The Hario V60 is one of the most dominant manual pour-overs, commonly found in kitchens, cafes and brewing competitions. It’s the brewer that has won the most World Brewers Cup (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021), yet is also a favorite of home baristas.
With so many professional baristas using the Hario V60, a number of different ways to brew with the pour-over have been developed. Here are some of the most popular (and most flavorful) pour-over brewing methods and recipes for the Hario V60.
In This Guide:
Accessories Needed When Brewing With the Hario V60
Brewing with the Hario V60 (and most manual pour-over coffee drippers) requires the coffee maker itself, a gooseneck kettle, a filter, and a mug of some sort. Any brew will taste best with freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee, as well.
Hario makes its own brand filters, but Kalita and Cafec filters also work with the Hario model. Some baristas prefer the other brands’ filters, especially in recent years as Hario’s quality has diminished according to some.
In order to practice the brewing techniques below, you’ll want additional equipment that provides more consistency and control when brewing. A timer, scale and temperature-control kettle should round out the desired equipment.
Hario V60 Brewing Equipment
| Essential | Beneficial |
| V60 Pour-over | Burr Coffee Grinder |
| Paper Filter | Kitchen Scale |
| Gooseneck Kettle | Timer |
| Coffee | |
| Mug |
How to brew with a Hario V60 coffee dripper
All pour-over recipes either build upon or modify a fairly standard pour-over brewing process. The basic foundation for Hario V60 brewing is:
- Place the paper filter in the brewing funnel.
- Add (freshly ground) coffee and level.
- Pour hot (boiling) water.
- Maintain a particular rate and pattern while pouring.
- Allow the brew to finish dripping.
- Remove mug, and enjoy.
Recipes add more specifics, often stipulating grind size, dosing ratio, temperature, and pouring technique.
Hario’s Officially Suggested Brewing Recipe
Hario, of course, has an official brew recipe that’s outlined in its owner’s manual. This isn’t necessarily the best way to brew coffee with the Hario V60, but it’s a decent starting point.
The official recipe isn’t as complex as some that others have developed. Consider this as a basic process that you can experiment with and modify yourself. It’s also a good method if you don’t have the additional equipment needed for accurately following the other recipes.
Grind Size: Medium-Fine
Ratio: 1:12 (12g coffee / 120g water)
Brew Time: 3 minutes
- Place the paper filter in the dripper.
- Place 12 grams of coffee in the dripper.
- Shake lightly to level the grounds.
- Begin the initial brief pour with boiling water in the center.
- Continue the pour moving outward with concentric circles.
- Allow the grounds and filter to bloom for 30 seconds.
- Continue pouring in the same center-out circular motion.
- Remove your mug when the brewed coffee finishes dripping.
The bloom is important even if you aren’t using freshly roasted coffee, as it provides time for the grounds and filter to dampen. Take care to not pour directly on the filter when making the largest circles.
Tetsu Kasuya’s V60 “4:6 Method”
Tetsu Kasuya won the World Brewers Cup in 2016 while using the ceramic Hario V60. His unconventional technique is designed to control sweetness/acidity and strength.
The pouring technique forgoes any blooming phase, and instead involves ~5 distinct pours:
- The first two pours (40 percent of the water) control sweetness and acidity. A longer first pour and shorter second one will emphasize sweetness over acidity. A shorter first pour and longer second one will emphasize acidity more.
- The latter pours (60 percent of the water) control strength. More pours make the brew stronger, and fewer pours make it weaker. Tetsu’s recommendation is three pours for a full-bodied and strong cup, but you can use only one or two. (These are in addition to the first two pours.)
Grind Size: Coarse
Ratio: 1:15 (20g coffee / 300g water)
Brew Time: 3 minutes, 30 seconds
- Place the paper filter in the dripper.
- Pour hot water to preheat the dripper and rinse the filter.
- Place 20 grams of coffee in the dripper.
- Begin pouring 300 grams of water in concentric circles.
- Break the water up into ~5 fairly quick pours.
- Wait 45 seconds between each pour.
- Remove your mug when the brewed coffee finishes dripping.
Adjust the pours according to Tetsu’s guidance on their impact noted above. Tetsu himself used a ceramic Hario V60 Size 02 with modified spiral ridges. The Size 02 model is readily available.
James Hoffmann V60 Recipe
James Hoffmann won the World Barista Championship in 2007, and has since become one of the most widely recognized coffee experts. Like the experiments in many of his YouTube videos, his Hario V60 recipe is similarly fastidious. This is literally the most hands-on technique.
Grind Size: Medium-Fine
Ratio: 1:16.7 (30g coffee / 500g water)
Brew Time: 3 minutes, 30 seconds
- Place the paper filter in the dripper.
- Pour hot water to preheat the dripper and rinse the filter.
- Place 30 grams of coffee in the dripper.
- Pour 60 grams of water.
- Swirl the dripper until the coffee-water slurry is consistent and even.
- Allow the coffee to bloom for 45 seconds (start the timer at step 4).
- Pour 300 grams of water in concentric circles over 30 seconds.
- Pour 500 grams of water in concentric circles over 30 seconds.
- Gently stir both directions to get grounds off from being stuck to the filter.
- Swirl the brewer to even out the slurry.
- Remove mug at 3:30, hopefully with the drips finishing at this time.
This is a technique that can only be completed with a gooseneck kettle, a timer and a stirring implement. A wooden paddle is preferable, as it doesn’t conduct heat nearly as much as metal.
Hoffmann himself uses the plastic Hario V60 with Hario’s Drip Decanter. Plastic will conduct heat less, and Hoffmann emphasizes keeping the brew as hot as possible. Plastic is also more durable when moving the dripper around so much.
Scott Rao V60 Recipe
Scott Rao is a roaster, author and former cafe owner who’s well known within the coffee industry. His was one of the first highly specific Hario V60 recipes, and it’s evident that James Hoffmann built upon this foundation.
As one of the first to develop a specialized V60 brewing method, Rao had little precedent to build upon. He updated his original method a couple of years ago. Below is Scott Rao’s new brewing recipe.
Grind Size: Medium Fine
Ratio: 1:17 (20g coffee / 340g water)
Brew Time: 4 minutes, 30 seconds
- Place the paper filter in the dripper.
- Pour hot water to preheat the dripper and rinse the filter.
- Place 20 grams of coffee in the dripper.
- Pour 60 grams of water.
- Gently stir so that all grounds are wet within 10 seconds.
- Allow the coffee to bloom for 45 seconds (start the timer at step 4).
- Pour 150 grams of water in concentric circles (total will be 210 grams)
- Wait until the water recedes to half of the pour’s level.
- Pour 130 grams (remaining amount) of water in circles.(total will be 340g)
- Gently stir to get grounds off from being stuck to the filter.
- Swirl the brewer to even out the slurry at 1 minute 45 seconds into brewing.
- Remove mug when the drips finish.
Rao also strongly recommends the plastic Hario V60 on account of its heat retention, and because you can move the dripper without burning yourself. The exact amounts and time can vary slightly if you use a different pour-over, but these ratios should hold true across models.
Osmotic Flow Method for V60
The osmotic flow method is an old Japanese way of brewing pour-overs, yet holds its own against the more recent innovations. This method uses a fundamentally different extraction method, and thus has a substantially different technique. It’s especially good for smaller batches.
Grind Size: Coarse
Ratio: 1:15 (20g coffee / 300g water)
Brew Time: 3 – 4+ minutes
- Place the paper filter in the dripper.
- Pour hot water to preheat the dripper and rinse the filter.
- Place 20 grams of coffee in the dripper.
- Pour 50 grams of water.
- Allow the coffee to bloom for 45 seconds.
- Slowly pour half of the water in the center.
