How to Make Pourover Coffee

Do you love the smell of freshly ground coffee? Have you ever wanted to compare coffees to discover the flavor nuances of each? Try making a pourover coffee and you’ll soon make this part of your morning (or weekend) coffee ritual! Popular in cafes, pourover brewing has become more popular among coffee lovers at home. Follow this step by step guide and you’ll soon discover the ease and simplicity of this classic coffee brewing method.

To begin, you’ll need fresh, ground coffee, a filter, and something to hold the filter. You can brew it over a large vessel to make a pot, or you can brew it directly over a single cup, as shown.

As the name suggests, you simply pour hot water over coffee grounds, and allow the water to drip through the grounds and into the vessel below.

GRIND IT RIGHT

Since the water will be passing through the coffee grounds and the filter, be sure to use a medium grind. Use a burr grinder to freshly grind the beans if you can, so that the grinds are cut evenly in size. Grind the coffee so that it resembles coarse salt and adjust by experimenting with your grinder settings to taste. Check out this article if you need a refresher on grinding. If you preorder your coffee already ground, choose medium ground for drip preparation.

KNOW YOUR Water to Coffee RATIO

No matter what method of coffee brewing you are using,  make sure that your coffee to water ratio is accurate. We recommend the following ratio: 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6 ounces of fresh water (one cup of brewed coffee). To make multiple cups, use this ratio to increase the amount and coffee and water needed. For example, to make 4 six ounce cups, you’ll need 8 tablespoons of ground coffee.

GETTING READY TO BREW

Use a filter that matches the size of the filter holder or slightly larger.  This may seem obvious, but it is important to note because the filter should be roughly half to two-thirds full of coffee grounds. This ensures that the water flows through the coffee at the correct rate and doesn’t overflow.

We recommend that you use fresh cold water, preferably filtered. Bring the water to a boil, remove from heat, and let it sit for about 30 seconds to one minute. The water temperature should be lower than boiling point to unlock all of the great flavors inside of your coffee, without scorching it.  Another tip is to first pour a small amount of water over the filter to rinse away that earthy paper taste, and to set the filter in place. Be sure to discard the water that remains in your mug or container, before beginning the pourover.  Then pour another small amount of water over the grounds in the filter to dampen them. Wait for about 30 seconds, and then continue pouring the water. Try to pour consistently and evenly over the grounds, preferably with a small stream of water in a circular motion. The faster you pour, the faster the water will pass through the filter and the coffee will be stronger. So you may want to experiment with the pour rate until you get the strength that you enjoy.  

8 easy Steps to making Pourover coffee 

Here is the step-by-step method for making great pourover coffee:

1. Open the filter and place in the filter holder.
2. Bring 6 ounces of cold filtered water (per cup) to a boil. Remove from heat, and let sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3. Pour a little hot water over the filter, just enough to dampen it. Pour out this water.
4. Place 2 tablespoons (per cup) of medium coarse grind Charleston Coffee Roasters coffee in the filter.
5. Gently pour a little water over the grounds to wet them, and wait for about 30 seconds.
6. Once the grounds have “bloomed”, continue slowly pouring water over the grounds in a circular motion to be sure that all of the grounds are wet.
7. After all of the water has passed through the filter, carefully remove the filter with the grounds and discard.
8. Pour yourself a cup and enjoy!

We recommend trying one of our Micro Lot single origin coffees so that you have experiment and uncover new taste experiences.  Or try our Costa Rican Tarrazu single origin with its sweet, citrus notes or our new Loggerhead Sea Turtle Blend and savor the suble notes of chocolate and caramel that shine through!