Mark MorphewPour-over coffee brewing methods have started to become increasingly popular with home enthusiasts. Gone have the days when simply pressing a button on your auto-drip coffee maker would be enough to satisfy your senses and deliver that much need hit of caffeine.
Today, coffee lovers want to control every variable in the brewing process, from the grind, water temperature, and steep time, to create a cup that’s suited to one’s preferences and highlights the unique traits of the coffee beans.
I made the switch a few years ago from an automated coffee machine to coffee pour-over, and I’ve never looked back. Sure, it’s a bit more hands-on, and in some cases, you’ll have to babysit your coffee brewer, but hey, that’s all part of the fun – you’re in control!
Our Top Pick: Best Value
With home baristas around the globe finding a new love for pour-over coffee, some older extraction methods have been resurrected as well as a few newer pour-over coffee makers have hit the brewing scene.
In this article, I’ve spent a good 30 hours researching the best pour-over coffee brewers that are the favorites of high-street coffee shop baristas and home coffee enthusiasts alike.
Pour Over Coffee Maker Brewing Tips
If you’ve never experimented with coffee pour-over, it can be a bit daunting at first, especially if you’re transitioning from a push-button brewer. Below I have listed a few tips and suggestions for beginners.
Remember, it all starts with a solid foundation, so make sure you have the freshest and best coffee beans you can get your hands on. The great thing about pour-over coffee is that you can tweak and play with the different variables and then adjust to taste. Let’s take a closer look.
The Grind
For most manual pour-over methods, a medium grind is preferred. Remember always to use a good quality Burr grinder wherever possible; this will help to ensure a consistent grind which in turn will mean a more even extraction.
Ratios
When it comes to coffee brewing ratios, a good rule of thumb when starting out is 60 grams of coffee for every 1 liter of water. Once you get a feel for pour-over coffee brewing, you can change this ratio and experiment. But be warned, this will also affect other factors. Changing any single parameter when brewing will also require a change elsewhere in your setup.
Water
As with any coffee brewing method filtered water is going to be your number choice, and boiling your water to around 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit tends to give you the optimum results with pour-over coffee. If you are unsure, use water just off the boil (wait for 30 seconds), and that should be just fine, or use a kettle with a built-in thermometer like the Coffee Gator Kettle.
Equipment
Coffee Scale: A good accurate coffee scale is a must with pour-over coffee; without this, you’ll have to guess how much coffee to grind, which isn’t ideal.
Thermometer: Another recommended accessory is a thermometer to ensure your water temperature is correct.
Slow-Pouring Kettle: Lastly, I highly recommend that you invest in a gooseneck style pour-over kettle unless you have hands as steady as a surgeon?
8 Best Pour Over Coffee Makers
Below are the best-of-the-best when it comes to pour-over coffee brewing. Each of these brewers requires a different approach to achieve the best-tasting pour-over coffee. Some of these will also require a more hands-on approach – simply standing over the brewer and pouring hot water isn’t going to cut it.
But hey, if brewing great-tasting coffee was easy, everyone would be doing it! (wink!)
Kalita Wave
The Kalita Wave has three triangulated holes running through its flat bottom design. Compared to some of the other traditional pour-over coffee makers that utilize a cone-shaped bottom, the flat bottom design on the Kalita Wave allows for less turbulence when pouring, which in turn encourages a more even extraction.
The Kalita accordion-style paper filters are also unique; the design allows the filter to stand away from the side of the filter basket. How is this beneficial? The wavy filter helps with improved temperature stability by using air as an insulator rather than the dripper wall. You can find the Kalita Wave at places such as Amazon.
What We Love
- Flat-bottom coffee bed geometry provides an even extraction.
- Three styles: stainless steel, glass, and ceramic
- Brew directly into your coffee cup.
Take Note
- You will need to use Kalita Wave custom filters.
Chemex
The Chemex combines a thick paper filter cone with a classic glass decanter. Unlike the above Kalita Wave, the Chemex paper filter sits snugly against the walls of the decanter. Due to the thickness of the paper filters, the water flows through the coffee grinds much more slowly, making the immersion time longer when compared to alternative pour-over coffee brewing methods.
This long steeping time can be beneficial when brewing a tasty cup and is less dependent on the skill of the pourer and is more focused on the other brewing parameters, such as the coffee grind and water temperature.
