Brewing coffee with a Hario v60 brewer, also simply called a filter cone, is an exquisite pleasure! You have everything under control, right in front of your eyes, and it smells heavenly. That is why it is one of my absolute favorite ways to brew coffee, and it’s simple. It doesn’t require a lot of equipment to get started.
What you will need:
- A coffee dripper (Hario v60) size 2
- Appropriate paper filter
- A good and precise scale, preferably with a timer
- Freshly ground coffee
- A carafe or pot
- Hot water, from a kettle, preferably filtered water, as it provides the best experience.
There are many opinions about water temperature, amount of coffee, etc. I won't go into that, but I will offer my take on how I like coffee from a Hario v60 best.
I use 32 g of freshly ground coffee to 600 g of 94℃ hot water. And it all needs to run through the filter in under 3 minutes. Simple, right?
Procedure, with tricks:
- Grind the 32 g of coffee on your grinder at a medium-fine setting. It should not be as fine as for a drip coffee machine and not as coarse as for a French press. But something in between. On my Fellow Ode Brew, it is at setting 5.
- Place the filter in the coffee dripper and pour the hot water through so the entire filter becomes soaked. This way, you don't waste the delicious coffee drops on softening the filter, and you get a more uniform extraction during brewing. You don't need the water for anything, so you should pour it out.
- Pour your coffee into the filter so it forms a small peak in the center.
- Place the dripper on your carafe and set the whole thing on your scale.
- Now zero the scale.
- Now, in a calm motion, pour approx. 60-80 g of water into the filter over 15 seconds so that all the coffee gets wet. Let it "bloom" (develop) for 30-40 seconds.
- Now pour the remaining water through the filter using circular motions so that water covers everything. This should be done in 2-3 pours. Let the coffee have time to pass through the filter before you add more water.
- If your coffee scale has a timer, use it for the entire process. It should take under 3 minutes from when you start the bloom until you are out of water. Tip: if it takes longer, your coffee is ground too fine, and if it takes shorter, it is ground too coarse.
This is my take on a good brew using a Hario v60 filter. There are many other takes from many other coffee shops, baristas, and coffee experts. The important thing about the brewing method is that you understand what is happening and how you can "fine-tune" your process based on your experience. Go explore the world of coffee and let yourself be inspired by others.
Enjoy!
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