A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique

The technique is written out below, let me know how you get on with it!

The 1 Cup V60 Method
15g ground coffee
250g soft, filtered water, freshly boiled (for lighter roasts)
Grind: medium-fine

0m00s: Pour 50g of water to bloom
0m10s - 0m15s: Gently Swirl
0m00s - 0m45s: Bloom
0m45s - 1m00s: Pour up to 100g total (40% total weight)
1m00s - 1m10s: Pause
1m10s - 1m20s: Pour up to 150g total (60% total weight)
1m20s - 1m30s: Pause
1m30s - 1m40s: Pour up to 200g total (80% total weight)
1m40s - 1m50s: Pause
1m50s - 2m00s: Pour up to 250g total (100% total weight)
2m00s - 2m05s: Gently swirl
Drawdown should finish around 3:00, but expect some variance here. Taste is the most important thing!

(Apologies for the strange time formatting in the recipe, if I don't do it this way YT will create weird chapters in the video)

0:00 Intro
0:43 The Technique Walkthrough
5:34 The Technique Explanation

Links:

My Books:

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[jameshoffmann]

A few quick bits: Firstly - it appears I've ended up in a similar place to Matt Winton's Five Pour Technique. I was aware of Matt's work, but hadn't watched this video recently, and I think we've just worked our way to similar techniques independently. Shout out to Matt for getting there first!
Secondly - excuse the error at 10:13 where I say "Don't be afraid of going a bit coarse" when I meant "finer. Apologies!
Third - regarding preheating with the hot water tap: There's clearly a lot of variation out there on this front, and I could well have made a mistake here. It might be better to use a kettle. I'd recommend transferring the V60 to the sink before adding the water, to slow its exit from the cone, which helps do more heating up with less water.

[FreshApplePie]

1 Cup V60 Technique
15g Ground Coffee, 250g Water

Try to use best possible quality of water
Try to use water as hot as possible after boiling
Use swirling motion, aim for 5g/sec Pour rate
Try to keep spout close to surface

1. Preheat and Rinse (Plastic) Brewer and Filter with Hot tap water (Hot to Touch)
2. Dig a mound in the middle of the Ground Coffee
3. Zero/Reset Scale with Brewer and Ground Coffee
4. Boil Water

0:00 : Approx. ~50g Bloom Pour
0:10 - 0:15 : Gentle Swirl
0:00 - 0:45 : Bloom
0:45 - 1:00 : Pour to ~100g Total
1:00 - 1:10 : Pause
1:10 - 1:20 : Pour to ~150g Total
1:20 - 1:30 : Pause
1:30 - 1:40 : Pour to ~200g Total
1:40 - 1:50 : Pause
1:50 - 2:00 : Pour to ~250g Total
2:00 : Gentle Swirl, Wait for drawdown to Complete

Total Brew Time: Approx. ~3:00, YMMV; Adjust Grind if necessary for Taste/Time
Too Fast/Acidic = Finer
Too Slow/Bitter = Coarser

[seihyuni]

Loving this new POV style of brewing with the time stamps on screen along with James’ commentary. Very helpful for visual and auditory learners. It also helps reduce a lot confusion that comes with new coffee tutorials. Thank you!

[MrBaz]

For those on spectrum a bit more clean version of the description:

0:00 Pour 50g of water to bloom
0:10 - 0:15: Gently Swirl
0:45 - 1:00: Pour up to 100g total (40% total weight)
1:10 - 1:20: Pour up to 150g total (60% total weight)
1:30 - 1:40: Pour up to 200g total (80% total weight)
1:50 - 2:00: Pour up to 250g total (100% total weight)
2:00 - 2:05: Gently swirl
Drawdown should finish around 3:00

[wiremonkeyshop]

I have a ceramic V60 and came up with a simple way to preheat it. Rinse filter in the V60, then put it in the microwave for 15-20 secs. It works a charm. I try to avoid plastics whenever possible. Great video, James. Cheers!

[lukipedia]

Just made my first cup with this technique, James, and the results were fantastic! I'm excited to test the consistency of this technique as that's what I've always struggled with when making small brews using the varying V60 recipes out there: I'll make a great cup, then a not-great cup, then a great cup, then a confusing cup, and so on.

Wow. I've just begun my coffee journey 15 days ago with a Hario V60 set, a 1Zpresso JX-Pro and a good kettle. I've tried your original recipe and others aswell (Winton, Rao etc.). A few minutes ago I tried this one and I'm currently tasting my best cup of coffee so far. Thank you, James!

[Snarea]

This makes me SO happy. This is almost exactly how I modified your original V60 recipe for my daily pour-over! *Only difference is that I wasn’t doing the pauses. I just pour slowly enough to hit literally those exact times/weights through the pour. 😍

[prairieGhostCat]

I just tried this - my first time brewing with a V60. Coffee turned out delicious - smooth, flavorful and enjoyable to drink. I have an insufferable sweet tooth and like to add sugar to my coffee - didn't really need to with this. Thanks a bunch for the clear directions and easy to follow technique!

[Atticus]

I didn't even get the grind right for the first try and it was still a better cup than I've been making lately. Thank you so much for this!

