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How to Brew Coffee with Hario V60 Coffee Dripper

Brewing speciality coffee is popular amongst baristas but many coffee-enthusiasts enjoy brewing lovely sediment-free coffee with a coffee dripper as well. It is a straight-forward process but just like everything else in life - practise makes perfect.

If you've watched a barista brewing coffee by hand a few times before, you might just, get away without reading any instructions or guides. However, to clear things up for the newbies, we have created straight-to-the-point instructions and called it "how to brew coffee using Hario V60 dripper guide"

What is a V60?

For those who are wondering what is a V60 dripper, here is the picture of it below. This particular coffee dripper is made of copper - a particularly high-end dripper, but they come in ceramic for maximum heat retention, cost-effective plastic, and heat-proof glass. Also, you can choose from three different sizes 01 / 02 and 03, depending on your needs.


The iconic Hario V60 Dripper
If you don't have a V60, we have a V60 Dripper Set Bundle that includes evertyhing you need to get started for a great price.

How to Brew Coffee With Hario V60 Dripper: Required Gear

You only really need a V60 dripper, filter papers and some ground coffee to brew a cup of coffee the Hario way. However, there are some additional bits of kit that will help you brew a better and more consistent cup:

  • First up you definitely need a V60 Dripper - we stock a huge range of drippers in plastic, ceramic, metal, copper and glass as well as different sizes - 01, 02 and 03 (loosely you can think of an 01 for one cup, and 02 for two cups etc)
  • V60 Filter papers to use with the dripper - these insert into the dripper and filter the water through the coffee
  • A Coffee Grinder - manual or electric; we suggest starting out with a hand grinder first. You can of course use pre-ground coffee but this can spoil in a matter of hours.
  • Some coffee scales to weigh out your coffee dose. You can still use a tradtional coffee scoop, if you need to, but it's a lot less accurate. You'll need between 16g and 18g for a cup (220ml or so) for one

You can go further and use a pouring kettle or range server, but for now those are the key bits to better control your brew.

Water

Of course you'll need water and coffee. With regards to water we suggest a fairly neutral pH water to get the most out of the coffee. Relatively hard or soft waters will strongly impact the flavour of your coffee and is one of the biggest factors when it comes to taste.

Coffee

There are a lot of roasters now offering speciality grade coffee to order online, or via online subscription. You will also be able to find coffee for sale in any of the best cafes around the world.

Popular online coffee options are:

How to Brew Coffee using V60 Dripper Guide

If you're using scales to weigh your coffee as it drips, you want to target around 220ml (220g or so). If not, stop pouring water it when the water left in the dripper will fill your cup! Pour the cold water into your cup first to check it's not too much.

  1. You'll need about 220ml water, so put at least 300ml of water on to boil so you don't run out
  2. Weight out between 16g and 18g of coffee - don't worry about too exact for your first few times. Use 1 coffee scoop's worth if you don't have scales.
  3. If you're using whole beans, grind them to a medium-coarse consistency. This can be frustrating as eventually you just get a feel for what's right. If you're starting out aim for a consistency like granulated sugar. If it looks like table salt it's a bit too fine
  4. Put your filter paper inside the dripper - most people also fold the seam over on itself
  5. Wet the inside of the filter with hot water (and then make sure all the water is out)
  6. Once boiled, let your water cool for a few minutes - just boiled water is a little too hot for optimum coffee
  7. Pour your ground coffee in to the filter + dripper, then pour a little water over to start the process
  8. After a moment, continue to slowly pour the water over the grounds in the dripper. Try to pour in to the middle and then draw an outward sprial with the water to get all the coffee extracting. Avoid pouring too much straight on to the filter paper directly.
  9. If you're using scales, stop pouring water just before the scale reads 220g (assuming your cup, dripper and coffee are directly on the scales!)

Here's a video to help you get a feel for the technique:

How to brew coffee with Hario dripper: Conclusion

The first thing to remember when brewing specialty coffee with V60 is that you must wet the V60 paper filters to ensure that none of the paper taste gets transferred to the coffee. This also pre-warms the dripper and serving vessel or cup.

Other brewing components such as the water temperature, brewing time and the amount of coffee grounds you add will also affect the final coffee taste.

Grind size plays a vital role too. If you grind the grounds coarser you will get a weaker coffee taste, but if you grind it finer then you will get a stronger taste but not always a better flavour.

It's a trial and error process before you discover the perfect coffee taste. One thing for sure, nobody in the world can make a better cup of coffee than the one you make for yourself.