How to Make Pour-Over Coffee

When most of us picture “brewing coffee,” we see a slim gooseneck kettle tracing slow circles over fresh grounds—that’s classic pour-over.
If you want to make it at home, a few small details go a long way.

In this guide, you’ll learn what pour-over coffee is, the gear that actually matters, a clear step-by-step recipe, and practical tips to dial in your cup—so you can experience its clean, layered flavor and the wide range of profiles it can bring out.

What Is Pour-Over Coffee?

Pour-over coffee is a filter/drip method that relies on gravity: you pour hot water over a bed of grounds in a dripper lined with a paper filter (or a metal mesh), and the brewed coffee drips into your cup or carafe. As the water passes through, it dissolves desirable flavor compounds, yielding a cup that’s clean, transparent, and layered.

It’s a simple, classic way to brew. Your final flavor is shaped by three key factors: the coffee itself, your extraction variables, and how you pour. Typical extraction runs 1.5 – 3 minutes, letting you produce a clear, articulate cup quickly; that speed and clarity are a big part of its appeal.

That said, there’s no single “correct” time. Grind size, dripper flow rate, bed depth, and pouring strategy all change contact time and extraction. Use the principles in the tips section later on as a starting point, then adjust to your own taste.

Why Pour-Over Is So Appealing

Beyond being quick, pour-over rewards both beginners and pros with lots of fine-tuning. It’s a drip/filter method—not immersion and not high-pressure—so you can shape the cup with your pour rhythm, water temperature, and flow control to highlight a coffee’s character.

Pair that control with paper filtration and you’ll remove much of the oils and fines, which makes the cup cleaner and more layered. That clarity helps subtle notes—acidity, fruit, florals—stand out and become easier to identify.

【Related: A Guide to Coffee Flavor Wheel】

You can mix and match pour pattern, water temperature, bean variety and roast level, and grind size to create a wide range of flavor profiles with pour-over. Because there are so many controllable variables, it’s easy to tune the cup to your preference—or even your mood—which is a big reason coffee folks love this method.

Beyond the clean, nuanced flavor and endless variation, pour-over also has a ritual to it. For hands-on brewers, every step—from grinding to the final pour—feels like a small, sensory practice that’s as calming as it is rewarding.

Gear You’ll Need for Pour-Over Coffee

Pour-over is simple, but the gear aisle can feel like a rabbit hole. Here’s a clear checklist of what you actually need to get started—no fluff, just the essentials you’ll see in real-world home setups.

Coffee Grinder

Strictly speaking, you don’t need a grinder to make pour-over—you can buy pre-ground coffee and skip a step. But once beans are ground, their surface area shoots up, oxygen gets in fast, and aromatics/volatile compounds fade. To keep flavor at its best, most coffee lovers grind right before brewing. If you do buy ground coffee, be extra careful with storage so it stays fresh.

There are two main categories:

• Hand grinders — Portable, affordable, and great for small batches. They take more effort and time, and consistency might be affected by your technique.

• Electric grinders — Push-button easy with steadier grinding and the ability to grind larger amounts. They cost more, but they’re convenient for daily use.

【Related: Manual vs. Electric Coffee Grinders】

Dripper (Filter Cone)

A dripper holds the filter and grounds, and guides hot water evenly through the coffee bed while keeping grounds out of the cup. You’ll see them in ceramic, glass, plastic, and stainless steel—each behaves differently for heat transfer, heat retention, and thermal mass (how much heat the material absorbs as it warms).

• Plastic: Low thermal mass—warms quickly and steals less heat from the brew, so it interferes less with brew temperature. Downsides depend on the specific plastic; some can carry odors or off-flavors if poorly made.

• Stainless steel: Thermal behavior varies with thickness and weight; heavier builds can wick away more heat.

• Ceramic & glass: Higher thermal mass; if you don’t preheat, they can drop brew temperature noticeably at the start and reduce extraction efficiency.

Design matters too. Internal ribs/spirals help keep the paper from sealing against the dripper wall, improving airflow and drain, and they also influence how water travels across the bed. In general, fewer or smoother ribs (or none) slow the flow, increasing contact time and extraction—often giving a denser cup—but you’ll need to adjust your pouring to avoid imbalance.

Bottom line: a “simple” dripper hides a lot of variables. When choosing, consider material and rib pattern, then match your water temperature and timing to suit. For example, with ceramic or glass, preheat with hot water to reduce early temperature dips and prevent under-extraction or skewed flavor. If you want a fuller, stronger expression, a dripper with minimal ribbing can help—just manage your pour to keep the cup balanced.