[jaclynhammond]

Wow! I had no idea 🤷🏻‍♀️. I usually drink instant coffee, but yesterday I was at a store called Daiso and saw these interesting pour over coffee brewers for your mug. I thought it looked easy enough, and purchased a cute one that matched a mug I had at home. I just went on YouTube to see how it’s used. And wow, more than meets the eye 😅

[wonnor]

Your original V60 video was what led me to your channel a couple months ago. My uncle recommended I get a V60 after really enjoying the coffee he made with his. After watching many guides, I decided I liked your technique best and I got great results, but I usually only make coffee for myself so I'm very excited to try this new method! I've wanted to get into coffee as a hobby for a few years now and the affordability of the V60 and your videos have greatly helped me on my first foray into coffee so it's great to see you revisiting the technique.

[In_MT]

I had been using your previous V60 technique, with great success. I tried this new technique with a 30 grams/450 Grams recipe and the flavor profile produced was greatly improved. Lots of different notes and perfect extraction.

[heartsandscissors]

For preheating my ceramic V60, I do similar to what Flair suggests for preheating their brew heads, which is sticking it on the top of the kettle while you boil the water and pop the kettle lid on top of the V60. This lets the steam do the work, with no extraneous wasted water.

[smokebelch]

Regarding using hot tap water, I boil the kettle with an extra 100g of water for preheating. Otherwise in my instantaneous hot water system I have to run the tap for around 15-20seconds to get hot water through to the tap, maybe dumping 0.5 - 1 litre of water down the drain in the process. So tap water is probably fine if you’re always using the hot tap and always have instant heat.

[Baaagel]

I am indeed one of those people that have struggled with the 1-cup V60 for a while. Not just your recipe either. Ever since you made that first technique video, my 2-cup brews were always great tasting, but the 1-cup ones never quite felt right. Definitely gonna try this.

[gtrdn]

Just tested this and it worked really well for me - I got a very balanced cup and may change my current recipe to this one, depending on the coffee beans.

I tend to like a little bump on the acidity and I found my current recipe can get there. I stopped blooming for a while already since my cups were not opening as much as I wanted when blooming like most of recipes recommend. For those who are interested in a recipe without blooming that may get you a good coffee:

- Same grind of the video
- Same proportions of water/coffee.
- Instead of dividing by 5 pours, do 3 instead - Eg for 18g coffee and 300g water, do 3x 100g pours (the first pour is the "bloom on steroids")
- Wait 30-45 seconds between them - This depends on the beans. I adapt this every time I start a fresh bag of beans, some percolates slower than other using the same grind setting.
- Recipe should finish up in more or less 2'30'' - If it finishes too early (<2''), grind a bit finer or increase the pause time between pours. If it takes much longer (>3''), grind a bit coarser or decrease the pause time between porus.

If you tried, let me know if you enjoyed it 😀

[plotdot]

I’ve been using this technique for two weeks and gradually adjusting my grind and pour. I just made the best cup of coffee I’ve ever made at home. If anyone else has the Wilda Uniform grinder, mine is set at 22. Anything smaller leads to a brew time longer than 3m30s.

Thanks for this, James!

[StrawberryPavlova]

I have been using your V60 technique for 3+ years now and it consistently gives very delicious and satisfying results. Thank you.

[ThomasDwyer]

_Hoffmeister Procedure for V60 Dripper Coffee Brewing:_
1. Prepare Coffee Grounds and Water:
---Use 15 grams of coffee grounds and 250 grams of water.
---The coffee grounds should be light roast and finely ground.
2. Preheat the Dripper:
---Use a plastic V60 dripper for better heat retention.
---Rinse the filter paper and preheat the dripper with hot water from the kitchen faucet.
---Ensure the dripper is sufficiently preheated (it should be uncomfortable to touch).
3. Boil the Water:
---Boil the water to 100°C.
---Use soft, filtered, and clean water.
---Prepare the Coffee Grounds:
4. Pour the coffee grounds into the dripper.
---Create a small crater in the center of the grounds.
---Set Up the Scale:
5. Place the dripper on an electronic scale.
---Zero the scale.
---Bloom the Coffee:
6. Pour 50 grams of water over the coffee grounds.
---Lightly stir to ensure all grounds are wet.
---Let the coffee bloom for 45 seconds.
---Add Water in Increments:
7. Pour 50 grams of water every 10 seconds using a gentle circular motion.
---Pause for 10 seconds after each pour.
---Continue until you reach a total of 250 grams of water.
---Maintain a pouring speed of about 1 second per 5 grams.
8. Swirl the Dripper:
---Gently swirl the dripper to ensure even extraction.
---Ensure the liquid does not reach the rim of the dripper.
---Complete the Brew:
9. Let the water drain completely.
---The total brewing time should be about 3 minutes.
---Adjust Grind Size if Necessary:
---If the brewing time is too fast or slow, adjust the grind size accordingly.
---Ensure the coffee grounds are not too fine or too coarse.
10. Serve and Enjoy:

Explanatory Notes
---Grind Size: The grind size should be finer than usual for V60 but not extremely fine. For light roasted beans, a finer grind extracts more flavor. For dark roasts, grind them coarser.
---Preheating: Preheating the dripper with hot water helps maintain the brewing temperature.
---Blooming: Blooming releases carbon dioxide from the coffee grounds, allowing for better extraction.
---Pouring Technique: Using a circular motion and pausing ensures even distribution and agitation of the coffee grounds, resulting in a balanced extraction.
---Swirling: Swirling the dripper ensures even extraction and prevents channeling.
---Adjustments: If the coffee is hard to drink, check the grind size, grind quality, water quality, and coffee beans. Adjust the grind size if necessary to avoid over-extraction or under-extraction.
---By following these steps, you can brew a delicious cup of coffee using the V60 dripper.