Make Perfect Pour Over Coffee Every Time
Visual Marks of Success—and the Pro Tips to Achieve Them
“There’s no magic in magic. It’s in the details.”
Making pour over coffee is pretty easy. Making a perfect pour over, however, is pretty hard. Whether or not actual perfection is attainable, the idea of it—a clear and balanced coffee displaying the fullest array of flavor—drives us to pursue mastery every day. On the days our pour over coffee inches toward greatness, whether brewed in our cafes or at home, we feel pretty good.
That’s why with our home coffee rituals taking on more importance than ever, we want to share some of the pro tips and tricks our baristas learn in our training labs and in cafes, so you too can strive to make the perfect pour over coffee at home every time. With these handy reminders and benchmarks, you too will learn to spot the snags in your routine—and know how to fix them.
(If you’re brand-new to brewing your coffee using the pour over method, or you just need a refresher, we recommend you first check out our brew guide. Otherwise, read on.)
A Pour Over Done Well: Marks of Success
Without even taking a sip of your just-made coffee, a glance at the spent grounds in the dripper bed can give you an idea of whether or not the coffee is evenly extracted. Of course, taste is always the most important factor in your cup of coffee—if your single origin is gorgeously fruited, who cares what the dripper bed looks like. But if your coffee tastes muddled and you can’t figure out why, take a closer look at the dripper’s grounds following the last pour. Signs of a well-executed pour over look like this:
1. Flat Bed
The coffee grounds lie flat in the filter, no hillocks or holes.
2. Even Crust
The “crust,” or surface, of the brewed grounds has a uniform color and texture.
3. Clean Ridges
No grounds are left behind in the ridges of the filter.*
With other dripper brands (most of which are conically shaped), we recommend not pouring along the side walls to avoid underextracting the coffee. With the Blue Bottle Dripper, you want your pour to reach the side walls—rinsing the pleats to saturate the coffee fully.
Perfect Pour Over Coffee Pro Tips
The following are tips our baristas learn to fine-tune their technique. With practice, you too will achieve the pour over’s marks of success—a flat bed, an even crust, and clean ridges in the filter. Whether or not you nail it every time, we promise: your coffee will taste better thanks to the effort.
Catching the Grounds
DO
direct your pours evenly over all the grounds, taking care to catch any tucked into the edges of the filter.
DON’T
leave grounds behind in the filter ridges, where their flavors can’t dissolve. These can be easy to miss on your outer laps.
Ergonomics
DO
keep your elbow tucked in and initiate arm movement from your shoulder for maximum support.
DON’T
dip your kettle from your wrist. This will strain your wrist and slosh the water, causing an uneven pour rate.
Kettle Height
DO
keep your kettle spout 8 to 10 inches above the grounds as you pour. Holding the spout at a steady height promotes even extraction.
DON’T
hold the kettle too high (which can overagitate the grounds) or too low (where you might tap your dripper).
Pour Rate
DO practice your pour rate. To hit 10 grams of water per second, practice pouring 100 grams of plain water through an empty dripper in exactly 10 seconds. Do this a few times.
DON’T pour too quickly or too slowly. Pouring too fast can agitate the grounds and throw off the rate of extraction. Not pouring fast enough can result in an over-extracted cup. Watch your scale as you pour to time it right.
Outlook
DO go easy on yourself. Learning how to make the best pour over coffee using the Barista Method takes practice. We give our baristas many hours to get it right.
DON’T despair. As you are learning this method for perfect pour overs, you will likely lose track of the timing or weight. It’s only coffee.