How to Brew with the Hario V60 Switch
The Hario V60 Switch brews two ways in one device. A ball-bearing valve in the base holds water in the cone for full immersion steeping, then opens to drain through a standard V60 paper filter. A typical recipe is 15 g of medium-ground coffee to 250 g of water at 92 °C, steeped closed for two minutes and then released, about three minutes in total.
Most brewers make you choose. A cafetière steeps, a V60 percolates, and switching between them means owning both. The Switch is a V60 with a valve in the bottom, which sounds like a small thing and turns out not to be.
Close the valve and the cone fills up and holds. That's immersion: every ground sits in water for the same length of time, which is what a cupping bowl does and why cupping is how the trade tastes coffee. Open it and the water drains through the paper exactly as it would in a normal V60. You can do one, the other, or both in the same brew.
Why you'd want both
Immersion is even and forgiving. Nothing gets over-extracted because nothing gets more contact time than anything else, and an uneven pour matters far less when the water's just sitting there. What you give up is clarity, because the bed never gets the rinse-through that a pour-over gives it.
Percolation is the reverse: bright and clean, but it punishes a sloppy pour. Running the two in sequence, steep first and then drain, gets you most of the body of immersion and most of the clarity of filter. That's the whole argument for the Switch, and it holds up.
The recipe
15 g of coffee, 250 g of water at 92 to 94 °C. Grind medium, a touch coarser than you would for a standard V60, because the coffee is going to sit in water for two minutes and finer grounds will over-extract in that time.
1. Put the paper in and rinse it through with the valve open. Tip the water away and close the valve.
2. Add the coffee, level the bed, zero your scale.
3. Pour 50 g and leave it 30 seconds to bloom. The valve stays shut, so nothing escapes.
4. Pour up to 250 g and put the lid on if yours came with one.
5. At the two minute mark, open the valve.
6. It should finish draining by about 3:00. Give the cone a gentle swirl as it drains to level the bed.
If the drawdown takes much longer than a minute, your grind is too fine for immersion. Go coarser before you change anything else.
Which Switch to buy
If you already own a V60 you like, start with the Switch & Match base at £25. It's the valve on its own, and it turns a dripper you already have into a Switch. That's the cheapest and most sensible route in, and it's the one we'd point most people at first.
Starting from nothing, buy a set.
| Option | Price | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Switch & Match base | £25 | You own a V60 already. Best value here by a distance |
| Switch & Match Ceramic 02 | £30 | The ceramic cone on its own, to pair with a base |
| Switch & Match NEO set | £51 | Base and NEO cone together. The best all-round starting point |
| Switch & Match Ceramic set 02 | £55 | Base and ceramic cone, if you prefer ceramic on the counter |
| Switch V60 Immersion 02 | £58 | The one-piece ceramic version, nothing to assemble |
| Switch Immersion Set 02 | £75 | Dripper and matching server |
The Switch & Match system is the more interesting of the two approaches, because the base takes different cones. Buy it once and you can swap between the NEO, the ceramic, and the Mugen x Switch at £60, which puts the one-pour Mugen geometry over a valve.
Size 02 brews one to four cups and suits nearly everyone. If you're regularly making coffee for three or more, the size 03 at £55 gives you the headroom. The ceramics come in a proper spread of colours, including Canyon and Matte Navy.
It takes ordinary V60 filter papers, so there's no separate consumable to remember.
Where people go wrong
Grinding at normal V60 fineness is the big one. Two minutes of immersion at a filter grind gives you a bitter, sludgy cup and a drawdown that stalls.
The other is forgetting the valve is shut and walking off. The cone holds about 300 ml and then overflows, which you only do once.
New to pour-over generally? Our V60 guide covers the basics that carry over.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Hario Switch and a normal V60?
The Switch has a valve in the base that lets you hold water in the cone and steep the coffee. A standard V60 drains continuously.
What grind size should I use for the Hario Switch?
Medium, slightly coarser than for a standard V60, because the coffee sits in water for around two minutes.
Can I use standard V60 filter papers in the Switch?
Yes, ordinary V60 cone papers in the matching size.
How long should coffee steep in the Hario Switch?
Around two minutes closed, then open the valve and let it drain, finishing near three minutes total.
Which Switch size should I buy, 02 or 03?
02 for one to four cups, which covers most people. 03 if you regularly brew for three or more.