffee because of its simplicity, and ability to alter the flavor of coffee through variable control. It is easy to keep clean and it brews a great balanced cup.
What You Need:
- Hario V60
- V60 Paper Filter (we prefer using bleached paper filters, because of the papery taste that unbleached ones may have)
- Coffee Grinder
- Hot Water Around 195°F (great water=great coffee)
- Medium ground coffee (also known as #7 on a typical coffee grinder)
- Kitchen Scale
- Timer
- Mug
Preparation
Step 1) Bring water to 195°F using a kettle. We recommend a goose-neck kettle for the best precision.
Step 2) Weigh out your coffee using the kitchen scale. For one cup we use 20 grams of coffee.
Pro Tip: Using ratios is an excellent method to ensure the greatest accuracy and consistency across your coffee drinks. (It is one way to know for certain how strong or weak you like your coffee.) We use 15:1 water to coffee ratio. For every 1-gram of coffee, 15 grams of water is added. Play around with your ratios and find one that you enjoy most! 15:1 tends to be strong for some folks, which is why we start at 15:1, hence being able to water it down to 18:1 for example.
Step 3) Fold your filter along the edge to make a cone shape and place it in your Hario V60. Rinse your filter by pouring hot water from your kettle and dump the remaining water. This will heat up your V60 and eliminate any papery taste in your coffee that you may get by not rinsing the filter.
Step 4) Grind your coffee to a medium to fine setting, we use a #7 grind on our electric coffee grinders. Your coffee should be around the same consistency as table salt. Pour the ground coffee into your V60.
Step 5) Place the V60 and mug on top of a scale and ‘zero’ it. Be sure your scale is set to grams.
Step 6) Start your timer and begin the brewing process by blooming the coffee. Saturate all of your grounds with approximately double your weight of coffee with water (around 40 grams). Make sure all of your coffee is wet. Let the coffee "bloom" for around 30-45 seconds. This process will release the carbon dioxide and other gasses from your coffee that will help extract the true flavor.
Step 7) Pour the rest of your water in circular motions very slowly until you hit your desired water weight. If you're using a 15:1 ratio with 20 grams of coffee ground, your water weight should come out to around 300 grams. Be sure to avoid touching the paper filter with your water, doing so can add a paper flavor. Also, avoid pouring in the middle of the V60 so that your grounds can be evenly extracted. The more contact with the water to the coffee equals a better extraction. Pour slowly and enjoy the aroma!
Step 8) Your brewing time should be under 3 minutes. Once the water stops flowing, compost your filter and coffee grounds, and rinse any residue from the V60.
Pro Tip: Keeping your brewers and coffee equipment clean is a key element to drinking great coffee.
Step 9) Sip and allow the liquid to touch different parts of your tongue. You are able to discern more nuances in flavor profiles when the coffee gets to the sides of the tongue, as the tip and back of it only captures the acidic and the bitter, while the sides will show you more sweet and savory notes.
Step 10) Enjoy!
Need Help?
Feel free to email our brewing expert, Patrick at patrick@cafecortez.com with any questions.