How to Make Pour Over Coffee: 5-Step Recipe for Great Coffee

Pour over coffee is one of the simplest brew methods. You don’t require electricity or fancy machines. Just hot water, ground coffee, and a pour over brewer with a filter. Here’s how to make pour over coffee.

This guide is part of our How to Make Coffee series.

How to Make Pour Over Coffee

Here’s how to make a great cup of pour over coffee.

• Time to first sip: 3 to 5 minutes
• Type of Coffee: Clear, clean, and light-bodied cup
• Coffee grind: Medium coarse
• Gear required: Pour over brewer, filter, and gooseneck kettle
• Difficulty: Easy to do. Takes practice to get it just like you want it.

Here are a couple of tips for great-tasting coffee from your pour over.

• Pour Over Tip: If your coffee tastes bitter, you may need to grind your coffee beans a bit more coarsely.
• Pour Over Tip: For more flavor, grind your beans more finely or pour your water more slowly.

A pour-over coffee maker is going to require a little more time and effort than the push of a button on the drip coffee maker, so it may not be for everyone.

Expand your coffee vocabulary: Read 241 Flavorful Words to Describe Coffee

Why I Love Pour Over Coffee

But, what’s really great about this method is that it gives you total control over the brewing process so that you can customize your coffee to your own preference. Once you taste the smooth, clean, and light-bodied results, you’ll wonder why you never knew how to make coffee this way before.

When you make pour-over coffee you funnel it through the ground coffee in a cone-shaped filter where a hole (or series of small holes) slows the rate of the water as it brews the coffee.

You can choose pour-over coffee brewers in various styles, shapes, and sizes. Some are small devices that you place over a single mug or carafe. Others are built right onto the top of a carafe, but they all basically work the same way.

Pour Over Coffee Recipe

1. Heat your water
2. Setup Your Mug/Maker/Filter
3. Add medium/coarse ground coffee
4. Slowly pour a little hot water
5. Pour the rest of the water

Here are the details for each step.

1. Heat your water

Heat your water to the boiling point, let it sit off the heat for about 30 seconds.

2. Setup Your Mug/Maker/Filter

While your water is heating, place your pour over coffee maker over your mug, or whatever carafe you’re using.

Put your paper filter (if needed) into the pour over maker.

3. Add Ground Coffee

Add medium/coarse ground coffee into the filter. You’ll use about 2 to 3 tbsp for each cup.

Gently shake the pour over maker so the grounds even out.

4. Slowly pour a little hot water

Slowly pour a little hot water over the grounds in a circular motion and wait about 30 seconds for the coffee to bloom.

5. Pour the rest of the water

Pour the rest of the water over the grounds, slowly in a circular motion.

To get your brew just right for you, you’ll need to experiment a few times with the water temperature, grind size, water/grind ratio, and pouring rate.

But, once you find your sweet spot, you’ll love your coffee.

How to Make Coffee with a Pour Over (Video)

Making pour over coffee is pretty easy. The following video will show the basics of brewing with a pour over.

Curious about other specifics for fine-tuning your brew mix? Here’s how to make coffee taste good.

Pour over is one of many ways to make coffee while camping.

Your Turn

Have a tip to share about how you make your pour over coffee? Please share so other coffee lovers can try your tricks for great coffee.