What We Love
- Made of non-porous Borosilicate glass does not absorb odors or chemical residues.
- Unused coffee can be covered and refrigerated for reheating.
Take Note
- Takes a bit of practice to achieve a great tasting brew.
- Obviously, don’t drop it as it’s made of glass.
Hario V60
The V60 looks very similar to the Kalita Wave; however, the V60 has a cone-shaped dripper, not a flat-bottomed dripper. The cone-shaped filter has spiral ridges running along the inner walls, which all run down to a single opening at the bottom. This unique design helps to keep to paper filter from sticking to the walls, encourages better extraction, and also improves the flow of water.
Compared to the other pour-over coffee makers, the Hario V60 uses very thin paper filters. The thinness of these filters not only allows for a faster extraction but also helps to reduce the “paper taste” which is often left in your end brew from those thicker paper filters.
The V60 is my go-to coffee brewer when I’m making more than 1-cup. The unique design of the V60 yields some of the best-tasting coffee I have ever had. Make sure to take a look at this step-by-step V60 brew guide (with pictures!).
What We Love
- Designed and manufactured in Japan.
- Very easy to use.
- Coffee filters are easy to find.
Take Note
- The carafe itself is very flimsy. Made of very thin glass.
Bee House
This strange-looking pour-over brewer has a slightly easier learning curve than the above Hario V60, and it’s been designed to fit on top of almost any regular coffee cup. The Bee House dripper utilizes a “wedge-shaped” ceramic filter cone with a ribbed design along the inner walls. This design helps to slow down the extraction and allows for a much coarser coffee grind which gives someone new to coffee pour over a bit more wiggle room to achieve a great-tasting cup.
While the Bee House coffee brewer is considered a cone coffee dripper, it actually has a flat bottom design with two small holes through which the brewed coffee drips. You can find the Bee House at Amazon.
What We Love
- A small compact design fits on top of your coffee cup.
- Paper filters are easy to find – holds either a #2 or a #4.
- Easy to clean – dishwasher safe.
Take Note
- The design makes it heavy and easy to spill or knock over.
Bodum Pour Over Coffee Maker
The Bodum coffee pour-over is very similar to the Chemex but with a much more modern-looking design and comes in an array of different colors to suit almost any taste. However, unlike the Chemex, which uses thick-paper filters, the Bodum comes with a stainless steel reusable filter. The benefit of a stainless steel filter over paper is that you do not lose any of the essential oils that would otherwise be trapped and lost when using paper filters.
The mouth-blown Borosilicate glass decanter will hold around 6-cups of coffee at a time, making it the perfect pour-over method for families brewing coffee in the mornings. You can find the Bodum Pour-Over Coffee Brewer on Amazon if you can’t find it elsewhere.
What We Love
- Includes a permanent, stainless steel mesh filter.
- Brew up to 6-cups of coffee at a time.
- Easy to clean.
Take Note
- The drip rate is way faster than the Chemex – skill required.
Hario Woodneck
The Hario Woodneck resembles someone’s sock, but don’t let the strange looks deceive you because this brewer produces some great-tasting coffee. There are three parts to the Woodneck, a glass decanter, a wood collar, and a sock I mean a cloth filter. A wire hoop runs through the cloth filter and suspends the filter over the glass decanter. The design allows for the fabric filter to be kept away from the glass walls, which in turn helps to encourage coffee extraction on all sides.
The Hario Woodneck produces some of the cleanest-tasting coffee I have had, The thorough filtration through the cloth and the “no paper taste” associated with paper filters will give you one of the best cups of coffee you have ever had. You can find the Hario Woodneck on Amazon.
What We Love
- Coffee oils are kept so you get a full and rich flavor.
- Slow coffee extraction using the cloth flannel filter.
Take Note
- The glass is extremely thin, so I always took extra care while handling it.
Walkure Bayreuth
The classic-looking German Walkure comes in four porcelain parts. A cylindrical brew chamber that houses a porcelain grid that filters coarse grounds before then decanting coffee into the server, a dispersion plate that helps to control the direction of the poured water, and a lid that helps to keep the heat locked in. It all sounds confusing, but in reality, it’s pretty simple to use.
For the coffee purist, the Walkure is a must-have, everything is made of porcelain, and no extra filters are required to brew an excellent pure-tasting cup. Just like the above Kalita Wave, The Walkure utilizes a flat-bottom brew bed that helps to reduce turbulence and allows for a more even coffee extraction.
