My Favorite Pour Over: Hario V60
Hario V60 Kasuya Coffee Dripper
V60 is perhaps the most popular brewing method in specialty coffee along with other brewers such as Chemex, Kalita, Melitta etc., they all fall under the pour-over or dripper classification i.e. a brewer that uses a filter and hot water poured over ground coffee within the filter paper. V60 was designed by Hario - the V because it is “V” shaped, and 60 is the sloping angle of the cone. There are different sizes available: the original is 01 which makes coffee for one person, 02 can brew up to four and 03 can brew up to 3/4 of a liter.
The dripper is also available in different materials such as plastic which is probably the most widely used, glass, ceramic and metal. The copper one is perhaps the best looking of all. I personally use the Hario V60 Kasuya Coffee Dripper. Temperature does play a factor in which material the V60 is made out of albeit minimal, temperature stability can be achieved by preheating the filter paper which will also warm up the brewer creating a more stable environment for brewing. Emphasis must be made on the fact that brewing on the V60 alone will not result in excellent coffee, there are other factors that are important to consider.
I started off with a Hario hand grinder which was great but personally it was a lot of effort and slow. Not going to name names but moving to a sub-par electric burr grinder which I thought was great value for money was not the answer, it always resulted in inconsistent and not-so-great brews. After some research and not knowing that the grind and water play such an important role, it was time to invest in a quality burr grinder. As of this year, I have been using the Baratza Encore. The size of the grind can vary with different coffee, medium-fine is the recommended size. Don’t grind too fine otherwise it can lead to choking.
The burr grinder I currently use: Baratza Encore. More info here.
Your pouring technique and recipe are also factors to consider. There are so many different techniques for the V60, the popular one’s are: The Ultimate V60 Technique by James Hoffman, Coffee with April V60 recipe, Scott Rao’s V60 method and 4:6 method by Tetsu Kasuya. Some days I’ll use a single pour method with an initial bloom which is the least complicated recipe. I have brewed using the above mentioned techniques and each technique will yield you a different result. I’m not going to write the recipe here as I’ve left video links of the same techniques above for your reference.
With so many pouring techniques online and different recipes for different coffees, it can get quite overwhelming to figure out what method of preparation to go with. That’s why I have another rule of thumb - use the technique recommended by the roaster of whose coffee you are buying. Roasters know best, they would have experimented with various roasts profiles, and countless cupping sessions to squeeze the best experience out of the beans. Otherwise my go to ratio is 1:15 i.e. 1g of coffee to 15g of water, and then I fine tune to my preferred taste which will depend on what coffee I’m brewing with. The ratio can also be looked as the strength of the coffee, changing your brew ratio can make your coffee stronger or weaker.
My dirty inexpensive scale from Amazon. Don’t go by the looks, it gets the job done.
If you are following a set recipe or ratio like above, it’s very important you time the brew and measure using a scale. I use something very inexpensive from Amazon as it does the job but looks like it’s time to upgrade. There are some great scales such as the Acaia, Timemore and the Hario to name a few. They pack some great features including real-time flow-rate indicator and track your brews on your phone using an app. The Acaia Pearl is the most popular, used mostly in cafes and has a great minimal design which makes it an absolute treat to brew coffee on. And yes, it’s on my wishlist next.
Other factors that I haven’t mentioned in great detail is the temperature of the water, roast degree of the coffee, flow-rate of the pour to name a few. V60 is the only right option when it comes to brewing great single origins who enjoy clarity, acidity, fruit notes, sweetness and other distinct nuances specific to a region.
