Filter compass & recipes
Pour Over Mastery
From Hoffmann's V60 to Kasuya's 4:6. Pick a recipe, scale it to your dose and brew along with the step-by-step timer.
How did your coffee taste?
Tap the square that matches. The pink one is the goal.
Your fix appears here
- 1Brew a cup and taste it as it cools.
- 2Tap the square that matches.
- 3Change one thing, brew again, repeat.
Your Recipe
Adjust your recipe below, or click a method to load it. Use a scale with timer for precision.
Coffee
grams coffee
Ratio
Water
grams water
Your Coffee
Enter what you know about your coffee for personalized tips.
The Three Most Important Ingredients
You don't need to buy a new dripper. With any V60, Chemex or other pourover you can make delicious coffee, as long as you focus on these three things.
Water
98% of your cup is water. Bad water = bad coffee, regardless of your grinder or beans.
Filters
Good filters absorb fine particles without clogging. Bad filters slow everything down.
Grinder
The size distribution of your ground coffee determines how water flows through it. A good burr grinder is essential.
Water: 98% of Your Cup
You can have the most expensive beans and grinder, but with bad water everything tastes flat and dull.
TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)
Flat, empty
Balanced
Muted acids
Chalky, flat
Magnesium (Mg²⁺)
Extracts fruity acids, enhances brightness and complexity.
Calcium (Ca²⁺)
Extracts body and heavier notes. Chocolate, nuts.
Bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻)
Buffers acids. Too much kills brightness.
Too hard water (>150 ppm)
Many minerals, especially calcium and bicarbonate, make your coffee dull, chalky and extinguish all delicate flavors. You only taste the most heavily fermented coffees.
Ideal water (50-100 ppm)
A bit of minerals (magnesium, calcium) help extract flavors from your coffee. Bicarbonate around 10-40 ppm provides balance without muting the acids.
Filters
Filters can make 30+ seconds difference in your brew time, even with exactly the same coffee and grind size.
Avoid
Hario branded filters (with tab) often cause slow flow and clogging.
Recommended
Cafec T90 (medium dark) or Abaca filters. Good balance between price and quality.
Premium
Sibarist filters from Barcelona. Expensive, but the most consistent fibers and pores.
Grinding
You don't need to buy a new grinder. With a few tricks you can get more out of what you have.
Slow feeding
Tilt your hand grinder almost horizontal while grinding. The beans will drip slowly into the burrs instead of all falling in at once.
About grind sizes
"Table salt" or other descriptions are useless. Every grinder produces a different distribution. What works for someone else doesn't automatically work for you.
Reading the Bloom
The bloom (first pour) tells you a lot about your coffee. Pay attention to how the bed reacts.
Dry and cracked
The water sank quickly and the bed looks dry with cracks.
Wet and bubbly
The water stays long, many gas bubbles come up.
Dark, caramel-colored bubbles
The gas bubbles are darker and more caramel-like in color.
Lighter, more porous bubbles
The bed is lighter in color, bubbles are less intense.
Adjusting for Roast Level
Light and dark roasts require different approaches.
Light Roast
- • Temperature: 96-97°C
- • Bloom: 1-2 minutes
- • Pour: more turbulence
- • Brew time: 2:30-3:30
Harder to extract, requires more aggressive approach
Medium Roast
- • Temperature: 93-95°C
- • Bloom: 30-60 sec
- • Pour: normal
- • Brew time: 2:00-2:30
Standard approach, good starting point
Dark Roast
- • Temperature: 88-92°C
- • Bloom: 30 sec
- • Pour: gentle, laminar
- • Brew time: 1:45-2:15
Easy to extract, less aggressive
Adjusting for Freshness
The age of your coffee (days after roasting) affects how you should brew.
Freshly roasted (1-14 days)
High CO2 in the beans. Water has difficulty penetrating the grounds.
- • Longer bloom (1-2 min)
- • Possibly double bloom
- • Light roasts: better to wait a bit longer
Older (4-8 weeks)
Less gas, easier to extract. But the coffee also loses flavor.
- • Shorter bloom (30 sec)
- • Lower temperature
- • Shorter ratio (less water)
Adjusting for Processing
How the coffee was processed (washed, natural, honey) affects how far you can push extraction.
Washed
Clean, bright flavors. You can push extraction further without it becoming bitter.
Honey
Sweeter, more body. Don't push extraction too far, or it becomes bitter.
Natural / Anaerobic
Fruity, funky. Keep extraction low. Use a shorter ratio (e.g., 1:14-15).
Quick Help
Too sour / sharp?
Extend the bloom, increase temperature, or add a small swirl at the end to slow down drawdown.
Too bitter / dry?
Grind coarser, lower temperature, pour more gently (less turbulence).
Hollow / little flavor?
More agitation needed. Pour more aggressively, extend bloom, or add a swirl halfway through.
Too fast drawdown?
Give a small swirl at the end. This levels the bed and slows down drawdown.
Clogging / too slow?
Your filter is absorbing too many fines. Try better filters or grind coarser.
Too "roasty"?
Lower the temperature by 2-3°C and/or shorten your ratio (less water).
Words of Wisdom
Don't copy recipes blindly
Every grinder, every water, every coffee is different. Use recipes as a starting point, not as law.
Extraction around 18-20% is ideal
Higher extraction isn't better. After ~20% the good aromas decrease and bitter compounds increase. Sometimes 17% tastes better than 22%.
Fresh light roasts need patience
Yes, you have to wait. No, smelling the bag every day doesn't help. (We've all tried.) A light roast Kenya might only peak after 5 weeks!
Experiment fearlessly
Try 80°C water. Try a 1:18 ratio. Try a 5 minute brew. The worst that happens? You make bad coffee once. The best? You discover something amazing.