How to Brew Filter Coffee: A Simple Guide for Beginners

Three cups showing ground coffee, brewed coffee, and whole roasted beans

How to Brew Filter Coffee: A Simple Guide for Beginners

Filter coffee is one of the easiest ways to experience the flavour of specialty coffee.

Unlike espresso, filter brewing allows hot water to slowly pass through ground coffee and a filter, producing a clean and expressive cup.

If you're new to filter coffee, don't worry. You don't need complicated equipment or barista-level skills to make a great cup at home.

Here's a simple guide to get you started.

What do you need?

For a basic pour-over coffee, you'll need:

  • A filter brewer such as a V60

  • Paper filters

  • Fresh coffee

  • A grinder

  • Digital scales

  • A kettle

  • Fresh water

  • A cup or server

A gooseneck kettle can make pouring easier, but it isn't essential.

Start with fresh coffee

Freshly roasted coffee generally produces a better brewing experience, but extremely fresh coffee can still contain a significant amount of carbon dioxide.

At KORA, we recommend allowing coffee to rest after roasting so its flavours can develop.

Flavour begins to bloom around three weeks after roast, although the ideal brewing window depends on the coffee and your personal preference.

The basic recipe

A great starting point is:

15g coffee : 250g water

This gives you a 1:16.7 coffee-to-water ratio.

Use this as a starting point rather than a strict rule.

Step 1: Heat your water

Aim for around 90–96°C.

The ideal temperature depends on the coffee and roast.

If your coffee tastes too bitter or harsh, try slightly cooler water.

If it tastes sour, thin or underdeveloped, slightly hotter water may help.

Step 2: Rinse your filter

Place your paper filter into the brewer and rinse it with hot water.

This helps remove some paper taste and preheats your brewer and cup.

Discard the rinse water.

Step 3: Grind your coffee

Use a medium-fine grind as a starting point.

Your coffee should generally be finer than a French press but coarser than espresso.

Grind size is one of the most important variables in filter brewing.

Step 4: Add your coffee

Add your 15g of ground coffee and gently shake the brewer to create an even bed.

Step 5: Bloom

Start your timer and pour approximately 40–50g of water over the coffee.

Make sure all the grounds are wet.

Wait around 30–45 seconds.

This stage is called the bloom.

It allows gases trapped inside freshly roasted coffee to escape before the main extraction.

Step 6: Pour

Slowly pour the remaining water in controlled circular movements.

Bring the total water weight to around 250g.

Try to avoid pouring directly onto the filter paper.

Step 7: Let it drain

Allow the water to pass through the coffee bed.

A total brew time around 2½–3½ minutes can be a useful starting point, although the ideal time varies depending on the coffee and brewer.

Step 8: Taste

This is the most important step.

Don't worry about whether your brew time was exactly perfect.

Taste the coffee and ask:

Is it too sour?

Try grinding finer or using hotter water.

Is it too bitter or dry?

Try grinding coarser or using slightly cooler water.

Does it taste weak?

Try a finer grind or a higher coffee-to-water ratio.

Does it taste too strong?

Try a coarser grind or more water.

The most important rule

Don't change everything at once.

If you change your grind, temperature, ratio and pouring technique simultaneously, you won't know what actually improved the coffee.

Change one variable at a time.

Try it with KORA

Our filter roast is designed to be brewed using methods such as V60 and other pour-over brewers.

If you enjoy exploring flavour and want to experience the character of the coffee itself, filter brewing is a great place to start.

Find your next brew with KORA.