Pour-over coffee is the easiest way to taste what your beans actually have to offer.
You control the grind, the water, and the pouring pace, which means small tweaks can change your cup in a noticeable way.
That's also why pour-over can feel confusing at first; there are several brewers, and each one behaves a little differently.
In this guide, I'll walk you through the most common pour-over brewers, show you exactly how to use them, and share the practical tips that make the biggest difference.
Let's begin!
What is pour-over coffee?
Pour-over coffee is made by manually pouring hot water over ground coffee through a filter.
This method enables precise control over brewing time and water flow, resulting in a clean, balanced cup with delicate flavors.
Common tools include the Chemex and Clever Dripper, both of which use paper filters.
With pour-over, the water flows through the coffee bed and filters into your mug or carafe.
That's different from immersion methods where coffee and water steep together (like a French press or Clever Dripper).
A Moka pot is different, as it uses pressure to push hot water through the coffee.
How do the flavors differ from the other coffee techniques?
The flavors of coffee are the most important thing in coffee. Most people buy a certain type of coffee beans because they like the taste.
People who repeatedly buy coffee beans do so because they enjoy the taste and are likely to have a favorite country from which their coffee beans originate.
I am one of those people. I like coffee, whose origin is from Costa Rica.
The taste is distinctly different from any other coffee on the market. It has a nice balance to it; I couldn't compare it to any other coffee I have ever tasted, and I have tasted a lot of coffee, haha.
The flavors in coffee made while using a pour-over technique are much more delicate than those made with an espresso machine, a Moka pot, or an AeroPress.
I have experience in tasting coffee made with various techniques, all of which use coffee beans that differ in roast and origin.
While tasting the same delicate flavor came back every time I made these coffees using the Clever Dripper or French Press.
The bold, punchy flavors almost recede into the background without completely disappearing.
The delicate flavors now come forward and present themselves.
Once you start tasting multiple different coffee beans, you will appreciate making coffee with a pour-over technique even more.
All the flavors that coffee has to offer are there; you can find them, but you need to use a pour-over technique to discover them.
It's a truly enjoyable experience. Let me quickly explain how it differs from using the French press:
What is the difference between pour-over coffee and a French Press?
I've already told you that the taste difference depends on which coffee beans you buy at the store (or coffee roaster). But you cannot forget the coffee roast in this comparison.
Let me explain the flavors in both of these techniques using an example with dark roast coffee beans.
When using dark-roasted coffee, most of the delicate flavors are already difficult to notice because they are no longer present.
They were traded in for some darker tones in your coffee, like nuts and chocolate.
So, if you are making coffee with the French press using dark-roasted coffee beans, you will get a nice, strong-tasting cup of coffee.
When you choose to use the Chemex instead, you will find yourself with a much more refined but delicate coffee to drink.
Most of this has to do with the use of a filter in the Chemex or Clever Dripper. The filter prevents small coffee particles from entering your cup.
However, when brewing with a French press, you must add the water directly onto the ground coffee beans and let it steep.
When the brewing time is finished, you will strain the coffee, but the small particles will still be in your cup, giving you a stronger-tasting cup of coffee.
This is what gives the French press its distinct taste from the Chemex.
How to make pour-over coffee at home
Here comes the fun part of making your own coffee: the brewing process.
Once you get used to the grinding of the coffee beans and you have arrived at the brewing of the coffee, you've still got to make a choice.
Which brewing technique will you use?
I will cover the most commonly found brewing techniques most of us have at home, either one of them or both.
Once you have chosen your coffee brewer, you will also have a say in which coffee beans you use.
This is the best part of brewing coffee at home: you can choose any roast you prefer.
Tip: Unsure which coffee beans to choose for your pour-over coffee? Check out the best options here!
While I have covered the various coffee roasts available, I will also briefly discuss my favorite roasts for different brewing techniques.
How to make pour-over coffee with the Chemex
Let's start this list off with a classic coffee brewer. According to Wikipedia, the Chemex was invented by Peter Schlumbohm in 1941!
This was more than 80 years ago already.
It's remarkable to think that this brewer is still one of the most widely used homebrew kits to date.
I usually make my morning coffee with a Chemex. This is because it will filter out most of the punchy flavors.
I like drinking a more filtered coffee in the morning to get my day started.
Before I start brewing, I will ensure that I grind the coffee beans to a medium setting for this technique:
To get started on brewing, ensure you have all the necessary equipment.
You will need the Chemex itself, the filters, ground coffee beans, and filtered water.
To make Chemex coffee, I use a 1:14 coffee-to-water ratio.
I have found that this method works best for bringing out enough flavor while still maintaining a clean drinking experience.
To make it a little easier for you. I have made a table on the coffee-to-water ratio for the most commonly used coffee brewing techniques.
You can find the tablet a little bit further down this article.
Start by getting your water to a boil.
Place your Chemex filter inside the Chemex, ensuring the triple-folded side is positioned on the spout.
This will give your Chemex a nice seal on all the edges. Without risking getting vacuum-sealed to the side of your Chemex.
Step 1. Once the water has come to a boil, rinse the Chemex filter to remove any paper taste. This will also preheat your Chemex a little.