What We Love
- No additional coffee filters are required.
- Easy to clean and dismantle.
- Strange and unique design makes for a great conversation piece.
Take Note
- No cons or negatives I could find.
Gourmia Pour Over Coffee Station
A new addition to my recommended pour-over list is the Gourmia freestanding drip cone brewer and stand.
This setup includes a self-standing coffee cone that can be adjusted to accommodate almost any size of the mug, carafe, or even thermal flask. When it’s not in use, the coffee station can be left on your countertop, which, I must admit, looks pretty awesome!
The Gourmia is the perfect brewer for coffee lovers and an even better choice for those of you just starting to dabble into the world of manual coffee brewing. Its simple, materialistic design, durable build, and ease of use make it a great option for daily coffee brewing.
What We Love
- It comes with a self-standing cone and a stand.
- Brew coffee right into your cup.
Take Note
- No cons or negatives I could find.
Why Even Bother With Using A Manual Drip Coffee Maker?
If you’re buying good-quality coffee beans and then using those in your automatic drip coffee machine, you’re not actually getting your money’s worth.
Not only are you wasting your money, but you’re also missing out on what those premium coffee beans have to offer regarding flavor. It doesn’t matter what premium beans you buy if you then go and shove them into a Hamilton Beach coffee maker, they will taste the same as any other cheap pre-ground coffee.
However, when using the best pour-over coffee maker, like one of those listed above, you have the ability to hand-grind your coffee, weigh out the correct amount, correctly bring your water to the right temperature, and then thoroughly saturate the coffee. These extra steps will allow you to appreciate your coffee a little bit more.
To understand why manual drip coffee is better, you have to take a look at the actual science behind coffee brewing. For example, for the best-tasting coffee, the chosen brewing device needs to extract at least 20% of the beans’ soluble solids. That rate of extraction is determined by how your coffee has been ground, how much water there is, the temperature of that water, how the water is distributed, and exactly how long the coffee steeps.
With an auto-drip coffee maker, you have very limited control of these variables. Sure, you can control the grind size and the water ratio, but apart from that, you’re pretty much reliant on the machine doing all of the guesswork for you. The result often tends to be an under-extracted cup that simply tastes weak. If you’re serious about great-tasting coffee, a pour-over coffee maker is a must-have tool in any home coffee kit.
Your Coffee Grinder is Still the Most Important Piece of The Puzzle!
If you’ve spent any amount of time browsing around my coffee blog Bean Ground I’m sure you’ve already come to the conclusion that great-tasting coffee is not possible unless you start with a solid foundation – the foundation being good, fresh whole coffee beans and the top-notch coffee grinder.
Don’t believe me? Go ahead and ask your local Barista and I guarantee they will tell you the same – the most important piece of equipment needed for knocking up some kick-ass coffee isn’t the brew method – it’s the grinder!
Even with the best or most expensive coffee brewer on the market, without a good foundation, i.e, the “grind,” you will be missing a vital step in quality coffee brewing.
But if only it was that simple!
You see, coffee grinders come in many shapes and forms, some are excellent whilst others are mediocre at best. To keep it short and sweet, if you’re shopping for a coffee grinder, always look out for Ceramic burr grinders; these are among the best for brewing a great-tasting cup of coffee.
If you’re on a tight budget, I recommend that you pick up a budget-friendly hand/manual burr grinder – I’ve picked out a few great hand grinders right here.
When he's not fiddling around with a new coffee gadget, you'll find him busy doing DIY projects around the home and taking his German Shepherd for a walk, who funnily enough is called Kona!
- What Is The RDT Coffee Technique? And Who Is Ross? - June 6, 2023
- What Is A Puck Screen? Should You Use One? - May 29, 2023
- KINGrinder K6 Review - May 23, 2023
Since the creation of the Bean Ground coffee blog in 2014, Mark and a small circle of coffee hobbyists have rigorously tested, reviewed, and researched coffee gear. In most cases, they have purchased the items themselves with the sole intention of rating and evaluating.
In that time, they have built up a list of quality points to look for and what makes specific equipment better than others. They cut through the noise and marketing hype that often surrounds products to give you their unbiased opinions so you can make clear decisions on your next purchase.
