Hario V60 coffee maker, getting started with pour over coffee

Making coffee with a V60 always seemed like the ultimate basic method to me. I couldn't imagine it being so good, let alone being one of the best ways of enjoying coffee in general. But of course I was wrong, and sometimes simpler is actually better. There were a multitude of arguments pulling me towards this brewing method. First of I've been seeing a bunch of enthusiastic people in videos talking about V60's on my YouTube timeline. Secondly I started getting frustrated wasting coffee with consistent sour shots using some specialty coffees in the Flair espresso maker. Finally, after hearing the umpteeth of my coffeebuddies talking about this method I simply couldn't ignore it anymore and figured I should give it a try.

And wow am I glad that I did! Getting started with V60 is even cheaper than the aeropress. It is basically just a holder for a paper filter that is suspended above your cup or server. I got a starter kit containing a plastic dripper, a glass server, some official filters and a measuring spoon for just 25 euro's and within no time I was on my way to enjoying specialty coffee in the best possible way.

The thing with V60 is that it creates such a clean, smooth cup of coffee. In comparison to the AeroPress there is no sludge or fines in the resulting drink, and you have absolute control over the brew and flowrate of the coffee as there is little to no resistance in the dripper or filter.

For pouring technique I simply cannot omit referencing the ultimate V60 method by our good friend James Hoffmann. As the geek I am, I'm ofcourse going to try and replicate this process as accurately as possible. Please note that you actually don't really have to use that specific technique! After a couple of days of experimenting we found out that just following the simple instructions in the official manual (level, bloom, pour) also produces a great cup coffee, maybe just a little less smooth and even as using the elaborate method.

Without further ado, please enjoy these moving images of my favorite V60 ritual. Please look forward to reading about the V60 brew methods in our upcoming blogs, because the AeroPress has been official dethroned as go-to non-espresso method!

Recipe: 60g of coffee, 500ml of water, 30 seconds of bloom, 60 seconds pour

Grind your wonderful specialty coffee to a medium grind (60g for 500ml of coffee in this recipe), pre-wet the filter to get that paper taste out, fill the filter with the freshly ground coffee and create a little well in the center. This is to allow the water to get in contact with all of the coffee during the bloom phase.

Tare your scale, start the timer and pour 2 ml's of water for each gram of coffee and give that brew a swirl.

Adore the looks of your blooming coffee for 30 seconds and observe the freshness of your beans asall the sourness in the co2 is released from the grounds.

Start pouring water in a circular motion to get about 3/5 of the target volume (until the 300ml mark in this recipe) into the cone in about 30 seconds. Then, for the next 30 seconds, pour the last 2/5ths of the target volume (up until the 500ml mark in this recipe).

Give that brew a short stir clockwise and counter clockwise

Final swirl for a flat bed

And serve those glorious cups of smooth coffee brew!