Make Your Own Pour-Over Coffee

We’ve discussed how delicious pour-over coffee can be, but making it doesn’t require a lot of special equipment like many pour-over fans assume it does. You’ll need a few things, namely a carafe, funnel, filter and some coffee, but that’s about it — you can go out and buy specific pour-over equipment, but if you’re just looking to experiment, you can probably do it with items you already have at home.

This video from our friends at America’s Test Kitchen walks you through the process using a common coffee carafe, a paper filter and filter holder (if you have a large funnel, that’s fine too), and some medium grind coffee — about two tablespoons to every 180mL of hot water — to make your morning cup. Bring your water just off the boil, about 205 degrees, and set it aside while you get ready to pour. Once your carafe and coffee are set, pour in just enough hot water for the coffee to bloom and start to release its flavour and then let it set for a moment before you pour in the rest of the water.

Using a slow, circular motion, pour the rest of the water into your filter and allow it to drain into the carafe or other vessel below. Take your time, and don’t be afraid to experiment with how fast or slow you should pour to extract as much flavour as you like in your morning cup. This runs a little contrary to the “measure everything” approach to making coffee, but there are some similarities: mostly that once you’ve dialed in what you like, you’ll want to make sure it’s consistent every time you brew.

How to Make Pour-Over Coffee [America’s Test Kitchen]