Discard the water that has passed through your filter.
Step 2. Add your ground coffee beans to the Chemex, and create a small hole in the middle of the piled-up coffee beans.
Step 3. Pour about 1/4 of the total water you will use on the grounds. This is called a bloom.
Let the coffee bloom for 30 seconds, then pour in all the water, ensuring an even wetting of all the coffee grounds.
Step 4. Stir from left to right a few times; this will ensure that all the coffee grounds from the side have slipped off and are now sitting in the middle of the Chemex, allowing for proper extraction.
The full brewing will take between 4 to 5 minutes. Once all the water has gone through the filter, the Chemex is finished. Throw out the filter, and enjoy your coffee!
Tip: Once you have finished brewing your coffee with your Chemex, make sure you clean it properly. I have made a list of 5 easy ways to clean your Chemex.
How to brew coffee with the Clever Dripper
This is the second technique you can use when talking about pour-over techniques.
Chemex is my favorite out of the two; using the Clever Dripper has some nice benefits that can make your life much easier.
Once you start making coffee at home more than once a day for your morning brew, you will notice that using a Chemex that can hold up to 6 cups of coffee is not the most efficient way to go.
This is where the Clever Dripper comes in.
The Clever Dripper will essentially provide you with the same high-quality coffee you are accustomed to when brewing with a Chemex.
Using the Clever Dripper when you are home alone is one of the significant benefits of using it.
I usually brew coffee at home when there is more than just me chilling around.
Whenever this happens, I make use of the Chemex or any other brewer.
But once I am home alone or late at night, writing an article for this blog, and there is no one around, I use the Clever Dripper.
If you have never tried using the Clever Dripper at home, you might have noticed the speed difference in the water running through the coffee filter.
With the Clever Dripper, you'll usually steep for a couple of minutes, then let it draw down into your mug.
With the Chemex, the total brew time is often a bit longer, depending on your dose, grind, and pouring pace.
These are the benefits of using the Clever Dripper over the Chemex. Let me explain how to make coffee whilst using the Clever Dripper at home!
Before starting your brewing, refer to the coffee-to-water ratio table included at the end of the article.
This will help you quickly decide on how much to use for your coffee brew.
First off, start by grinding your coffee beans. Use a medium grind for this technique. This ensures the best extraction of your coffee beans.
Once you are almost finished grinding your coffee beans, start boiling the water. It's nice to get straight into the action when the grinding of the coffee beans is done.
Next, prepare your brewing station.
Start folding the edges of the coffee filter to fit the Clever Dripper properly.
Here I'm using coffee filters. You can check them out by clicking here.
Step 1. Add the filter to your Clever Dripper and rinse it with hot water. This helps remove any papery taste and preheats the brewer.
Throw out the water that has gone through your filter and reassemble the Clever Dripper on your mug.
Step 2. Next, add your ground coffee to the filter and make a small hole in the middle of it.
This will ensure a proper bloom of your coffee. If you want to learn about the blooming of your coffee, click here.
Step 3. Add your hot water to the coffee, give it a gentle stir to ensure everything is evenly wet, and let it steep for about 2 to 3 minutes (or longer if you prefer).
Step 4. After the seconds have passed, add the remaining water to thoroughly wet all the coffee grounds.
The coffee will now flow through the filter, producing a fresh batch of coffee.
When brewing is complete, discard the coffee filter and clean your Clever Dripper for its next use.
Now grab your coffee and enjoy it!
Water to coffee ratio for the best pour-over coffee
Just remember that you can always adjust the amount of coffee to your liking in your favorite coffee brewer.
This all depends on your personal preference. I personally really enjoy using these ratios for brewing my daily coffees:
| Brewing technique | Ratio | Making 1 cup (125 ml water) | Making 2 cups (250ml water) | Making 4 cups (500ml water) |
| Chemex | 1:14 | 9 grams of coffee | 18 grams of coffee | 36 grams of coffee |
| Clever Dripper | 1:13 | 10 grams of coffee | 20 grams of coffee | 40 grams of coffee |
If you use the brewing ratios I have provided, you'll have a solid starting point to tweak from.
Most of the time, I'm all about the strongest-tasting cup of joe, but I tend to lean slightly more towards the more balanced flavors when drinking pour-over coffee.
This means making coffee with a slightly smaller amount of ground coffee.
That will result in a delightful-tasting cup of joe, which will open up even more when cooled down a bit.
Have you ever forgotten your coffee for a while and still went in to have a taste?
Did you also notice that the flavors were much different than when you had just made the coffee a few minutes ago?
If you haven't, I would like you to give it a try yourself.
You will probably like it as much as I did the first time this happened to me.
The flavors can shift into a slightly stronger cup, while still keeping those lighter, floral notes.
Conclusion
There it is, the first part of the complete brewing guide using every brewer.
In this guide, I went over the Chemex and the Clever Dripper. It was nice to share my coffee-to-water ratios with you.
I know everyone makes their coffee differently; that is why sharing the ratio feels good.
Which of the two techniques do you like to use when brewing coffee? 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.
Coffee recipes
If you're interested in learning a few coffee recipes, you can check them out below. You can use the coffee mentioned in this article as a basis for the recipes that follow:
