The Hario V60 is one of the most popular pour-over coffee drippers in the coffee world.
The ease of use is one of the best parts of the brewer. Additionally, you can brew just one cup of coffee at a time using the Hario V60.
It's a great and unique design that produces amazing pour-over coffee, which is sweet and balanced.
In this article, I will tell you all you need to know about the Hario V60.
Let's begin!
What is a Hario V60?
The Hario V60 is a cone-shaped pour-over coffee dripper with spiral ridges and a single large hole. (Its name comes from the 60° angle of the cone.)
This design gives you a lot of control over flow rate and brew time, which is why it's a favorite for dialing in a clean, balanced cup.
It brews with conical paper filters (sizes 01, 02, or 03, depending on your dripper) and is quick to clean; just discard the filter and rinse the dripper.
The coffee filter used for the Hario V60 is slightly different, but I will elaborate on this further down in the article.
So, what makes the Hario V60 so popular?
Hario V60 is an awesome piece of equipment to have at home. It makes the best coffee for a single cup, or a bit more when you've got some people coming over.
I use the Hario V60 for brewing one cup of coffee at a time. Using the Hario V60 over the French press or AeroPress eliminates the need to clean a lot of equipment.
Simply discard the filter and clean the dripper for its next use. Read along to learn about the easiest ways of cleaning your dripper.
Which coffee beans should you use?
The coffee beans you use to make your cup of joe at home is the most important choice you have to make when considering great coffee.
Using the right coffee bean for your taste will depend on a few factors I will explain below; this way, you will find out which coffee bean is right for you.
There are several coffee roasts that can be used for this technique of coffee brewing.
There are light roast, medium roast, and dark roast options. You will be able to find a medium-dark roast, as well as roasts in between these.
For brewing my pour-over coffee, made with the Hario V60, I prefer to use medium-roasted coffee.
If at all possible, I would recommend sourcing my coffee beans from Costa Rica, which is my favorite country for coffee beans.
The medium-roasted coffee beans really shine when brewed with the V60; it's just the right amount of strong flavors added, with a little flowery note as well.
I have made pour-over coffee with dark roasted coffee beans once, and for me, it will be the last time.
The dark-roasted coffee beans leave behind an intense flavor profile that I just can't wrap my head around.
The dark-roasted coffee beans are just a bit too strong for use with pour-over coffee, if you ask me.
I used a very dark roasted coffee bean, which I also like to use when making cold brew coffee and cold brew espresso.
So, the comparison might not be the best in terms of flavor for the pour-over technique, but it will work great in espresso and cold brew coffees.
To sum up, do you prefer your coffee on the brighter side, with hints of freshness and sweetness?
Then go for a lighter roast or a medium roast.
Do you enjoy the taste of espresso, and would you like to experience the same flavors in the pour-over coffee you just made with the Hario V60?
Opt for a darker roast, but not too dark, so you can still enjoy a few fresh notes in your cup of coffee.
Did you know that the taste of your coffee beans is affected by the altitude at which the coffee beans grow?
You can check out this article, where I tell you all about your coffee beans!
What is the right grind size for the Hario V60?
Most V60 recipes work best with a medium-fine grind (think somewhere between table salt and sand). From there, you can adjust the recipe based on your taste and desired brew time.
It should look fairly fine, but still feel gritty between your fingers, not powdery.
If you want to learn even more about the difference in grind sizes of coffee, you can check out this article.
It's beneficial if you want to produce amazing coffee every day.
You can check out this photo, where I show off the coffee grind I use to make my pour-over coffees at home:
As you can see, the coffee grind appears to be quite fine.
But once you start rubbing the ground coffee between your fingers, you will notice that there is still a lot of texture there.
If you grind the coffee too fine, the coffee will be over-extracted. The water will drip through the coffee, sucking out all the flavor from the coffee beans.
The finer the grind, the faster the flavors get extracted. Over-extracted coffee will leave behind a bitterness, which you should avoid at all times.
Grinding your coffee too coarse will under-extract the coffee, leaving behind a sour-tasting cup of joe.
Most coffees pack a bit of sour and bitter notes. But over- or under-extracting your coffee isn't what you want.
The flavors will be too overpowering. Grinding your own coffee beans can be quite challenging to learn.
For me, the first few times grinding coffee for my homebrew weren't good, haha.
The best way to learn which grind size is perfect for your brewing technique is to ask your coffee roaster to grind a small number of coffee beans for pour-over coffee and the French press, for example.
This way, you can replicate this grind size and determine which grind setting works best for your hand grinder at home, eliminating the need to struggle with the settings.
What is the right extraction time for this pour-over coffee?
The extraction time all depends on the amount of coffee made with your Hario V60. Are you going to make one cup of joe or four at a time?
When making a single cup, a common target is roughly 2:30-3:30 total brew time (from the first pour until drawdown finishes).
If you land a little outside that range, don't worry; use taste as your guide and adjust grind size or pouring speed next time.
If your brew runs much longer than ~4 minutes for a single cup, your grind may be too fine (or you may be pouring too slowly), which can increase bitterness.
The water struggles running through the ground coffee, over-extracting the coffee.
