Pre-rinse your filter paper.

Use filtered soft water, or bottled water if necessary.

Use HOT water. If using lighter roasts you need high temperature water to properly extract the coffee.

Use a reliable scale with 0.1g weight readings, for accurate control.

Experiment and try different methods, it’s not a ‘1-rule-fits-all’ process. Different coffees will react to different extraction rates and methods, and there’s always your preference to consider.

Have fun! It’s one of the more interactive and attention worthy methods of brewing, so enjoy the pageantry and ceremony of it all.

We designed this method, to be a simplified take on the rules of brewing with a V60, the thinking behind this technique was to produce a super easy, delicious filter coffee mid-service whilst you may have to prep other drinks or serve customers in between being hands-on with the brewing process.

We also reverse-engineered the recipe using a basic ratio (1:16) rule to be able to use the number ‘420’ as a fun theme.

This produces enough for 2 (8oz/420ml) filter coffees or a hefty single serving, its, clean, balanced and offers decent separation of flavour. The only caveat is that this method is designed to work best with light roasted coffees, though there’s nothing to stop you trying it with other roasts.

You will need: V60 dripper - receptacle or coffee cup - Scale with timer or scale and separate timer - 30g Coffee - 480ml 95°c/203°f hot water.

To produce: 420g (ml) yield of brewed coffee.

2 x Pours

Prep time: 2min

Brew time: 4min 20sec

Method: Place your filter paper in your V60 dripper.

Weigh out your beans and set aside.

Place the dripper over your chosen receptacle, then place both onto your scale.

Wet the filter paper completely and discard the collected water.

Grind your coffee (medium) dose into your V60, and gently shake to level off the grounds. Create a small well in the centre of the grounds.

Tare your scale.

Start your timer.

Pour into the middle of the grounds and swirl to the edges, ensuring you wet all of the coffee and stop when you hit 60g, pick up the brewer and give it a few swirls to blend the water and coffee then place down and leave to bloom until your timer hits 1min 45sec

Next using the same pouring method (centre swirling to edge) then back to the centre in small concentric circles add water up to 480g. Aim to complete the pouring at the 3 minute mark.

Pick up your brewer again and give it another gentle swirl then place it down and leave to draw down until your timer hits 4:20.

Discard the filter and used grounds, decant the coffee and enjoy!

We designed this method, to be a simplified take on the rules of brewing with a V60, the thinking behind this technique was to produce a super easy, delicious filter coffee during cafe-service whilst you may have other drinks to prepare or serve customers in between being hands-on with the V60 brewing process.

This time we turned down the intensity of the brewing method (1:17 ratio) to be able to more frequently enjoy some of the esoteric offerings available in the specialty coffee scene, without them being fatiguing, or over bearing in the cup.

This method should work quite well for extended fermentation naturals, honey processes and infused coffees (if thats your thing) however, it will also work for standard washed or natural coffees, if you prefer a lighter flavour profile.

This produces enough for 2 (5oz/300ml) filter coffees or a hefty single serving, flavour wise, it offers a light, tea-like, clean and balanced cup.

You will need: V60 dripper - receptacle or coffee cup - Scale with timer or scale and separate timer - 20g Coffee - 340ml 96°c/205°f hot water.

To produce: 300g (ml) yield of brewed coffee.

2 x Pours

Prep time: 2min

Brew time: 3-4mins

Method: Place your filter paper in your V60 dripper.

Weigh out your beans and set aside.

Place the dripper over your chosen receptacle, then place both onto your scale.

Wet the filter paper completely and discard the collected water.

Grind your coffee (medium) dose into your V60, and gently shake to level off the grounds. Create a small well in the centre of the grounds.

Tare your scale.

Start your timer.

Pour into the middle of the grounds and swirl to the edges, ensuring you wet all of the coffee and stop when you hit 50g, pick up the brewer and give it a few swirls to blend the water and coffee then place down and leave to bloom until your timer hits 1min

Next using the same pouring method (centre swirling to edge) then back to the centre in small concentric circles, taking around 1min to add water up to 340g.

Pick up your brewer and give it a gentle swirl to level the grounds, then place it down and leave to draw down. This process should be completed between 3-4mins.

Discard the filter and used grounds, decant the coffee and enjoy!

This is a popular method that was used by Matt Winton when he won the 2021 world brewers cup championship. A method he kept coming back to for its consistency and clarity of flavour.

A video of Matt Winton showing his preferred method can be found here otherwise continue reading for a simple step-by-step guide.

You will need: V60 dripper - receptacle or coffee cup - scale with timer or scale and separate timer - 20g Coffee - 93°c/199.4°f hot water.

To produce: 300g (ml) yield of brewed coffee.

5 x 60g pours

Prep time: 2min

Brew time: 3min 30sec

Note: if it’s taking considerably longer than this, then try making your grind a little coarser, or if the opposite is true, and the coffee is extracting too quickly, then adjust your grind and make it slightly finer.

Method: Place your filter paper in your V60 dripper.

Weigh out your beans and set aside.

Place the dripper over your chosen receptacle, then place both onto your scale.

Wet the filter paper completely and discard the collected water.

Grind your coffee (medium/medium fine) dose into your V60, and gently shake to level off the grounds.

Tare your scale.

Note: You will pour 60g of water 5 times complete the extraction.

60g - 120g - 180g - 240g - 300g

Grab your kettle and begin to put water onto the grounds, start in the middle and gently swirl out toward the edges, ensuring you wet all of the coffee, slow down the pouring as you approach 60g aiming to have stopped just as the water hits your desired weight.

After around 30 seconds the water should be extracted through and slowing to a drip.

Add your next shot of water, using the same centre to edge swirling method, aiming to stop at the next 60g interval (120g)

Repeat this process 3 more times, until you’ve added a total of 300g (ml) of water.

After the final pour, as the coffee slows to a drip through the filter, remove it from your receptacle and dispose of the grounds and filter paper into your compost, food waste or general waste.

Give the coffee a swirl, and enjoy!

A versatile brewing technique deigned by James Hoffman to be simple, repeatable and delicious, whether at home or in a cafe setting.

A very informative video of this technique and other interesting coffee related info can be found here or you can continue reading below to follow a step-by-step guide.

You will need: V60 dripper - receptacle or coffee cup - scale with timer or scale and separate timer - 30g Coffee - 95°c/203°f hot water - teaspoon.

To produce: 500g (ml) yield of brewed coffee.

2 pours (with a hand swirl after the 1st pour, and a teaspoon swirl at the end)

Prep time: 2min

Brew time: 3min 45sec

Method: Place your filter paper in your V60 dripper.

Weigh out your beans and set aside.

Place the dripper over your chosen receptacle, then place both onto your scale.

Wet the filter paper completely and discard the collected water.

Grind your coffee (medium/medium fine) dose into your V60, and using your finger, create a small well in the middle of the grounds.

Tare your scale.

Pouring into the middle of the grounds and swirling out towards the edge, slowing your water flow to end the first drop at 60g.

Put the kettle down, pick up the brewer and begin swirling. The aim is to fully wet and mix the water and the coffee grounds, continue the circular motion until the slurry looks fully blended and smooth.

Place the brewer down and allow to bloom for 45 seconds.

The next pour is fairly critical, you’re aiming to add 240g of water (300g total) in the next 30 seconds (1:15 total)

Following the same pouring technique, you want start in the middle and swirl to the edge, you ideally want to agitate and churn the coffee enough to let the water flow through it, but not so much that it creates channels and doesn’t extract the coffee effectively. A slow controlled swirl seems to do the trick and visually it should looked well mixed.

By this point the brewer should be almost full, from here you want to continue to gently add water aiming to reach your final brew weight (500g) in the next 30 seconds (2:00 total)

Place the kettle down and grab your teaspoon, gently swirl the coffee in one direction, then the other. The aim is to remove coffee grounds from the edge of the paper but in a way that doesn’t create a swirling motion or vortex that would lead to domed coffee at the bottom.

When the overall coffee level has come down slightly, give the brewer a final hand swirl, this should help level the grounds and assist in an even extraction.

Allow the coffee to draw down into your receptacle, discard your filter paper and used coffee, remove your dripper and enjoy!

Whilst there are a few methods of brewing aero press, this one seems to consistently produce a good flavour and is relatively straightforward. The other main benefit is; inverting the brewer allows the coffee to bloom prior to extraction.

You will need: Aeropress coffee maker - receptacle or coffee cup - Scale with timer or scale and separate timer - 14g Coffee - 95°c/203°f hot water.

To produce: 220g (ml) yield of brewed coffee.

Prep time: 1min

Brew time: 3min

Method: Put your aero press plunger into the main body until the rubber portion is no longer visible, and place the brewer upside down on the counter.

Weigh out your coffee, grind to a medium/fine size and dose into the Aeropress.

Note: The grind size is quite important as it will not only determine the flavour of the coffee, but also how easy/difficult the brewer will be to use. It may be worth quickly researching grind settings for your particular grinder, prior to using this method.

Place brewer onto scale and tare.

Pour on 30g of water ensuring you cover all of the grounds and gently stir to blend the water and coffee.

If using a paper filter, place it inside the lid/extractor cap place it over a vessel and rinse the paper with hot water. Discard the water. If using a reusable or mesh filter, place it into the cap and continue.

Fill the remaining water (220g) by this point the overall level should be fairly near the top, for safety, gently place the cap on and twist to seal.

Start your timer and let stand for 2mins.

Next, invert your collection vessel and place on top (cap end) of the Aeropress and carefully turn the whole thing over.

Wait 30 seconds more, remove the brewer and vessel from the scale and begin pushing down on the top of the Aeropress.

Note: You should not have to exert too much pressure in order to extract the coffee. If its really difficult consider using a larger grind size.

When the Aeropress plunger is almost in contact with the cap it will start to make a ‘hissing’ sound as air is being pushed through the device, at this point stop extracting, pull back slightly on the plunger and return the brewer to the inverted position.

Carefully remove the cap and holding the brewer over a food waste, or general waste bin push the Aeropress into its fully inserted position disposing of both the paper filter and the coffee grounds, if using a reusable or mesh filter, remove it first before purging the grounds.

Enjoy!

Grind fresh when possible.

Keep your portafilter basket clean and dry.

Level your coffee grounds for even extraction.

Tamp with a firm, but not strong, amount of pressure.

Aim to (roughly) double your dose with your yield - 16g dose = 32g yield. Be sure to check the size/capacity of your filter basket.

Try and match your extraction time to your yield (32sec-32g) to get in the ballpark for your best grind size, and if possible, temperature and pressure.

Whilst not a ‘do-all’ recipe, this version gets us pretty close in the cafe, allowing us to further tweak the variables to perfection when dialling in.

This is designed to work with no additional tool and predominantly with washed coffee as a light/light medium roast. However, the basic theory behind it should put you in the realm of well extracted espresso for other types of coffee processes and roasts, if using dark roasts, you will need to lower your temperature to reach the ratio/time required.

You will need: Espresso machine - Receptacle or coffee cup - Scale with timer or scale and separate timer - 18g Coffee - (if you can set temp) 93°c/199.4°f water.

To produce: 34g (ml) yield of extracted coffee.

Prep time: 30sec

Brew time: 34sec

Method: Pre-heat your machine if not done so already, and ensure there is adequate/correct pressure.

Take your group handle/portafilter, and wipe dry, add your coffee grounds/grind into your portafilter.

Gently tap the portafilter on the side to level the grounds and a final tap on the counter to ‘bed’ them down.

Next, take your tamper and with your thumb pointed down toward the bench, with your elbow directly over the portafilter, compress with the same pressure as a ‘firm handshake’

Give the top of the portafilter a ‘blessing’ by removing any stray grounds.

Purge a small amount of hot water from your espresso machine group head and then insert your portafilter.

Place your cup on a scale and tare, then extract your espresso.

You should be roughly extracting 1g (ml) of coffee per second of extraction, the rate of flow will change as the shot progresses, with no coffee for the first 7-10 seconds then some drips and eventually a steady stream of espresso about the thickness of a mouse’s tail.

Note: If the extraction is too fast, you will need to reduce your grind size, and the opposite (increase the grind size) if your extraction takes too long/does not extract at all.

Finally, remove the cup and either enjoy as espresso or add your preferred quantity of hot water/hot milk and enjoy!

IMPORTANT: Taste is the ultimate tool in deciding your recipe, so play around with grind size, extraction time, temperature and pressure to see what flavours are affected and ultimately what your preference is for the ‘perfect’ espresso.