Brewing Guides
The Basics

Lesson 2: Optimized Pour-Over Brewing: Tailoring Techniques for Different Coffee Roasts

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General Equipment Needed

  • Pour-over brewer (such as a V60 or Chemex)

  • Filter (specific to your brewer)

  • Coffee grinder

  • Scale (MUST HAVE)

  • Gooseneck kettle (for precise water control)

  • Timer

  • Mug or carafe

Coffee

  • Fresh coffee beans (light, medium, or dark roast)

  • Grind size: Fine to medium-coarse, adjusted according to roast level. Click HERE for our Grinder Lesson

Brewing Instructions

N&R recommend a coffee to water ratio of 1:15.

Coffee Math 1:15 ratio

15g coffee = 225g water

18g coffee = 270g water

20g coffee = 300g water

25g coffee = 375g water

Step 1: Prepare Your Water and CoffeeHeat Water:

  1. Heat Water

    • Light Roast Heat water to about 205°F (96°C) to help extract the complex flavors typical of lighter roasts.

    • Medium Roast Use water around 200°F (93°C), which is a balanced temperature for extracting a wide range of flavors.

    • Dark Roast Heat water to about 195°F (90°C) to prevent over-extraction of bitter compounds.

  2. Measure Coffee Weigh out about 15 grams of coffee beans or however many grams of beans per your desired water volume (see table above).

  3. Grind Coffee

    • Light Roast Grind to a medium consistency, slightly finer than for darker roasts to aid extraction. On a scale of 1-50 where 1 is the finest setting and 50 is the most course setting, the pour-over window would be around a 20-30. Every grinder is different and has a difference way to scale the grind size, but this general rule of thumb should set you on the right path for consistency.

    • Medium Roast A medium grind also works well here but you might want to error on the courser side to prevent any bitterness.

    • Dark Roast A medium-coarse grind is ideal, slightly coarser to reduce bitterness and enhance richness and keep some acidity.

Step 2: Set Up Your Brewer

  1. Place Filter Insert the filter into your pour-over brewer. Feel free to fold the seam to enhance fitment.

  2. Rinse Filter Pour hot water through the filter to wet it and to warm the brewer and carafe/mug. Discard this water.

Step 3: Brew Your Coffee

  1. Add Coffee Add your ground coffee to the filter and gently tap to level the surface.

  2. Bloom Pour about twice the weight of the coffee in water to saturate the grounds. Let it sit for 30-40 seconds to allow the coffee to degas and fully saturate. The more time you give this, the less “work” is required from the water to promote even extraction.

  3. Begin Pouring Start a timer and pour water slowly in a spiral motion, beginning from the center and moving outwards. Aim to add water in 2-3 stages, more if you feel like experimenting.

    • Light Roast: Pour gently to avoid agitating the grounds too much, which can lead to clogging of the filter paper and under-extraction. The goal here is to get the water column flowing through the coffee grounds evenly and not through the sides of the paper

    • Medium and Dark Roasts: You can pour slightly more aggressively to ensure full saturation and extraction as the darker roasts are more soluble in water than lighter roasts.

  4. Continue Pouring: Maintain the water column until reaching about 230g grams of total water by the 2:30-3:30 minute mark.

  5. Finish Brewing: Allow all the water to drip through the filter. The total brewing time should be about 2.5 to 3 minutes.

Step 4: Enjoy

  1. Remove Brewer: Once the dripping stops, remove the pour-over setup from your mug or carafe.

  2. Serve: Pour the freshly brewed coffee into a cup.

Tips

  • Water Quality: Always use good quality water for brewing to get the best taste.

  • Pour Technique: Adjust your pour technique and speed based on the roast level to optimize extraction.

  • Adjust Variables: Experiment with different grind sizes, water temperatures, and pouring speeds to find what tastes best for each type of roast.

pour over at home