Pour Over: How to Prepare Dripped Coffee

The English term pour over is used in our country as a term for regular dripped coffee. However, there are several methods to prepare filtered coffee.

What Makes Filtered Pour Over Coffee Special?

Pouring over in the coffee world is a very precise method of preparing filtered coffee. This is a method in which hot water is gradually poured over the freshly ground coffee placed in a paper filter and the coffee is slowly extracted into a cup placed under the filter holder.

Unlike French Press or classic infused coffee, often incorrectly referred to as “Turek” (*Turek – Turk – incorrect colloquial reference to Turkish coffee) in Slovakia, in case of the pour over method, the coffee extraction does not take place in the entire amount of water at the same time. We add new and fresh water to the ground coffee layer gradually, thus achieving a truly comprehensive extraction of the given lot/portion of coffee.

Whether you prepare your dripped coffee with Chemex or V60, the result is always great tasting coffee at a low acquisition costs.

Germany: the Birthplace of Filtered Coffee

As they say, there is always a woman behind everything. It was no different in the case of dripped coffee. Amelie Auguste Mellitta Bentz, who lived in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, was dissatisfied with the taste of her coffee for a long time. It was bitter and floating in it were the remains of the grounds – the extracted coffee. That’s why one day she an idea got into her head about how she could make her coffee taste better. She took a brass pot, made several holes in it with a nail, and placed a sheet of paper inside, which she had torn out of her son’s notebook. She then poured coffee into this makeshift device and poured water over it. Most likely she was satisfied with the taste of the resulting coffee, because in June 1908 she patented the paper coffee filter and the preparation method itself. And so the company Melitta was founded, which continues to operate today.

How Do You Know If This Method of Coffee Preparation is Suitable for You?

If you prefer coffee with a milder taste. In the pour over method, gravity and the weight of the water mainly affect the extraction of coffee. Unlike espresso or moka coffee, where you work mainly with pressure, filtered coffee has a milder taste in the cup with quite different nuances and an overall thinner consistency.

You like to experiment with the taste of coffee. As with most alternative coffee preparation methods, you shouldn’t miss the desire to experiment a little with dripped coffee. By trying individual coffees and recipes, which we’ll talk more about below, you can get exactly the cup of coffee you want.

You prefer easy and fast coffee preparation. With the pour over method, no coffee machine or other electricity-powered machine is needed. All you need are paper filters, a filter holder and a cup or alternatively other container to prepare your coffee in. You can even make dripped coffee on the go or even in the woods if you heat the water over a fire.

You don’t want to invest big money in expensive equipment. For convenient and elegant serving, the V60 preparation kit is affordable and contains everything you need to prepare filtered coffee. If you are a detail-oriented person and want to experiment with the above-mentioned recipes, you will definitely need a kettle with a water temperature indicator and a scale that will help you to keep the right balance between the amount of coffee and water. However, you can preparea tasty filter without them, so to speak, by eye and for a fraction of the price.

Equipment for the Preparation of Dripped Coffee

There are many devices for making filtered coffee nowadays. In addition to the classic “manual” toys, we are also talking about electrical equipment that regulate the temperature and overflow with hot water. The most famous manual pour over coffee makers in the world are undisputedly the V60 and the Chemex.

Chemex – This design masterpiece didn’t come about with the advent of modern coffee trends in the 21st century, as it might seem at first glance. This year, Chemex celebrated 80 years since its construction by German chemist Peter Schlumbohm. Its body is made of borosilicate glass, while its neck is decorated with a wooden “neckpiece.” A multi-layer filter is inserted into the top, through which the filtered coffee is then prepared. Chemex can be found in all over the world and proof of its popularity is the fact that it “starred” on the Friends series or Bond movies.

Hario V60 – The Japanese company Hario was founded already in 1921 and its main activity was the production of glass for industrial purposes. When they launched the V60 in 2005, they started a mini revolution in the coffee world. The full name of this equipment is Vector 60 and indicates the size of the angle that the dripper – the paper filter holder – forms. The dripper, usually made of plastic, ceramic or glass, has special spiral-shaped protrusions on it that help air escape during coffee extraction. A fine, thin filter is inserted into it thanks to which the coffee is extracted more quickly, thereby emphasising its fresh and sweet taste.

Prepare Delicious Dripped Coffee with the V60

We’ve prepared our favourite recipe for filter coffee via V60, using our El Salvador La Joya single origin coffee.

Amount of coffee: 16 g
Grinding thickness: coarse grinding
Amount of water: 200 ml
Water temperature: 94 °C
Preparation time: 2 minutes 40 seconds

1. As with any coffee preparation method, the quality of the water is very important in case of dripped coffee. Therefore, take the same care in choosing water as you do in choosing the coffee beans. We always recommend using filtered water, which should be heated to a temperature of approximately 94°C.

2. Place the filter in the dripper and place it on a glass teapot or cup. Then pour hot water over the entire system – both to preheat the device, but at the same time to wash the paper taste from the filter and fix it against the walls of the dripper.

3. Grind the coffee into a breadcrumb-like thickness just before brewing.

4. Pour your ground coffee into the preheated dripper with filter, place the whole machine on a zeroed scale and prepare your stopwatch. The scale, together with the stopwatch, will help you to monitor and control the whole extraction.

5. Launch the stopwatch and start pouring water from the kettle into the prepared coffee filter – approx. 30 ml so that the entire surface of the ground coffee is covered with water. This phase is called Blooming and during this phase carbon dioxide is released from the coffee in the form of small bubbles.

6. After 40 seconds, stir the coffee and start adding the rest of the water – 170 ml over a period of 2 minutes. The actual pouring of water should be controlled, i.e. a thin stream of water should be poured in a circular motion from the centre outwards. The extraction must be even, on one hand the coffee must neither drip slowly (probably too fine a grind) nor flow rapidly (too coarse a grind, or a larger amount of water in a short time).

7. We recommend to let the coffee extracted into a teapot or cup to cool and “ripen” for at least 2-3 minutes after preparation and then you can serve it.

Let’s Come Clean with…a Filter!

Filtered, dripped or pour over coffee – whatever you call it – is a really great and affordable way to make coffee. We recommend it with all ten, especially if you are not an eager espresso fan and like to experiment a little. And although the instructions for making filter coffee may seem complicated at first, believe me, you can actually make coffee through a v60 or chemex in just a few minutes. Well, cheers!

So, Are You Going to Prepare your First Filter?

For drizzled coffee preparation, we recommend choosing lighter roasts, like our singles: