Filter coffee

Caffeine estimate

Approximately 80-100mg (240ml cup).

Well established

Brewing method

Made using V60 (pour-over). Grind: Medium, similar to sea salt.

Descriptive grind labels like this are illustrative starting points, not precise measurements — the same label can mean different particle sizes on different grinders. See the grind size guide for how to dial this in on your own equipment.

Steps

1. Rinse the paper filter with hot water and discard the rinse water.
2. Add ground coffee and bloom with a small amount of water for 30-45 seconds.
3. Pour the remaining water in stages until the target weight is reached.

Equipment

• Pour-over dripper
• Gooseneck kettle
• Paper filter
• Burr grinder

Troubleshooting

• Pour-over brew stalls or drains too slowly
• Coffee tastes weak or watery
• Coffee tastes too sour

Related drinks

• drink uses brewing method V60 (pour-over)
• hot version of Iced coffee
• decaf alternative to Decaf coffee

Preparation traditions

Regional preparation traditions this drink belongs to or comes from, in CoffeeHQ's international preparation atlas.

• Japanese nel drip
• Scandinavian boiled coffee (kokkaffe and pannukahvi)
• Costa Rican chorreador
• Brazilian cafezinho
• Japanese siphon coffee
• Cowboy coffee

Compare

• Americano vs. filter coffee

Build this drink

Tools for working out the quantities this drink needs.

• Caffeine estimatorGet an honest range for how much caffeine a drink is likely to contain, and understand what makes it uncertain.

How to make it well

Step-by-step techniques this drink depends on, each with what to change when it does not work.

• Adjusting grind sizeMove the grind in the right direction by a useful amount, and know what to expect from the change.
• Purging a grinderClear coffee left inside the grinder so the next dose is the coffee and the setting you intended.
• Single dosing a grinderGrind exactly the beans you weighed for this brew, with as little left inside the grinder as possible.
• Dialling in filter coffeeFind the grind and ratio that suit a particular coffee in a particular brewer, using brew time as the diagnostic.
• Blooming coffeeWet the whole coffee bed and let it release its carbon dioxide before the main pour begins.
• Pulse pouringControl agitation and contact time by pouring in several stages rather than one continuous stream.
• Rinsing a paper filterRemove papery taste, seat the filter against the brewer, and preheat the equipment in one action.
• Preheating a brewerStop cold equipment taking heat out of the brew before it has finished extracting.
• Descaling a machineDissolve mineral scale out of the boiler and water path, on a schedule set by your water rather than by guesswork.
• Tasting coffee deliberatelyNotice what a coffee is actually doing, rather than only whether you like it.
• Comparing two coffees side by sideTrain perception using difference, which is far easier to notice than any absolute quality.
• Cupping coffeeTaste several coffees against each other under conditions identical enough that the only difference is the coffee.
• Resting roasted coffeeLet a fresh roast settle to the point where it brews predictably, without waiting until it has gone flat.
• Measuring extraction yieldTurn a TDS reading into an extraction percentage, and know what that number can and cannot tell you.