Pour over with a hand filter: 15 g of coffee to 250 g of water, a bloom, three pours and a total time of three minutes. The guide with times, grind size and the usual mistakes.
In short
- A ratio of 1:16 to 1:17, so 15 g of coffee to 250 g of water for one cup.
- First 45 g of water to bloom, wait 35 seconds, then fill up in two or three pours.
- Total time two minutes 45 to three minutes 15. Longer means the grind is finer than it needs to be.
The hand filter shows coffee at its most honest. No pressure, no metal, just water falling through a bed of coffee. That is why every origin comes through most clearly here, and why it forgives the least.
What you need
A filter holder with paper filters, a carafe or cup, a scale, a kettle with a narrow spout (a gooseneck) and freshly ground coffee. It works without a scale too, but then every cup tastes different.
The recipe for 250 grams
- Prepare: Put in the paper filter and rinse it through with hot water. That takes away the papery taste and warms the carafe. Pour the rinse water away.
- Coffee: Grind 15 grams medium, roughly like coarse sand. Put it in the filter bed, shake it flat, zero the scale.
- Bloom, 0:00 to 0:35: Pour 45 grams of water (three times the weight of the coffee) in circles until everything is wet. The coffee swells and releases carbon dioxide. That is the sign of fresh beans.
- First pour, 0:35 to 1:05: Fill slowly in spirals up to 150 grams. Do not pour directly onto the edge of the paper.
- Second pour, 1:05 to 1:35: Fill up to 250 grams. At the end, loosen the coffee bed from the wall with a spoon or by swirling gently, so that it drains flat.
- Drawdown, until about 3:00: Once the water is through, the coffee bed should be flat and free of craters.
The grind steers the time
If the water runs through in under two minutes 30, the coffee is too coarse and tastes thin and sour. If it takes longer than three and a half minutes, it is too fine and turns bitter. Change the grind in small steps and keep everything else the same.
Water temperature
For light roasts use the water straight off the boil, around 96 degrees. For medium roasts let it stand for 30 seconds, for dark roasts a minute. Water that is too hot on dark coffee gives bitterness, water that is too cool on light coffee gives acidity without sweetness.
Refinements for later
- A second stir during the bloom breaks up clumps and makes the extraction more even.
- Paper filters differ in flow rate. If you switch brands, dial in the grind again.
- For two cups (30 grams to 500 grams) grind a touch coarser, because the deeper coffee bed holds the water longer.
Common questions
How much coffee do I need for a pour over?
As a rule of thumb, 60 grams of coffee per litre of water. For one cup with 250 grams of water that is 15 grams.
Why is my filter coffee sour?
Ground too coarse, water too cool or the brew time too short. Grinding one step finer usually helps.
Do I have to rinse the paper filter?
Yes. Unrinsed filters give off a papery taste, and the rinse water preheats the carafe at the same time.
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