Paper Filters

Paper filters sit inside the dripper to catch grounds and much of the coffee’s natural oils, giving you a clean mouthfeel and clearly layered flavors.

If you prefer a heavier, richer body, you can skip paper and use a metal mesh dripper. Because metal mesh doesn’t trap oils or the finest particles, the cup will taste fuller and more robust. (Unfiltered methods allow more coffee oils into the cup; some readers prefer to moderate that exposure.)

On the market you’ll find lots of paper types—different pulps and bleaching processes—but the biggest drivers of filtration and flow rate are thickness and density. As a rule of thumb, thicker, denser papers filter more and drain more slowly, yielding a cleaner cup. 

Kettle

The kettle is the tool that delivers hot water to the coffee bed. While any vessel that holds hot water can function, flow stability, precision, and rate directly influence extraction and, in turn, flavor. For this reason, most enthusiasts favor a gooseneck kettle.

A gooseneck’s long, narrow spout allows finer control over stream size, placement, and speed, which improves consistency and helps bring desired flavors to the forefront.

Server (Carafe)

A server simply catches the brewed coffee; any vessel works, including a mug. For more deliberate pour-over, a clear glass carafe makes it easy to watch the drawdown and overall extraction, and volume markings help track brew ratios and yield.

Coffee Scale

Used to measure the weight of coffee and water and to set an accurate coffee-to-water ratio. While some home brews are done by eye, an electronic scale is essential for those who want steadier extraction, proper record-keeping, and repeatable results.

Thermometer

Used to check kettle water or brew temperature. Not strictly essential for everyday brewing, but when testing different roast levels or fine-tuning flavor, consistent water temperature is a key driver of reliable extraction quality.

Pour-Over Brew Guide

Ready with the gear? Follow these steps.

1. Grind the coffee

Grind fresh to a pour-over-appropriate size (typically medium to medium-fine).
Using pre-ground coffee instead? Choose a bag labeled for pour-over and store it carefully to limit oxidation and flavor loss.

2. Heat the water

Pour-over isn’t a long immersion like cold brew; it extracts flavors quickly through brief contact with hot water. Hitting an appropriate water temperature is therefore crucial. (A common working range is 90–96 °C / 194–205 °F; see the temperature tips below to match roast level.)

3. Preheat the dripper and server (optional)

Depending on your setup and personal preference, you may choose to preheat the dripper and carafe. This helps minimize heat loss when brewing begins—especially with ceramic or glass—and keeps extraction more stable.

4. Add the ground coffee

Pour the grounds into the filter, then gently shake or tap the dripper to level the coffee bed.

An uneven bed can lead to uneven saturation—some areas may get over-extracted while others stay dry—resulting in poor flavor clarity and inconsistent extraction.

5. Bloom

Blooming is a key pre-step in pour-over. It allows the coffee grounds to release trapped carbon dioxide, which can otherwise disrupt water flow through the bed.

Skipping or mishandling the bloom can lead to uneven saturation and channeling—where water finds paths of least resistance—causing uneven extraction and imbalanced flavor.

A common guideline is to bloom with 2 to 3 times the weight of your coffee in water—for example, use 40–60 grams of water for 20 grams of coffee.

Bloom time isn’t fixed, but 30 seconds is typical. Extremely fresh coffee may need a bit longer, as it releases CO₂ more actively.

6. Pour

Now comes the heart of the brew: the main pour. Based on your total brew water (including bloom), add hot water either in pulses or as a continuous stream, allowing it to fully interact with the coffee bed and extract flavor and aroma compounds.

Using a scale to track each pour helps keep your brew consistent and repeatable—especially when dialing in your preferred flavor profile.

7. Remove the Drippder

Once all the water has drained through and the brew is complete, lift off the dripper and discard the filter.

8. Swirl (optional)

Give the coffee a gentle swirl in the server to mix the top and bottom layers evenly—this helps unify the flavors in your cup.

Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Tips & Tricks

Grind Size

Grind size plays a key role in extraction. The size of each coffee particle affects how much surface area is exposed to water.

Coarser grinds have less surface area and extract more slowly. Finer grinds extract faster because they offer more surface area for water to interact with.