Don't panic when the brewing takes ten seconds longer or so. You will still have made a great cup of joe. Just don't make it a five-minute brew for just one cup of coffee.
The brewing time will be longer when making more cups of coffee at once.
You will need to pour water over the ground coffee more than once, wait until the water level is lower, and keep pouring in a circular motion until you have reached the desired amount of water.
Making three cups of coffee, for example, will take about five minutes for the total brewing time.
How much coffee can you make with the Hario V60?
The amount you can brew depends on your V60 size: size 01 is typically for 1-2 cups, size 02 for 1-4 cups, and size 03 for 1-6 cups.
But most people will use the Hario V60 to make coffee for just one cup of joe. I am one of those people.
The amount of work that goes into making Chemex for one person is just not worth the trouble, and I would rather make French press coffee for that reason.
Until I bought the Hario V60, this is where it all changed. I have been using this dripper for some time now, and it's the best pour-over technique for a single cup of coffee.
You just need to grind a few coffee beans or even buy them pre-ground to make it even easier.
For me, when brewing a cup of coffee using the Hario V60, I make a big cup of coffee. I will use 20 grams of coffee to make 250 ml of coffee, just for me.
However, my portion of coffee can serve two people when served in a smaller cup.
Which are the right filters for the Hario V60?
The right filter for the brewing of your Hario V60 is a must.
The white filter in the middle of the pictures is the correct-sized filter, especially for the Hario V60.
The difference lies in the pointy end of the filter; this way, the filter seals the edges of your coffee dripper, creating a perfect brew.
The wrong filters, which I have bought, because I thought they were the right one for the Hario V60, don't fit at all.
This is because of the flat bottom on both of the wrong filters.
The small filter doesn't fit inside the Hario V60, and the filter that is too big just sticks out.
For the V60, you'll want V60-specific conical paper filters in the matching size (01, 02, or 03). Flat-bottom or trapezoid-style filters don't sit correctly in the V60 cone.
If you've struggled to find the right coffee filter, too, don't worry; I've got you covered.
I found the best filters specifically designed for the Hario V60, which are surprisingly affordable. If you want, you can check them out by clicking here:
How to brew coffee with the Hario V60
Now, it's time to brew your coffee using the Hario V60.
You now know the grind size, the correct filter, and the extraction time to get a perfect V60 coffee.
I have created a beginner's guide to brewing coffee with the Hario V60. In this guide, I will go over everything you need to know to brew this coffee at home!
You can find the complete guide to brewing with the Hario V60 by clicking here.
Best ways to clean your Hario V60
After brewing your coffee with the Hario V60, the most tedious part of the process has arrived: cleaning your equipment.
Luckily, the Hario V60 is one of the easier brewers to clean. Toss the filter, rinse the dripper, and you're ready for the next cup.
If you clean your Hario V60 after brewing coffee, you will ensure that you remove the coffee stains that tend to accumulate in your brewer as quickly as possible.
Now, there are multiple ways of cleaning your dripper. Most of the time, I like to rinse the dripper thoroughly using the kitchen water tap.
Make sure to use hot water, as this will eliminate the oily consistency coffee beans tend to disperse.
Once a week, use a small amount of soap when cleaning your dripper as well. This will clean your dripper even better than just rinsing it.
Just make sure you rinse the soap off as much as possible. You don't want to taste the soap when brewing your next cup of joe.
Many Hario V60 drippers are dishwasher-safe, but it's best to check your specific model/material.
If you do use a dishwasher, the top rack and a gentler cycle are safest, especially for plastic drippers.
I suggest always hand-washing your coffee equipment to ensure it lasts for a very long time to come.
If you'd like to learn more about cleaning your Hario V60, I've written an article detailing five different techniques for cleaning your Hario V60.
If you're interested in learning more, you can explore it here.
What are the differences between Chemex and Hario V60
So, what is the difference between the two pour-over techniques?
Both the Chemex and the Hario V60 are manual pour-over brewers that utilize paper filters; however, they're built differently, which affects the flow rate and the style of coffee you obtain.
The V60's spiral ribs and single large hole make it very responsive to grind size and pouring technique, often resulting in a quicker drawdown.
The Chemex uses a thicker bonded paper filter, which generally drains more slowly and tends to produce a very clean, light-bodied cup.
Grind size is often similar between the two (usually medium to fine), but the Chemex is commonly brewed a touch coarser to match its thicker filter and longer drawdown.
I do like to use a bit more ground coffee for brewing my Hario V60 coffee.
However, you can adjust this to your liking, which is the best part about brewing your coffee at home!
Conclusion
Wow, this was a fun article to write. The Hario V60 is one of my favorite single-cup coffee brewers, which is also easy to use.
With all this information, you will be able to make the best Hario V60 coffee at home, using the correct coffee grind, filter, and the right extraction time in mind.
Have you made coffee with the Hario V60 before? Let me know by leaving a comment down below.
If you have any other questions about coffee, you can also contact me directly by clicking the “Contact Me” button at the top!
Beginner brewing guides
If you want to learn more about the brewing of various coffees, using different techniques, you can check out the articles listed below:
