Pour Over Coffee

Pour over (also spelled pour-over or pourover, depending on who you ask) coffee making is a simple, elegant, delicious and uber-trendy way to enjoy a cup of amazing coffee.

Though pour over may be new to many home brewers in North America and Europe, Japan’s longstanding – and thriving – coffee culture goes back decades. In fact, it's been the drip coffee method of choice, in one form or another. The disposable pour over device being a popular one with the busy salary men and women.

Hario, a Japanese glass company founded in 1921, made this brewing method popular in North America with its v60 pour over brewing setup. It was quickly adopted by the top baristas and hipsters alike.

Brewing pour over is as common as a coffee machine in Japan – something we hope to see happen worldwide with those who love a perfect drip brew.

The Hario v60 pour over brewing method was introduced to Detour in 2010, and it was love at first sip. At this time, we were brewing pour over coffees with the Beehouse dripper, another great pour over device. However, after careful research and many, many cups of coffee, we found that we could get better coffees using the Hario v60 cone; today, it’s what we wholeheartedly recommend to both new and returning customers, as well as our many clients for truly dialed in coffees.     

 - Check out our Perfect Pour Over Kit, everything you need to brew the Hario v60. - 

The ritual of making a pour over coffee is part of the appeal, a hands-on connection to your coffee for a beverage that’s far more than the sum of its parts. (Yep, we love our pour over coffee that much.)   

Geoff Woodley, Detour’s Director of Coffee, believes “...that taking the time to brew the perfect cup, and beginning to understand what makes that cup taste so good, connects us to that final cup of coffee more than we would be to a bottle of wine or beer that we open and serve.” Serving a coffee that you brewed with a practiced method is gratifying.

And your friends will all think you're super cool.

Pour over – specifically, the Hario v60 – produces the most consistent, tasty coffee out of any brewing method that we've tried. It does take a tad more precision than other methods, so we’re here to help.

From weekend home brew warriors to the weekday coffee making squad, once you get the pour over method down, it’s doable every day of the week. And we're confident you'll notice the difference in the cup.

Let’s brew. 

How to Make Pour Over Coffee: The Hario v60 Method
What you’ll need (ingredients & equipment) 
(click here for our perfect pour over kit)

1. 30g of freshly roasted DETOUR coffee, ground medium-coarse (appearance of kosher salt)
2. Hario v60 02 (cone) and Hario v60 filter
3. Gooseneck kettle
4. Scale
5. Decanter or large mug to hold 500mL
6. Timer
7. 500g recently boiled filtered water

Step-by-Step

Part 1 - Prep

1. Weigh out and grind your coffee (with a burr grinder, preferably). Set aside.
2. Take the Hario filter and fold back the seam. Now open it up and place in the brewer (cone portion). It should sit nice and flat inside.
3. Rinse the filter in the brewer (cone) well with tap water (this helps is sit snug, and stick, while also removing any flavour of paper).
4. Place the decanter on your scale, and the brewer on the decanter. Add your coffee to the filter. You’re now ready to brew.

Part 2 - Brew

Total Time: Approximately 3 Minutes
Serves: 2  

1. Start your timer and slowly pour in 100g (100mL) of recently boiled water to wet all grinds, taking 20 seconds to do so (this is called “blooming”). Stir with a small wooden paddle or small spoon. Set aside for 20 more seconds.
2. Pour an additional 200g (200mL) water, waiting 20 seconds after pouring for the slurry to draw down through the filter.
3. Finally, add the remaining 200g (200mL) of water in a circular motion and let the coffee filter through.
4. Stop timer, discard filter and grinds, stir coffee, pour into your cup(s) and enjoy!  

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TIPS AND TRICKS

Timing

• The whole process should take about 3 minutes (+/- 30 seconds)
• Longer brews risk over-extraction (which tastes bitter and muddy)
• Shorter brews risk under-extraction (which tastes sour, metallic and thin)

Pouring 

• Use a gooseneck kettle for greatest control and safety (that water is hot!)
• Pouring relatively hard into the centre helps to push hot water down, keeping the water in the Hario v60 at an ideal brewing temperature  
• After the initial pour, focus on pouring water in a gentle, circular motion. Don’t leave any grinds dry (these tend to accumulate on the outside).
  

Stirring 

• Make sure to stir (with wooden paddle or small spoon) after the initial 100g (100mL) water is poured over the grinds
• Stir 3 times in a circular motion after the all of the water has been added to coffee; doing so will help trap the finest particles at the top of the filter, allowing the rest of the water to filter in good time

TROUBLESHOOTING

Plugged filter?

• Grinds may be too fine. Pour over brewing requires a medium-coarse grind (looks like kosher salt).
• Coffee beans are all different and some may grind differently, requiring small adjustments to the grind size

Under-extracted Coffee (tastes sour, metallic and thin):

• Not enough coffee dissolved into the water. Try a finer grind, hotter water or longer brewing time.

Over-extracted Coffee (tastes bitter and muddy):

• Too much coffee dissolved into your water. Try a quicker brew time, coarser grind or lower water temperature.

 (photos by Jesse Senko)

 
Happy Brewing.

 

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