Hario V60
The V60 is a 60-degree cone with spiral ribs and one big hole at the bottom. Nothing slows the water down except the coffee bed, so your pour speed and grind size control the brew. That makes it less forgiving than a flat-bottom dripper, but it rewards you with a clean, bright cup that shows off light roasts well.
Water by roast: light 96 °C · medium 94 °C · dark 91 °C
Steps
- PrepRinse the filter with hot water, preheat the dripper and mug, then tip out the rinse water
- PrepAdd 15 g ground coffee, shake level, and tare the scale
- 0:00Bloom with 45 g waterPour gently and swirl so every ground is wet
- 0:45Pour in slow circles to 150 gKeep the stream in the middle, away from the paper
- 1:15Pour to 250 g, finishing by about 1:45
- 1:45Give the dripper a gentle swirl to flatten the bed
- 3:00Drawdown finishedAnywhere from 2:45 to 3:30 is fine. Taste before you change anything
Variations
Ultimate V60 TechniqueJames Hoffmann
A larger 2-cup brew with a swirl after the bloom and a spoon stir after the last pour. Hotter water is better, especially for light roasts
30 g · 500 g water · 95-100 °C · medium-fine
- PrepRinse filter with just-off-boil water, add coffee, make a small well in the middle
- 0:00Pour 60 g bloom water (2x the coffee weight) and swirl until evenly mixed
- 0:45Pour to 300 g over the next 30 seconds
- 1:15Pour to 500 g over the next 30 seconds, a little slower than before
- 1:45Stir once clockwise and once anticlockwise with a spoon, let it drain a bit, then swirl gently
- 3:30Aim to finish drawdown by here
A Better 1 Cup V60 TechniqueJames Hoffmann
Hoffmann's single-cup rework. Five smaller pulse pours with short pauses keep the bed hot and even at a small dose
15 g · 250 g water · 100 °C · medium-fine
- 0:00Bloom with 50 g water, then swirl gently
- 0:45Pour to 100 g, finishing by 1:00
- 1:10Pour to 150 g, finishing by 1:20
- 1:30Pour to 200 g, finishing by 1:40
- 1:50Pour to 250 g, finishing by 2:00, then swirl gently
- 3:00Drawdown should finish around here
4:6 MethodTetsu Kasuya
2016 World Brewers Cup winning method. The first 40% of the water sets sweetness vs. acidity, the last 60% sets strength. Coarse grind
20 g · 300 g water · 92 °C · coarse
- 0:00Pour 50 gA smaller first pour gives a sweeter cup, a bigger one gives more acidity
- 0:45Pour 70 g (total 120 g)
- 1:30Pour 60 g (total 180 g)
- 2:10Pour 60 g (total 240 g)
- 2:40Pour 60 g (total 300 g)
- 3:30Remove the dripper
Fix your cup
| Taste | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Sour, thin, salty | Under-extracted, drawdown too fast | Grind finer or use hotter water |
| Bitter, dry, hollow | Over-extracted, drawdown too slow | Grind coarser |
| Muddy, both bitter and sour | Uneven bed or clogged filter from fines | Swirl after the last pour, grind a touch coarser, pour gentler |
| Weak but not sour | Ratio too long | Use more coffee (try 1:15) |
| Drawdown stalls past 4:00 | Grind too fine or too many fines | Grind coarser, avoid pouring hard on the paper |
Tips
- Use a gooseneck kettle. With one large hole, a splashy pour from a regular kettle will channel and drain unevenly.
- Swirl instead of stirring when you can. A gentle swirl after the bloom and after the last pour flattens the bed so it drains evenly.
- Hot water works well here. Hoffmann uses water just off the boil for light roasts. Drop to around 90-92 °C for darker roasts.
- Change one thing at a time. Grind first, then temperature, then ratio.
- Plastic V60s hold heat better than ceramic ones unless you preheat the ceramic really well.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the filter rinse. Dry paper tastes papery and pulls heat out of the brew.
- Pouring straight onto the paper walls for the whole brew, which lets water bypass the coffee.
- Judging only by drawdown time. Two coffees can hit 3:00 and taste completely different, so taste first.
- Using a blade grinder. The uneven grind clogs the V60's single hole.
What you need
- Hario V60 dripper (02 size)
- Hario V60 02 paper filter
- Scale with timer
- Gooseneck kettle
- Burr grinder
- Mug or server