Ultimate V60 Brewing Guide
Upon non-stop recommending from us to brew your coffee quickly, easily, low cost and with great extraction with a V60, we figured we'd build a more comprehensive brewing guide for those that really want to geek out on getting the best best possible V60 brew. Whilst this can seem tedious and downright pedantic, if you've spent lots of money on some exceptional coffee, then it's worth getting the best out of it at the finish line! This is arguably THE cheapest way to brew specialty coffee, and to still a very high standard, rigorously tested by coffee experts around the world! SCA approved Q-graders drink coffee this way, and that's another dense topic in of itself.
In a nutshell, the V60 Dripper is a pour over coffee maker, was designed by the Japanese company Hario, a relatively new concept and design only hitting the market around 17 years ago. The name stems from ‘vector 60’ due to the 60º angle of the cone. The V60 enables you to brew speciality roasted coffee in your home with ease, producing lovely sediment-free coffee. This has led to it becoming the brewing method choice of many speciality coffee drinkers in the UK and the world. See more about the V60 origin story here!
Factors to control for in specialty V60 Brewing
Brewing temperatures
We want to get just the right amount of extraction of aromatic compounds and solids within the coffee, this means the temperature is crucial so we get exactly that, not too cold to dodge any decent chemical reactions, and not too hot to burn away those compounds. You can use a temperature controlled kettle to properly monitor temperature.
Your brewing temperature depends on your roast profile, lighter roasts require higher temperatures to properly properly get into the less porous coffee material, and extract the desired compounds. Guidelines below:
97 - 100°C = Light roast
93 - 96°C = Medium roast
91 - 92°C = Dark Roast
Water To Use
Often overlooked is water! Perhaps the most boring variable, but a crucial one nonetheless, given that water makes up around 98% of a cup of filter coffee! Several factors influence ideal water for coffee brewing such as hardness (limescale) mineral content, and alkalinity. For the sake of keeping it simple you can follow the guidelines below to get at least close to the perfect water for coffee brewing according to the SCA (Specialty coffee association).
If your water if soft to moderate, a simple water filter will help reduce limescale to an acceptable level. Beyond that if your water is hard, filtering can only do so much, so store bought spring water is your best bet. Unfortunately these tend to come in wasteful plastic bottle, so we recommend at least going for glass bottles for more recycling.
Grind Size
Getting the right filter grind is very important so that enough of the coffee material is exposed and ready for extraction. Too coarse and not enough is exposed, extracting less aromatics and leaving a sour acidic cup. Too fine and extraction is very slow, over extracting unwanted compounds, lots of caffeine and leaving a overly bitter cup. We want the sweet spot in between!
As annoying as this sounds, investing in a proper coffee grinder is crucial for getting the right grind size, and uniformity (all ground granules being the same size). Any disparity in grind size can usually lead to over extraction of the finer grinds, and unwanted bitterness in the cup. You can get great coffee grinders for less than £100 on Facebook marketplace with brands like Wilfa and Sage.
As a general rule of thumb, a medium fine grind is a good starting point. From there its worth dialling in. Flat, hollow, something missing? Grind finer. Bitter, astringent? Grind coarser.
Age Of Coffee
For V60 brewing, or pretty much any coffee brewing. We don't want coffee that's too old and stale, or within 48 hours of roast time! Old coffee has lost all of its unique aromatics, and generally yields and insanely boring and flat cup. Coffee that been roasted very recently within 48 hours, will yield some interesting flavours, but those aromas are actually still developing and need more time! We recommend brewing coffee over 2 days after roasting, but no longer than 30 days after roasting for the best aromatics. See our guide on how to store coffee!
Ratio
As a starting point 60g coffee/ 1 litres of water is ideal, but again, rules are made to be broken, and you may find with a particular coffee that a higher or lower ratio gets more of what you prefer!
How To Brew With V60
Now, with all of the above calibrated for whatever coffee you choose to brew with, let's explore an expert recipe for great extraction!
Method:
1. Place your V60 dripper over your cup.
2. Fold the edge of your filter paper, open and place in the V60 dripper.
3. Boil your kettle and pour the water over the filter paper.
*Tip: This will wash the filter paper, removing any ‘paper tastes’ that could be transferred to the coffee as well as pre heating your cup or coffee pot.
4. Grind 15g of our incredible speciality coffee to a medium fine grind.
*Tip: You may need to adjust this to your preference. If the coffee is coming through to weak then make the grind finer. If the coffee is dripping through to slowly you will need to make the grind courser.
5. Boil the water to corresponding temperature for roast profile.
*Tip: If your kettle is not temperature control, open the lid when boiling and when you just start to see it bubbling this is roughly 93 Degrees.
6. Place your V60 and cup on the scales add your 15g of coffee into the filter paper and then zero the scales.
7. Pour 80g of water in circles ensuring all grinds are wet.
8. Stir gently, start your timer and leave for 1 minute to bloom.
9. In a slow consistent circular motion pour in the remaining 170g of water and allow it to filter through.
10. Remember the art of coffee brewing is all about experimenting so once you find the coffee, grind and water ratio’s that are perfect for you don’t forget to write it down!
Result:
The ‘pour over’ method in the V60 enables all the large sediment particles to be separated, this will result in an easier drinking, cleaner and overall sweeter coffee.
If you have never used a V60 before, or are wanting to sample our Single Origin or Blend Coffees, with it why not chose a V60 starter pack with Cannon's flagship coffees to easily brew and find your favourite!
