How to Make Pour Over Coffee

Have you ever wished that life could be better? Have you ever wished that you could replicate that delicious coffee shop coffee in your own home? You can, and it is so easy! Pour over coffee is all the rage in the coffee world right now and guess what? It is extremely affordable.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love coffee. Over the past five years I’ve experimented with various methods and types of coffee. In my early used of marriage I used a horrible coffee maker that leaked everywhere. I spent a few years with a French press, then I got smart and switched to pour over coffee. At first, I was intimidated at how to make pour over coffee, but it is very simple. I taught my eight year old how to make it, so I promise, you can too.

Please also note that while I used Amazon Affiliate links, these are the products that I own and have used nearly every day for years. 

The first thing you need is the coffee pot. I use a Chemex glass coffee maker everyday. There are lots of different brands to chose from, and I don’t think it makes a big difference over what coffee maker you chose. I also use an inexpensive Hario glass coffee maker. It works very well for making one cup at a time.

I started out by using the fabric filter, but I didn’t like it very much. My favorite filters for pour over coffee are these thick folded filters from Chemex. They cost more than flimsy filters at say, big box stores, but they work much better and are worth every penny. The thick paper filters out much more of the acids and it is much more sturdy than a plebeian filter. You can definitely taste the difference! In my opinion, these are the best filters for pour over coffee.

I used to use a kettle on the oven, but as we use hot water many times during the day, we switched to an electric kettle that heats to specific temperatures. It is so much faster! The kids drink a lot of herbal tea, so they can set it on a lower temperature and not have to mess with boiling water. While you can use any kettle that you’d like, a goose-neck kettle works the best for pour over coffee because the water is much more controlled and easier to pour. (I own all of the items in the product links except for this kettle- my current kettle was discontinued) 

A crucial element to a good cup of coffee is the beans. The freshest beans are the most desirable. I exclusively get my coffee from Burning Bush Coffee Roasters. It is a part of the bookstore that Matt used to manage at St Tikhon’s Monastery Bookstore. I think that using fresh beans is the most important step to the best pour over coffee.

The beans are fairly sourced from small farms and roasted by either the monks or members of the monastery community. When you buy coffee from the grocery store, it can actually be quite old already. Freshly roasted beans really do taste so much better.

When coffee beans are exposed to oxygen, they lose a lot of flavor. On the other hand, it is not good for them to be in an airtight container. Consequently, I store my coffee in a container designed to keep coffee fresh. This one is my favorite; I’ve been using it for several years.

So you went through the effort of sourcing freshly roasted coffee, now what? Do you buy the beans pre-ground? Of all that is good and true in the world, never do that. If you are going through all of the effort by buying fresh beans, would you want to ruin them? I say no.

I use this handheld coffee grinder. It is a burr grinder. You can read a lot of articles written by beautiful, beautiful coffee experts who explain that burr grinders are far superior to blade grinders. I’ll suffice to say that a burr grinder grinds much more evenly and it is easier to control the size of the grind. Most burr grinders are quite expensive, but with a little calorie burning every morning you can grind them by hand for much less. 

How to make pour over coffee

1. Prepare water for boiling
2. While it is heating up, measure your beans in the grinder. I’m a bad person and like 3 tablespoons for one extra large coffee cup. I usually run the paper under tap water for a few seconds to purify it of paper dust (OCD), then put the filter in the coffee maker.
3. When the water boils, turn it off and start grinding your beans. This serves two purposes: A) The water needs to be cooler than a full boil so this allows the water to cool down just a little while you are grinding and B) The moment that air touches the ground beans they already start losing flavor (again, read: OCD).
4. Put the ground coffee in the filter and lightly wet it with the hot water. Now you have to wait for about thirty seconds. The beans need to soak up that first splash of water so that it reaches its full flavor potential. If you look carefully, you will see the beans swelling and bubbling as they soak. If you don’t wait the coffee will be very weak. (I have lectured this to my seven year old daughter many times and she can make it like a barista now.)
5. Once the coffee has soaked up the first bit of water, you can pour over the rest of the water in a swirling motion until you reach the desired amount (can you ever really reach the desired amount?).

Why do I like putting myself through the process of making pour over coffee every morning? I am not a morning person. Why would I want to stumble out to the kitchen each morning, half alive, going through the motions of making pour over coffee- when I could just push a button? Aside from the superior taste, I love taking things slowly, Old World style (minus the electric kettle and running water). I enjoy grinding the beans by hand while the water dances in the kettle. It feels old. I like getting away from electric appliances and doing the work myself. A lovely glass jar tied with leather and wood rather looks much better on my counter than another electric appliance. I like feeling like I just created something.

I like to pair my coffee with these delicious vegan chocolate spice cookies, get the recipe here.