Coffee

Brewing Pourover Coffee for the First Time Using the V60

Andrew Ku

— 2 min read
Brewing Pourover Coffee for the First Time Using the V60
The final product from using all of my new coffee toys for the first time. Please excuse the mess.

My coffee making supplies finally all finished arriving today and I am very excited to brew my first cup of coffee. To preemptively celebrate, I enjoyed a can of room temperature Trader Joe's Black Cold Brew in the early afternoon while I waited for UPS to deliver. Dopamine for the win!

Here's my Setup:

  • Beans: Kirkland Signature Colombian Supremo Whole Bean Coffee, 3 pounds
  • Grinder: Kingrinder K6 Manual Hand Coffee Grinder
  • Dripper: Hario v60 Glass Coffee Dripper
  • Filter: Cafec Abaca Coffee Paper Filter, V60 02 Style
  • Kettle: OXO Brew Gooseneck Electric Kettle. Stainless Steel, 1L
  • Scale: Greater Goods Precision Coffee Scale with Timer
  • Mug: Bodum Duoro Double Wall Mug, 0.4L/ 13.5oz

Method: James Hoffman 2023 V60 method

  • 15g of coffee beans
  • 250g of water at 100°C
  • 100g, 50g, 50g, 50g pours - I didn't quite follow Hoffman's instructions here 😂

Mistakes Were Made:

  • I did not grind all of my beans... some beans were still in the chamber of my grinder when I cleaned it out. I saved them and will measure them on my scale tomorrow for scientific reasons.
  • I did not quite follow Hoffman's instructions. I was too heavy handed with my first pour, so I rolled with the punches.
  • After pouring the grounded up beans into the filter, I did not make a circular mound in the center prior to pouring. I'll remember that important bit the next time.
  • I did not prewet the filters or preheat the dripper. I unboxed them, and gave the dripper a rinse. 
  • I did not mountain fold my Cafec paper filter prior to brewing, but I'll do so next time.

Challenges I Faced:

  • I was very careful taking the coffee beans out of the three pound bag that Costco sells them in, because I did not want any spills or drops. I was scooping them with my hands too generously and had to return some in the bag. The beans made my hands quite oily and I did not want to do anything else until I washed my hands with soap and water. Next time, I'm using a scooper tool.
  • During the brewing process, I had a difficult time keeping my eyes on the pour and keeping my eyes on the scale. I figured that this showed my inexperience more than anything, but I would try to pour slower and with a purpose to fully evenly distribute water to the coffee bed.
  • Cleaning Up, I had all these new toys but no real way to store them properly, so into a spare dish drying rack they went. Time and more familiarity will allow me to set up and break down faster.
  • Spills! I tried not to make a mess everywhere and I was pretty good at it. I should have sprayed or stirred a little bit of water into my whole beans before I grinded them because static electricity is real even with hand grinders. I had some coffee grounds scattered around while I tried to get most of it into the brewer while also getting none it anywhere else. I also made some countertop but a paper towel made light work of it.

Closing Thoughts:

I'm quite proud of my first ever cup, even though I made a handful of errors. Looking forward, my goal is to make less mistakes after every cup. Continuously working on my pour, setup and clean up, will result in dividends a thousandfold.

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