Pour over is coffee brewed by pouring hot water through grounds in a paper filter, and the good version comes down to a steady pour and the right grind. Done well it's the cleanest, sweetest cup you can make at home: bright, tea-like, with none of the sediment you get from a plunger.
It rewards a bit of attention. Not a lot. Just enough to pour slowly and not rush it.
What you need
- A dripper (V60, Kalita, or any cone) and matching paper filters
- Medium-ground coffee (our Filter grind is cut for this)
- A kettle (a gooseneck spout helps, but isn't essential)
- Scales if you have them; a spoon if you don't
The ratio: coffee to water for pour over
Go about 60g of coffee per litre (James Hoffmann's V60 number, near 1:17), which works out to 21g for a 350ml mug. Same ballpark as a plunger; the difference is all technique.
No scales? Three level tablespoons of grounds to a large mug of water is close enough to start, then adjust to taste.
How to brew it, step by step
- Boil the kettle, then let it sit a good 30 seconds; you're aiming for about 93°C, just off the boil, not a rolling one.
- Sit the filter in the dripper and rinse it with hot water. This rinses off the papery taste and warms the gear. Tip that water out.
- Add your grounds, give the dripper a little shake to level the bed.
- Start your timer. Pour just enough water to wet all the grounds (about double the coffee's weight), then stop. Wait 30–45 seconds for the bloom. Fresh coffee will dome up and bubble; that's the CO2 escaping, and it's what you want.
- Pour the rest in slow, steady spirals from the centre outwards, keeping the water level up but never letting it reach the very rim. Aim to finish pouring by about 2 minutes.
- Let it draw down. The whole brew should be done and dripping its last by 2:45–3:15.
- If it finished much faster than that, your grind's too coarse. Much slower, too fine. Adjust next time.
What usually goes wrong
Two faults cover almost everything. A sour, thin, sharp cup is under-extracted: the water ran through too fast, so grind a touch finer, slow the pour, or nudge the water hotter. A bitter, dry, hollow cup is the reverse, over-extracted from too fine a grind or too slow a pour, so back either off. The two smaller gremlins: if the water pools and stalls on the bed, the grind's too fine or you poured too hard, and if there's a papery taste, you skipped the filter rinse. Rinse every time.
Chasing a particular style? Browse the grind options or the full range. And if you love the clean filter cup but not the ritual, a drip coffee bag is basically a pour over that packed itself: same filter style, pre-loaded, ready for the road.
Roasted to order in NSW, ready when you are
Drip bags for anywhere, beans for home. Same coffee, your call.
Shop Drip Coffee Bags Shop Coffee Beans
Free AU shipping over $80 · Subscribers save 30% with free shipping on every order
Quick answers
What's the best coffee-to-water ratio for pour over?
About 60g per litre (roughly 1:17): 21g of coffee to 350ml of water for a mug. Adjust to your taste from there.
How hot should the water be for pour over?
About 93°C, just off the boil. Boil the kettle and let it rest around 30 seconds. A rolling boil bakes bitterness into the grounds; too cool and the cup comes out sour and flat.
Do I need a gooseneck kettle?
No, but it helps you pour slow and accurate. Without one, pour gently and keep the stream thin. Technique matters more than the kettle.