A beginner’s guide to pour over coffee makers

If you’re here, it’s probably because you love a good cup of coffee and while your favourite coffee shop never fails to disappoint, you’re starting to see dents in your wallet and are wondering – what if I could make quality coffee at home? We’re here to tell you that you can, with something as simple as a pour over coffee maker.

What Exactly is Pour Over Coffee?

So, how does pour over coffee differ from your regular cup? Rather than using granulated coffee, you’ll be grinding up your favourite fresh coffee and using a brewing system to pour hot water over the grounds.

By drizzling hot water through the grounds a little at a time, you can extract the coffee from the beans, allowing you to keep a close eye on the strength and taste of your brew.

Inexperienced coffee makers might feel daunted at the prospect of creating their own speciality coffee, but once you’ve read our beginner’s guide, you’ll have the knowledge you need to start every morning with the perfect cup.

It's not as scary as it sounds. We use the Core Pour Over, a Hario paper filter and a milk jug to pour the hot water. I know I know. Not the specialist coffee shop experience you're expecting. Where is our goose neck kettle? We do have one (and we love it), but it's unnecessary to make a single pour over coffee. 

But First, You Need Beans

You can’t create the perfect cup without good quality whole bean coffee. Speak to any coffee aficionado, and they’ll tell you that whole beans beat ground, because of the fresher your grind, the fresher the taste of your coffee.

Whole bean coffee tastes better, lasts longer and is better for the planet. It's as simple as that. Don't believe us? See for yourself - join the Whole Bean Revolution.

The beans that you choose will be down to your personal preference, and you might even want to ask the barista at your favourite coffee shop if you can buy what you usually drink. It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that although your choice of beans is important, the brew method will affect the flavour too. 

So Simple a Monkey Could do it

That’s how the phrase goes, right? Once you’ve got your pour over coffee maker, you’re only minutes away from making a barista style brew.  All you need to add is a paper filter that can fit over your coffee maker so that the flavours can enter your cup.

Boiling your water somewhere between 90 and 96 °C will give you a good temperature to start the brewing process. We recommend rinsing your filter with water a little so that it can stick to the sides of your dripper and prevent any rogue coffee grinds escaping down the sides.

Spending time blooming your coffee is important to remove gases from the grounds. Ultimately, this is going to allow the authentic flavours of the coffee to escape. After that, all you need to do is sit back and wait until your coffee has dripped down into your carafe or mug.

The more technical aspect (and we’re not sure a monkey could do this part) is recording the amount of coffee and water you use, and the amount of time you brew for so that you can know how to improve next time. You might get it right the first time, but we guarantee that after a few attempts you’ll wonder why you didn’t invest in a pour-over coffee maker a long time ago.