Dialing In: Getting the best out of Your at-home Pour-Overs

I often hear the anecdote: “I love this coffee at the cafe, but when I make it at home it doesn’t taste as good.” If you have ever experienced this, know that you’re not alone—it’s a very common hurdle for those brewing coffee at home. This blog aims to equip you with the skills to understand troubleshooting and dialing in your pour-overs simply by taste. 

In pour-overs, a number of basic variables affect the flavor of your coffee. These variables are ratio, grind size, brewing time, temperature, and water. Understanding the role of each variable is crucial in understanding how to dial-in effectively, but remember that taste is king. If you love how your coffee tastes, don’t change a thing!

Ratio

Firstly, we will take a look at your coffee-to water-ratio. This variable controls the strength and concentration of your cup of coffee. If you’re not already using one, I would highly recommend a coffee scale to measure out your pour-overs. This recipe measured in grams, and using a scale will dramatically increase the consistency and repeatability of your brews.

A general rule of thumb for most coffee shops and professionals is a 1:16 ratio, which means that for every 1 gram of coffee, you will pour 16 grams of water.

Here’s how that scales:

• 15g coffee → 240g water

• 20g coffee → 320g water

• 25g coffee → 400g water

This ratio is a solid baseline, but you can adjust based on your taste preferences:

• For a heavier, fuller-bodied coffee, try 1:14 or 1:15.

• For a lighter, tea-like coffee, go for 1:17 or 1:18.

Some people prefer a consistent ratio, while others adjust depending on the coffee they’re using. Experiment and see what works best for you!

Grind Size & Brewing Time

Next is grind size and brewing time. In my experience, grind size has the most significant and noticeable impact on your coffee’s flavor profile and directly affects brew time, so a good grinder can make all the difference. If your pour-over takes too long, this can be an indicator that your grind is likely too fine—try making it coarser. Inversely, if your brew finishes too quickly, the grind is probably too coarse—try making it finer to slow the flow of the water through the coffee. Generally, as it pertains to flavor, a pour-over that tastes bitter and harsh may be too finely ground. If your coffee tastes sour or too acidic, the grind is most likely too coarse.

Here’s how grind size affects taste:

• Too fine → Bitter, harsh flavors

• Too coarse → Sour, acidic flavors

If your coffee doesn’t taste right, adjusting the grind is often the first step in troubleshooting.

Temperature & Water

The last two ratios are temperature and water. The temperature of your water has a fair amount of influence on the ease of extracting the coffee, and can affect how the flavors present themselves from the grounds. Lightly roasted coffees are more dense and require a hotter water temperature to extract the good flavors from the grounds. Darker roasted coffees are the opposite. Different roast levels require different temperatures:

• Light roasts: 200ºF–208ºF

• Medium roasts: 190ºF–200ºF

• Dark roasts: 180ºF–190ºF

Using a higher temperature doesn’t burn or scorch the coffee in any way, it just might extract more of the coffee particles than is desirable for that roast level.

If you have exhausted all of these options and your coffee still doesn’t taste good, you will want to look into the water you are using. Since a brewed cup of coffee is still about 98% water, the quality of your water matters—good quality brewing water can drastically improve the cup profile. Minerals in your water can have a strong effect on your coffee’s flavor—some enhance them, while others mute them. If your coffee still doesn’t taste great after adjusting the other variables, your water might be the culprit.

To improve water quality:

• The most practical way to improve your brewing water is to use a Brita filter or similar filtration system.

• If you’re feeling ambitious, you can purchase mineral packets designed for specialty coffee. These packets can be added to distilled water to create a brewing water recipe.

  • As a bonus, properly mineralized water will protect your brewing equipment from limescale damage.

• Explore and research DIY water recipes online to create the ideal mineral balance for you.

I hope this has given you insight on how to approach your pour-over variables! If you have more questions or were surprised by something you read, feel free to share with your barista! Personally, I love to answer any questions around coffee brewing so don’t hesitate to reach out at the cafe! Happy Brewing!

Mike Boyak

Barista and resident coffee nerd, Mike is always up for a conversation about coffee. When he’s not in the cafe, roastery, or training lab, he’s typically hanging out with his wife Kailyn and newborn son Bennett.