One of the most popular tools today to make a great cup of coffee is definitely the Hario V60. It comes in many iterations (made from glass, ceramic or plastic) and sizes (01, 02, 03) but I would argue that the Plastic Hario 02 Dripper is the preferred choice. It’s simple to use, easy to clean and great value for money. 

Let me share my recipe below on how to make a great cup of coffee with a Hario V60. You will require:

• A Hario V60 dripper

• Filter paper

• A pot (or just a mug, if you are making a cup for 1)

• A spoon/ stirrer

• A digital scale

• A Timer/ Stopwatch/ Cellphone

• And a kettle (to heat the water)

Standard disclaimer when dispensing coffee advice is that no good recipe, equipment or technique can ever compensate for bad quality coffee beans or water. Always try to get fresh beans, keep them fresh and grind just before using.

The steps can be broken down into 4 main processes:

• Preparation (Grind beans, set up device and boil water)

• Bloom

• Pour

• Stir and enjoy (the easiest step 🙂)

The recipe below is using a 02 Hario Dripper to make 2 cups of coffee.

Preparation

A good coffee ratio to go with for a nice pour over is 1:14 to 1:17 range. I recommend 30 – 35 g of coffee for 500 g of water. Stick with this ratio and play with extraction, temperature and grind size to adjust for taste preferences. These are discussed in a little more detail here so do not be deterred if you are using pre-ground coffee or are not familiar with the terms ‘over-extraction’ or ‘under-extraction’ just yet.  

Using the scale, weigh the coffee beans and then grind to an even consistency. To begin, I recommend grinding to a medium consistency and thereafter adjusting for taste i.e. finer for stronger, bolder coffee and coarser for a more diluted, less intense cup. Set the Hario dripper atop the pot that will be used to serve the coffee and place the filter paper inside the dripper.

It is advantageous to use a gooseneck kettle as it gives you much better control over the speed and flow of the pour, but you could make a good cup of coffee pouring straight out of your standard electric kettle. Boil the water and when ready, use the boiling water to wet the filter paper, pre-heating the pot at the same time.

Discard the water and place the pot with the Hario above it, on a digital scale. Ensure that the scale is set to zero, then pour the ground coffee into the Hario and allow it to settle evenly. Thereafter you can use your finger (or a chopstick), to create a well at the centre of the ground. Take care to not compact the coffee in the Hario during this step. You are now ready to start the next step, which is the Bloom.

Bloom

In a pour over, the bloom stage is essential to ensure that the resulting coffee is smooth and not bitter. During the bloom stage, all the gases that were trapped in the beans during the roasting process are released. I prefer a double bloom, but there are others who prefer a single bloom with manual agitation.

I start the timer and quickly pour 70 g of hot water into the well created in the Hario, and then swirl the slurry around to ensure that all the grounds are wet. After 30 seconds, I pour another 70 g of water, but slower this time allowing all the gases to escape and the grounds to settle. 

Pour

After 1 minute has passed in total, I pour about 200 g of water into the V60 ensuring that the coffee bed at the bottom is not disturbed too much. I pour in a circular pattern trying to ensure that the water is not poured on the filter paper directly. This would cause the water to potentially bypass the coffee bed and merely dilute the cup of coffee being extracted.

Continue to add approximately 70 grams of coffee every 30 seconds, and then top up to 500 g on the last pour.

Once complete, take the spoon and gently stir the top of the coffee mixture taking care not to disturb the bed. Thereafter, give it a gentle swirl and leave it to extract. If done correctly, when complete, the coffee bed will be nice and flat.

You could make a decent cup of coffee with a Hario V60 without a scale (as I do when I take my Hario with me on vacation), but it becomes a lot more difficult to reproduce specific taste and strength preferences.

Once the coffee has been extracted, swirl the contents of the pot to ensure that the resulting brew is consistent in strength and temperature and separate into two cups and enjoy.

Based on your taste (or the beans that you are using), you can then adjust the method slightly to dial in your perfect cup. This can be done by varying the water temperature used, the grind size and the amount of agitation which would increase extraction.

Did you find this article useful? Let us know in the comments below.