Coffee How To: Pour-Over Coffee Brewing

On an average day I sip anywhere from two to six cups of coffee brewed using the pour-over method and these are the basic steps I use. Use this as a guide. Don't be afraid to make adjustments to fine-tune your perfect brew.

Before you begin, some type of timer will be helpful, your phone probably has a stopwatch that will work perfectly for this, but I use the timer on the microwave.

Ground Coffee: Start with a grind about the size of coarse sugar. (Sugar in the Raw is a good size.) When doing reviews I use .6 ounces of ground coffee for each 10 ounces of water. When brewing just to sip, I use up to 1 ounce of coffee per cup depending upon my mood.

Pour-over device: The Melitta plastic pour-over cone works well for me; I have a ceramic model that came from Starbucks, but I don't use it (here's the review). Inside the cone I use a #2 Brew Rite white cone filter. At one time I tried their brown unbleached filters, but they're a bit more porous so I had to adjust the grind. Now I use the white filters all the time.

Water: Start with cold, clean water, (filtered if you need it). If I'm doing a review, I start with fresh water in the kettle for every cup. In the beginning I used a stove-top tea kettle with worked well, but now I have an electric kettle, from Bella Housewares, with a longer spout (here's the review). The longer spout aids in getting the water exactly where you want it inside the cone. You will want the water about 30 seconds off the boil or about 205 degrees.

Doing the Pour: My first step is to dampen the coffee by adding just enough water to wet the grounds. Once they're wet I wait until the water has stopped dripping into the cup before continuing. To finish the pour (this is where the timer comes in), Set and start a 2 minute timer, then continue by washing the pre-dampened coffee off the sides of the filter, then slowly add hot water evenly across the surface until the filter inside the cone is full. When the two minute timer goes off, your cone should be done dripping. If it finishes dripping in less than two minutes your grind is to course. If it takes longer than two minutes your grind is probably to fine.

There you have it, At this point you should have a great tasting cup of freshly brewed coffee.

I'm not the world's leading authority on pour-overs, but I drink a lot of great tasting coffee and these steps work for me on a daily basis. Remember, don't be afraid to make adjustments to suit your tastes or style.

If you have a better method, get better results or have a neat brewing trick, please, feel free to leave a comment. I'm always looking for ways to improve my processes.

Happy sipping!