Pour-over rewards precision more than any other brew method, and precision starts with three numbers: your ratio, your grind and your water temperature. Set those and the rest is a calm four minutes.
Start at 1:16
Sixteen grams of water for every gram of coffee – 25 g of grounds to 400 g of water fills a large mug. Stronger or weaker is a matter of taste, but change the ratio one point at a time and keep notes.
Grind medium, adjust by taste
Aim for coarse sand, not powder. If the cup tastes sour and the drawdown races, go finer; if it tastes bitter and the water pools, go coarser. One click at a time – your grinder chart is a starting point, not a law.
Water just off the boil
Ninety-two to ninety-six degrees suits most roasts. No thermometer? Boil the kettle and count thirty seconds. Light roasts like the hot end, dark roasts the cool end.
Bloom, then pour in circles
Wet the grounds with twice their weight in water and wait thirty seconds – the fizz is trapped gas escaping. Then pour slow spirals from the centre out, keeping the bed level. Finish by three minutes thirty; taste; adjust one variable; repeat tomorrow.
