How do you make pour-over coffee?
Use a 1:16 ratio: 20 grams of medium-ground coffee to 320 grams of water at 195 to 205°F (90.5 to 96°C). Rinse the paper filter, bloom with 40 grams of water for 30 to 45 seconds, then pour the rest in slow spirals. Drawdown should finish in about 3 to 3.5 minutes.
What are the pour-over numbers to start from?
This recipe makes one mug. Treat it as a baseline, taste the result, then change one variable at a time.
| Variable | Starting point | Workable range |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee (dose) | 20 g (0.7 oz), whole bean ground fresh | Scale with the ratio below |
| Water | 320 g (about 10.8 fl oz) | Cold and filtered, not distilled or softened |
| Ratio | 1:16 (1 g coffee per 16 g water) | 1:13 to 1:16 |
| Water temperature | 200°F (93°C) | 195 to 205°F (90.5 to 96°C) |
| Grind | Medium, like kosher salt | Finer or coarser to fix flow and taste |
| Total brew time | About 3 to 3.5 minutes | 2 to 4 minutes of contact |
| Yield | One mug, about 10 oz | Some water stays in the wet grounds |
The ratio range and grind description come from the National Coffee Association (NCA). The temperature window is the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Golden Cup standard: 200°F, plus or minus 5°F, at the point where water meets coffee. Without a thermometer, let boiled water rest about a minute before pouring.
What is the best pour-over ratio?
A good default is 1:16, which is the lighter end of the NCA's 1:13 to 1:16 range. The SCA's Golden Cup standard is lighter still, at 55 grams of coffee per liter of water (about 1:18), plus or minus 10%. If your cup tastes thin, move toward 1:13 before you change anything else.
Ratio mainly controls strength. SCA-published brewing research notes that the dissolved solids in a cup (its strength) are easier to steer with brew ratio than with extraction, so the ratio is your first lever for "too weak" or "too strong."
| Water | Coffee at 1:16 | Coffee at 1:13 (bolder) |
|---|---|---|
| 288 g (9.7 fl oz) | 18 g (0.6 oz) | 22 g (0.8 oz) |
| 320 g (10.8 fl oz) | 20 g (0.7 oz) | 25 g (0.9 oz) |
| 480 g (16.2 fl oz) | 30 g (1.1 oz) | 37 g (1.3 oz) |
| 640 g (21.6 fl oz) | 40 g (1.4 oz) | 49 g (1.7 oz) |
Weigh both. One fluid ounce of water weighs about 29.6 grams, and a kitchen scale turns a good cup into a repeatable one.
What equipment do you need for pour-over?
- A pour-over brewer. Flat-bottom brewers with small holes drain slower and more evenly, which makes them forgiving for beginners. Cone brewers with 60° walls flow faster and reward a steadier pour.
- Paper filters sized to your brewer, so the filter sits flat against the walls.
- A kettle. A gooseneck spout makes it much easier to control where and how fast water lands.
- A kitchen scale that reads in grams, ideally with a built-in timer.
- A burr grinder for even, fresh grounds.
- A thermometer, unless your kettle shows temperature.
- A mug or carafe to brew into.
How do you make pour-over coffee, step by step?
- Heat the water. Bring cold, filtered water to a boil, then let it rest about a minute so it lands at 195 to 205°F (90.5 to 96°C). Heat extra for rinsing.
- Rinse the filter. Set the paper filter in the brewer, wet it all over with hot water to remove any papery taste and warm the brewer, then discard that water.
- Weigh and grind. Grind 20 g of coffee to a medium texture, like kosher salt, just before brewing. Add it to the filter and shake gently to level the bed.
- Bloom. Start the timer and pour about 40 g of water (twice the coffee's weight) to wet every ground, then wait 30 to 45 seconds while trapped gas bubbles off.
- First main pour. Pour slowly in a spiral from the center outward, avoiding the paper, until the scale reads 180 g at about 1:10.
- Second main pour. As the level drops, pour again in the same spiral until the scale reads 320 g at about 1:50. Pouring in pulses like this helps keep grounds from stranding on the filter walls.
- Swirl and draw down. Give the brewer one gentle swirl to flatten the bed, then let it drain. The water should finish passing through around 3:00 to 3:30.
- Taste and adjust. Remove the brewer, swirl the cup and taste. Use the troubleshooting table below to decide what to change next time.
The bloom is the only step people tend to skip, and it is worth keeping: it lets carbon dioxide escape so the main pours wet the coffee evenly.
Why does pour-over show off single-origin coffee so clearly?
The paper filter does most of the work. According to the NCA, paper absorbs more of coffee's oils, which contributes to a cleaner, lighter taste. Metal filters let more oil and sediment into the cup for a heavier texture, and cloth falls in between.
With less oil and sediment in the way, the details that come from where a coffee was grown are easier to pick out: the brightness, the fruit or floral aromas, the way the sweetness builds as the cup cools. That is exactly what a single-origin coffee, grown in one specific place and left unblended, is meant to show.
Roast level matters too. The NCA notes that lighter roasts preserve more of a coffee's unique qualities, and that the lighter the roast, the more acidity carries into the cup. Dark, blended supermarket coffee is built for a consistent roasty flavor, so a clean paper-filtered brew has less origin character to reveal. A lighter, single-origin coffee roasted to order gives the method something to work with. Browse the single-origin coffees and buy whole bean so you can grind fresh for each brew.
It also makes a fine weekend porch project: one mug, about three minutes, and a coffee you can actually taste.
How do you fix a pour-over that tastes wrong?
Most problems trace back to extraction, meaning how much of the coffee the water dissolved. SCA-published sensory research found sourness was strongest in brews with low extraction and weakest at high extraction, while bitterness peaks when strength and extraction are both high. Grind size is your main extraction dial, because the SCA matches grind to contact time: finer grounds for shorter contact, coarser for longer.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Drawdown finishes well before 2:30 | Grind too coarse, so water rushes through | Grind finer in small steps |
| Drawdown runs past 4:00 or stalls | Grind too fine, or a filter that bunched and clogged | Grind coarser; seat the filter flat against the brewer |
| Bitter, harsh or drying | Over-extraction: grind too fine or contact time too long | Grind coarser or finish the pours sooner |
| Sour, sharp, thin | Under-extraction: grind too coarse or water too cool | Grind finer; check water is 195 to 205°F |
| Weak or watery | Too little coffee for the water | Move the ratio from 1:16 toward 1:13 |
| Uneven, sour and bitter at once | Channeling: water found a fast path through the bed | Pour in a slow spiral, in pulses, and swirl before drawdown |
Change one thing per brew. If you change the grind and the ratio together, you will not know which one fixed the cup.
Where should you go after your first pour-over?
Once this recipe tastes right, try the same coffee at 1:13 and 1:16 side by side, or brew two origins back to back with identical numbers so the only difference is where the coffee was grown. For more methods, ratios and grind guidance, see the Kaveolah brewing guides.
Frequently asked questions
How much coffee do I use for pour-over?
Weigh it. A 1:16 ratio uses 20 grams of coffee (about 0.7 oz) for 320 grams of water, which makes one mug of about 10 oz. For a bolder cup, use up to 25 grams for the same water, a 1:13 ratio.
What grind size is best for pour-over coffee?
Start with a medium grind that looks like kosher salt. If water drains in well under 2:30 or the cup tastes sour, grind finer. If the drawdown runs past 4 minutes or the cup tastes bitter, grind coarser. Change the grind in small steps.
What water temperature should I use for pour-over?
Use water between 195 and 205°F (90.5 and 96°C), the Specialty Coffee Association's recommended brewing range. Without a thermometer, bring water to a boil and let it rest about a minute before pouring. Water that is too cool tends to leave the cup sour and thin.
How long should a pour-over take?
Plan on about 3 to 3.5 minutes from the first pour to the end of drawdown for a single mug. The National Coffee Association gives a workable contact time of 2 to 4 minutes. Larger batches run longer, so adjust grind to keep the timing in range.
Do you need a gooseneck kettle for pour-over?
It is not required, but it helps. A gooseneck spout lets you pour slowly and aim the water, which keeps the bed evenly wet and reduces channeling. With a standard kettle, pour in smaller, slower pulses and consider a flat-bottom brewer, which drains more evenly.
Should I rinse a paper filter before brewing?
Yes. Rinsing the paper with hot water removes any papery taste, especially from unbleached filters, and warms the brewer so your brew temperature holds. Pour the rinse water out before you add coffee.