- Slowly pour the other half of the water in a medium circle.
- Remove mug after coffee finishes dripping.
The pouring technique only uses a single medium circle, with half of the water being poured in the center. All pouring should be slow and with the kettle’s spout close to the grounds, so the grounds aren’t disturbed much at all. The pour rate should mirror the rate at which water is dripping through the grounds.
Cafec has recently branded this technique “osmotic flow,” but the method has been in use for a long time.
Onyx Coffee Lab V60 Method
Onyx Coffee Lab has a slightly modified osmotic flow method for brewing with the Hario V60.
Grind Size: Medium-Fine
Ratio: 1:15.7 (15g coffee / 250g water)
Brew Time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
- Place the paper filter in the dripper.
- Pour hot water to preheat the dripper and rinse the filter.
- Place 15 grams of coffee in the dripper.
- Pour 50 grams of water.
- Gently stir to break up any clumps of grounds.
- Allow the coffee to bloom for 30 seconds.
- Quickly pour 100 grams of water in small, tight circles.
- Quickly pour 100 grams of water in the center at 1 minute 30 seconds.
- Remove mug at 2 minutes 30 seconds, hopefully with the drips finishing at this time.
The brew time can range from 2 minutes to 3 minutes with some coffees, but most should be brewed at 2 minutes 30 seconds. All of the circles poured are very close to the center, and pour rates are quite fast.
Troubleshooting Your V60 Brew
What is the Best Grind for Hario V60?
The standard grind for Hario V60 is medium-fine, about what you’d use for a cone drip. Several specialized recipes use a medium-coarse grind and adjust the pour, however.
If you’re confident in your pouring technique, brew time is a good indicator of grind. A grind is slightly too fine if dripping continues past the target time, and too coarse if dripping creases prematurely.
Why Does My V60 Taste Bitter?
Bitter coffee is an indication of over-extraction. This could be caused by a grind that’s too fine, too many grounds, or a pour that’s too slow or not moved enough. Play with these variables to see what adjustments have the biggest improvement.
Why Does My V60 Taste Sour?
Sour coffee is an indication of under-extraction. This could be caused by a grind that’s too coarse, too few grounds, or a pour that’s too fast. Play with these variables to see what improves the flavor.
Why Does My V60 Taste Watery?
Watery coffee is often caused by issues similar to those that create sour coffee, and the two frequently occur together. It’s possible, however, to have coffee that’s watery but not sour.
Watery coffee could be caused by too coarse of a grind, too few grounds, or a pour that’s too much located in one place and too fast. Make changes accordingly.
How Do You Use a Hario V60?
The generalities of brewing with a Hario V60 are the same as brewing with any manual pour-over. Set the dripper in on a mug. Place the filter and grounds in the dripper. Pour hot water in a particular way. Wait to finish dripping.
The specialty recipes listed above have more detailed specifics that make adjustments.
Why is My V60 Bed Muddy?
A muddy coffee bed is created when the grounds become agitated and float on the top of the brew. The coffee likely also takes too long to complete brewing, and the resulting brewed coffee is usually bitter and not complex.
The most common cause of a muddy bed is a grind setting that’s too fine, as finer grinds are lighter and thus float/become dislodged more easily. It’s possible that the water is hitting the grounds too forcefully, either because the pour rate is too fast or the pour is too high.
How Do I Get a Flat V60 Coffee Bed?
If a coffee bed becomes concave, you can partially address the issue by pouring in more concentric circles. Even then, you often won’t have a perfectly flat bed.
You can additionally gently stir or swirl the grounds. Swirl only if you have a plastic V60 or a decanter, so you don’t burn yourself. A wooden spatula is preferable for stirring, as it won’t conduct heat as much. A warmed metal spoon also works.
Scott M. Brodie has over 20 years of professional experience working in coffee shops and writing about coffee (including selling superautomatic machines). When not writing, he can usually be found roasting a new African single origin or composing a fictional work.