What You'll Need
Before you start brewing, gather these essentials:
- Hario V60 dripper (ceramic, plastic, or glass)
- V60 paper filters
- Freshly roasted coffee (we recommend 15-20g for a single cup)
- Kettle with gooseneck spout for precise pouring
- Digital scales accurate to 0.1g
- Timer
- Grinder (burr grinder preferred)
- 250ml filtered water heated to 93-96°C
The Perfect Recipe
At Southbank Roasters, we use a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio as our starting point. For a single cup, that's 15g of coffee to 240g of water. This ratio works beautifully with our single-origin beans from Ethiopia, Colombia, and Papua New Guinea.
Step-by-Step Brewing Method
1. Rinse Your Filter
Place the paper filter in your V60 and rinse thoroughly with hot water. This removes any papery taste and preheats your brewer. Discard the rinse water.
2. Grind Your Coffee
Grind 15g of coffee to a medium-fine consistency—similar to table salt. The grind size affects extraction, so adjust based on taste. If your coffee tastes sour, grind finer. If it's bitter, go coarser.
3. The Bloom Phase
Add your ground coffee to the V60 and create a small well in the centre. Start your timer and pour 30-40g of water (double the coffee weight) in a circular motion, ensuring all grounds are saturated. This releases CO2 and allows for even extraction. Wait 30-45 seconds.
4. Main Pour
Begin pouring slowly in concentric circles from the centre outward, never pouring directly on the filter. Pour to 120g by 1:15, then continue pouring to reach 240g by 1:45. Maintain a steady, controlled stream—this is where a gooseneck kettle shines.
5. Finishing
Your total brew time should be between 2:30 and 3:00 minutes. If it's too fast, grind finer next time. If it's too slow, grind coarser. Once dripping stops, remove the V60 and give your coffee a gentle swirl.
Choosing the Right Beans
The V60 method highlights the unique characteristics of single-origin coffee. Our Ethiopian beans showcase bright, floral notes with berry undertones. Colombian offerings deliver balanced sweetness with chocolate notes. Papua New Guinea beans present earthy complexity with tropical fruit hints.
Always use coffee roasted within the past 2-4 weeks for optimal flavour. We roast small batches daily using our Loring S15 roaster, ensuring peak freshness.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using boiling water: This over-extracts and creates bitterness. Aim for 93-96°C.
Inconsistent pouring: Rushing or stopping mid-pour creates uneven extraction. Maintain steady flow.
Old coffee: Stale beans produce flat, lifeless brews. Always check roast dates.
Wrong grind size: This single factor affects everything. Take notes and adjust.
Practice Makes Perfect
V60 brewing is forgiving once you understand the fundamentals. Keep a brewing journal noting your recipe, grind size, and tasting notes. Small adjustments yield big improvements.
Visit our brew bar at South Bank to watch our baristas in action, or join one of our monthly cupping events to develop your palate. We also run hands-on barista training workshops covering V60 technique in detail.
The perfect V60 is within reach—it just takes quality beans, proper equipment, and practice. Start brewing today and discover why pour-over coffee has captured the hearts of coffee enthusiasts worldwide.