The Hario V60 is easily the most popular pour-over brewer in the world. I was resisting pour over coffee for the longest time, but I decided to borrow a friend’s V60 and try a cup for myself.
As soon as I had a cup, I placed an order for my own V60. Brewing with a V60 seems difficult at first, but if you follow this Hario V60 recipe and brewing guide, you’ll see it’s actually pretty straightforward!
Hario V60 brewing guide
The Hario V60 makes delicious pour-over coffee. The instructions below will get you on your way to brewing barista-level coffee at home. I’ve linked all the requirements below to their corresponding buying guides in case you need to gear up.
The recipe below is for one cup of coffee. Just double all the quantities for two cups.
Read our full review of Hario V60.
What you’ll need
- A Hario V60(01 for one to two cups, 02 for two to four cups)
- Hario paper filter(ideally, match the filter size to your V60, but you can use a 02 filter in a 01 brewer)
- 12 grams of coffee beans
- A burr coffee grinder(manual or electric, your choice)
- A coffee scale(very important)
- A pour over gooseneck kettle(if you don’t have one, use any kettle)
- 200 ml hot water
1. Measure out and grind coffee beans
Using your coffee scale, measure out 12 grams of coffee beans. Pour over works best with light and medium roasts. The effect of gravity and filtration helps bring out the brighter flavors found in light and medium roasts.
12 grams follows the standard pour over coffee ratio of 1:16. I feel that this is an ideal amount for one cup. Any more and the coffee tastes too strong.
Using your favorite burr grinder, grind the beans to a medium-fine consistency. If you’re using an electric grinder, use a notch that’s a few clicks below medium.
Using a manual grinder, you’ll have to adjust the wheel or set screw in a way that you get grounds that are slightly more coarse than salt.
2. Prep your V60
Next up, prep your V60. Place your coffee mug(or whatever you’re brewing into) on a scale, and place the V60 on top of it.
Grab a filter and fold the protruding edge in so it’s flush with the rest of the filter. Place the filter in the V60 and spread it slightly with your fingers so it’s touching the sides of the V60 as much as possible. Don’t sweat this too much as any gaps will be taken care of in the next steps.
3. Heat up water and rinse the filter
Heat up your water to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 93-94 degrees C. If you have a temperature controlled kettle, you can do this to exact precision.
In case you don’t have one, just heat water to a boil and let it rest after the boil for 30 seconds to get the water in the ideal range.
While you’re waiting for the water to cool, you can actually go ahead and rinse the filter. Just pour a very slight amount of water all around the filter to rinse it evenly.
Note that the water will drip into the cup below, so remember to throw that out before you start brewing!
4. Add grounds to the filter and tare the scale
With your brewing apparatus on the scale, add your freshly-ground coffee to the filter. Give the filter a little back and forth shake so that the grounds make a cone shape in the middle of it. You want the grounds to be clumped together as close as possible in the center of the filter.
James Hoffman recommends you make a little well in the middle of the grounds using your finger. Don’t go too deep, just half an inch is fine. This helps in evenly wetting the grounds in the next step.
Turn on the scale and tare it so it reads 0 with all the stuff on it.
5. Bloom the coffee
Next up, add 15 to 20% of the total water you plan on using. If you were brewing one cup of 200 ml, that would be about 30 to 50 ml or grams.
This amount would double for 2 cups.
Pour. very slowly, starting from the center and pouring in a circular motion until the coffee grounds are just wet. Try not to flood the filter!
You can grab the cup and V60 and give it a little swirling motion to further wet the grounds.
Wait for 20 to 30 seconds for the coffee to bloom. You’ll see little bubbles of gas come to the surface and pop. Once the bubbles stop, your coffee is bloomed and it’s time to pour the rest of the water.
6. Pour the remaining water
Start pouring in the same was you did earlier: start from the center and pour in an increasingly widening spiral. Once you hit the edges, start again at the center and pour in an outward circular motion.
Keep an eye on the scale: once you hit 200 grams of water, stop. This would be 400 grams if you were making two cups.
You may need to take a short pause of 5-10 seconds if the filter gets too full.
7. Swirl one more time
Once all the water is in and there’s still a good amount left in the filter, grab the V60 and cup and repeat the swirling motion you did earlier.
Do it gently as you don’t want any coffee to spill!
The swirling motion helps dislodge any grounds from the sides of the filter. You can also use a spoon and just give a very
The idea is to get a nice conical bed of grounds by the time all the water has dripped through.
8. Enjoy your coffee
This whole process should take about 3 minutes, so once the water has dripped all the way into your mug, remove the V60 from the cup.
Your coffee is done: enjoy!
Related
Conclusion
The Hario V60 recipe and brew method seems intimidating at first, but with a little bit of practice, it can soon become your go-to method for brewing coffee. I’ve found that it’s the most balanced, tasty cup that has the rich flavor of french press but minus the boldness and gritty mouthfeel.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I get a perfect V60 brew?
The grind size is critical for a good V60 brew. If the grind is too coarse, the water will filter through too quickly without extracting enough flavor. If the grind is too fine, the water will filter through too slow and you’ll get an over-extracted cup. A good benchmark is targeting 2.5 to 3 minutes for the whole brew. If it takes any less or any longer, the grind needs adjusting.
What is the difference between Hario V60 01 and 02?
01 is a smaller funnel meant for 1 or 2 cups. The 02 is meant for 2 to 4 cups in one brew.
Last update on 2024-05-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
