Our V60 Recipe
The one we keep coming back to
The short version
Put a paper filter in a cone, add ground coffee, slowly pour hot water over it, and let gravity do the work. The water drips through the coffee and into your mug. That's it — you just made a pour-over.
The Hario V60 is our daily driver. It's simple, repeatable, and rewards good technique with a clean, vibrant cup. This recipe is what we've landed on after months of tweaking — it highlights the bright, nuanced flavors in lighter roasts and brings enough body to keep medium roasts interesting. No fancy tricks, just solid fundamentals. Questions about dialing this in? Email us — we love nerding out over brew recipes.
The Numbers
Dose
20g
Water
300g
Ratio
1:15
Temp
200–205°F / 93–96°C
Grind
Medium-fine
Brew Time
3:00–3:30
What You Need
~$10 for plastic, ~$25 for ceramic — plastic actually brews great and is nearly indestructible
100 pack for ~$8 — tabbed or untabbed, doesn't matter
~$40 with temp control — a regular kettle works too, you'll just have less pour control
~$15 — any kitchen scale with 0.1g precision works, timer on your phone is fine
~$40 hand grinder or ~$100 electric — the single best upgrade you can make. Pre-ground works in a pinch — just ask your roaster for a 'pour-over' grind.
Free — you already have one
Temperature by Roast Type
Light Roast
205–208°F
96–98°C
Light roasts are dense and hard to extract. Higher temps dissolve more of the delicate fruit acids and floral sugars locked inside. The SCA caps at 205°F, but many specialty brewers push to 207–208°F for very light roasts — we do too.
Medium Roast
200–205°F
93–96°C
The sweet spot for balanced extraction. Medium roasts have more developed sugars, so moderate heat pulls sweetness without tipping into bitterness.
Medium-Dark
195–200°F
90–93°C
Cell walls are more porous at this roast level. Lower temp prevents over-extraction of bitter compounds while preserving chocolate and caramel notes.
Dark Roast
190–195°F
88–90°C
Dark roasts extract very quickly due to broken-down cellular structure. Below-SCA temps are intentional — higher heat pulls ashy, burnt flavors.
SCA Golden Cup Standard: The Specialty Coffee Association recommends water at 195–205°F (90–96°C) at the point of contact with coffee. Light-to-medium roasts are recommended for pour-over methods because their intact cellular structure benefits from thorough, controlled extraction — revealing complex origin flavors that darker roasts lose during the roasting process.
Step by Step
Rinse & preheat
Place the paper filter in the V60, set it on your mug, and rinse with hot water. This removes paper taste and preheats everything. Discard the rinse water.
Add coffee
Add 20g of medium-fine ground coffee (about the texture of table salt) to the filter. Give it a gentle shake to level the bed.
Bloom (the degassing step)
0:00–0:45Start your timer and pour 40g of water in a slow spiral, making sure all grounds are saturated. This is the bloom — the coffee puffs up as it releases trapped CO₂ gas. Letting it degas first means your main pours can extract (dissolve flavor from the grounds) more evenly.
First pour
0:45–1:15At 0:45, pour in slow concentric circles up to 150g total. Pour from the center outward, avoiding the edges of the filter. Keep the stream steady and thin — about the thickness of a pencil.
Second pour
1:15–2:00At around 1:15, once the water level drops to just above the coffee bed, begin your second pour in slow circles until your scale reads 300g total (you're adding about 150g more water). Try to finish pouring by 2:00.
Drawdown (let it drain)
2:00–3:30Let all the water drain through the coffee bed — this is the drawdown. Give the V60 a gentle swirl after your last pour to flatten the bed for even extraction. Total brew time should land around 3:00–3:30.
Enjoy
Remove the dripper, give your cup a swirl, and let it cool for a minute. The flavors open up as it cools — don't rush it.
Bloom
Bloom
Grind Size Guide
Medium-fine
Like table salt
Espresso
Powdered sugar
V60
Table salt
Cold Brew
Raw sugar
Go Finer
Slower drawdown, more body, risk of bitterness if too fine
Go Coarser
Faster drawdown, brighter/thinner, risk of sourness if too coarse
Extraction Time
Target window
3:00–3:30
Too Fast
Under 2:30
Sour, thin, tea-like — the water rushed through without extracting enough.
- +Grind finer
- +Pour slower
- +Use more coffee
Too Slow
Over 4:00
Bitter, harsh, astringent — the water sat too long and over-extracted.
- +Grind coarser
- +Pour less aggressively (reduces fines migration)
- +Use less coffee
Quick adjustments
- Each grinder click changes drawdown by ~15–30 seconds
- Temperature affects flow — hotter water drains slightly faster
- A gentle swirl after the last pour can speed up a stalling drawdown
Something Off?
My coffee tastes bitter or harsh
My coffee tastes sour or acidic
My coffee tastes weak or watery
My coffee is dry or astringent
My coffee tastes flat or muted
Pro Tips
Grind adjustment is your #1 lever. Sour/thin = grind finer. Bitter/harsh = go coarser. Change one click at a time.
If your drawdown stalls past 4 minutes, your grind is too fine or you're pouring too aggressively and creating fines migration. Grind coarser and pour gentler.
Try the single-pour method: after the bloom, pour all remaining water in one steady spiral. It's simpler and produces a very clean cup with less agitation.
Water at 205°F extracts more soluble compounds from lighter roasts. As roast level increases, cell walls break down and extraction happens easier — so you need less heat to avoid bitterness.
Freshly roasted beans (7–21 days off roast) bloom dramatically because of trapped CO₂. No bloom = stale coffee. Big bloom = fresh coffee releasing gas before water can extract evenly.
Brew Log
Every great cup teaches you something. Track your V60 brews — dose, grind, water temp, timing — and you'll start seeing patterns. After 5 brews you'll know exactly how to adjust. After 20, you'll be dialing in by instinct.
Heads up — A full brew tracking app is in the works. Save brews, compare batches, and watch your technique sharpen over time. Until then, jot your notes below and copy or print the summary.
Brew Variables
Tasting Notes
Brew Summary
Our V60 Recipe — Brew Log Date: 2026-03-26 Dose: 20g | Water: 300g | Ratio: 1:15.0 Grind: Medium-fine | Temp: 205°F | Time: 3:00–3:30 Tasting: Aroma: — Acidity: — Sweetness: — Body: — Finish: — Overall: —
Our V60 Recipe — Brew Log
Date: ____________________
Brew Variables
Tasting Notes
Record your brew — ¿Por Qué No?
The Nerdy Stuff
You don't need to know any of this to make great coffee. But you're here, so let's get into it.
Coffee School
Go deeper on the V60 Recipe
We turned the science and technique behind this recipe into short audio lessons you can listen to while you brew.
The Science Behind Your V60
5 min · Bloom chemistry, pour rate physics, and why a 15:1 ratio hits the sweet spot. Our V60 recipe, deconstructed.
Extraction 101: Under, Over, and Just Right
4 min · Sour, bitter, or balanced — what's actually happening to your coffee at a molecular level when water meets grounds.
Learn From the Best
Videos from creators we trust — watch, learn, and find what works for you.
The Ultimate V60 Technique
The gold standard V60 tutorial — his 1:16.7 ratio, 45s bloom, and gentle swirl technique is what inspired our recipe
Ultimate Pourover Recipe (Any Method)
Covers adjustable ratios from 1:14 to 1:17 and how to tweak for different roast levels — great for dialing in
Lance's Daily Two Pours V60
A simplified two-pour approach for everyday brewing — less fussy, still excellent
Take this recipe with you
We'll send you a nicely formatted copy — perfect for brewing without scrolling. Got questions about this recipe? Just reply to the email and we'll help you dial it in.