Getting the right grind for your dripper and recipe is one of the fastest ways to improve your pour-over.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

This ratio refers to how much ground coffee you use relative to your water. It directly affects both the strength and extraction of the final cup.
With the same water volume, using more coffee generally produces a stronger brew.

For pour-over, a common starting point is a ratio of 1:15 to 1:17—that’s 1 gram of coffee for every 15 to 17 grams of water. You can adjust from there based on your preferred strength and flavor balance.

【Related: Coffee-to-water vs. Dose-to-Yield】

Water Temperature

Water temperature also affects how quickly coffee extracts. Since pour-over involves relatively short contact time, and temperature can drop during brewing (especially with ceramic or glass drippers), it’s important to start at the right temperature for your beans.

The ideal brewing range for pour-over is typically 90–96°C (194–205°F). Adjust based on roast level:

• Light roasts: Use hotter water (93–96°C / 199–205°F) to help bring out acidity and aromatics.

• Dark roasts: Go a bit cooler—90–92°C (194–198°F)—to avoid over-extraction and bitterness.

【Related: A Guide to Water Temperature for Brewing Coffee 】

Brew Time

Total brew time in pour-over is influenced by several factors: grind size, dripper design and flow rate, bed depth, and pouring style.

If the water drains too quickly into the server, extraction may be cut short—meaning less time for the coffee’s full range of flavors to dissolve into the cup.

That’s why contact time between the water and grounds matters just as much as total volume. In the next section, we’ll look at how your pouring technique directly affects this balance.

Pouring Techniques in Pour-Over

How you pour affects contact time, saturation evenness, and flow stability—all of which influence extraction and flavor. That makes pouring one of the most critical skills in pour-over brewing.

Depending on how the water is introduced to the coffee bed, common techniques include:

• Pulse Pouring

• Continuous Pouring

• Agitation

• Drip-Feed (Drip Pouring)

Each has its own purpose, and choosing the right one—or blending styles—can help bring out the best in your coffee.

Pulse Pouring

Pulse pouring means dividing your total brew water into multiple pours, rather than pouring it all at once. This allows water to pass through the coffee bed in stages, giving you more control over extraction rate and flavor clarity.

A common approach is to pour in two or three stages—say, 60/40 or 70/30 splits—adding water after the previous pulse drains partway. This method can help layer flavor and fine-tune strength.

Just be mindful: too many pulses or inconsistent flow can lead to over or uneven extraction, so pay attention to pacing and total brew time.

Continuous Pouring

Continuous pouring involves pouring steadily from start to finish without stopping. This technique uses a gentle, consistent flow to avoid disturbing the coffee bed or causing channeling (where water cuts uneven paths through the grounds and extracts inconsistently).

It’s often paired with a spiral pouring motion, helping the water evenly saturate all areas of the coffee bed and promoting a more balanced, stable extraction.

Agitation (Stirring)

Stirring is most commonly used during the bloom phase to help fully wet the grounds and reduce dry pockets, improving evenness. 

That said, agitation should be gentle and deliberate. Stirring too forcefully or deep into the bed can cause it to collapse or channel, leading to uneven extraction.

Drip-Feed (Drip Pouring)

Drip-feed pouring uses an extremely slow, fine stream or water droplets to deliver water with maximum precision. The goal is to reduce agitation and minimize channeling, allowing for tight control and layered flavor expression.

Some brewers use this method to extend or replace the bloom phase, and it’s often seen in competitions.

However, pouring too slowly can prolong brew time, increasing the risk of over-extraction—which may result in bitterness or astringency. Because of that, drip-feed is best suited for advanced users who can manage timing and flow with accuracy.

Femobook Electric Grinder

Femobook grinders are built for precision, offering ultra-fine grind adjustments with steps as small as 0.008 mm—ideal for dialing in the perfect particle size for any brew.

Designed with user-friendliness in mind, Femobook features include:

• Magnetic quick-release assembly

• Tool-free disassembly and reassembly (with no need to recalibrate the burrs)

• Straight-through grinding path for reduced retention and easier cleaning

These details make maintenance simple and help preserve the original flavor of your beans.

The Femobook A68 is the official grinder used in two of the world’s top coffee competitions. It features a large 68mm conical burr set and low RPM motor, helping prevent heat buildup that could alter flavor during grinding.

Despite its compact size, the A68 performs at a commercial level—making it a top-tier choice for both home brewers and professional baristas. Whether you're experimenting with different coffees or grind settings, it’s a powerful tool to explore the full range of flavor.