How to Brew V60 with James Hoffmann's Recipe

James Hoffmann's V60 recipe uses a 1:16.7 ratio (15 g coffee to 250 g water), medium-fine grind, and water just off the boil (around 95–100°C). It's a five-pour structure: a 2x bloom, then four equal pours, finishing around 3:30 total. This recipe suits light to medium roasts and a standard 02-size V60 with a paper filter. If your coffee is dark-roasted or your grinder produces a lot of fines, expect to adjust grind coarser and shorten the brew.

The Recipe at a Glance

Step-by-Step

1. Setup

Rinse the paper filter with hot water to remove paper taste and preheat the brewer and cup. Discard the rinse water. Add 15 g of medium-fine ground coffee and level the bed.

2. Bloom — 0:00 to 0:45

Pour 30 g of water (2x the coffee weight) in a spiral from the center outward. Swirl the brewer gently to saturate all grounds. Wait until 0:45.

3. First main pour — 0:45 to 1:00

Pour steadily to 100 g total. Keep the stream slow and centered, avoiding the filter wall.

4. Second pour — 1:00 to 1:15

Pour to 150 g total.

5. Third pour — 1:15 to 1:30

Pour to 200 g total.

6. Fourth pour — 1:30 to 1:45

Pour to 250 g total. Give the brewer a gentle swirl to flatten the bed.

7. Drawdown

Let it drain. Target finish: around 3:30. If it finishes much earlier or later, adjust grind on your next brew.

Why the Structure Works

Splitting the main volume into four equal pours keeps the water level and temperature more consistent than one large pour, which promotes even extraction. The long bloom (45 seconds) lets CO₂ escape so water can reach the grounds evenly. The gentle swirl at the end settles the bed and reduces channeling.

Troubleshooting

Brew finishes too fast (under 3:00) and tastes sour or weak: Grind finer. Sourness usually means under-extraction.

Brew stalls or finishes past 4:00 and tastes bitter or dry: Grind coarser. Bitterness usually means over-extraction.

Uneven bed or crater in the grounds: Your pour was too aggressive or hit the filter wall. Slow the stream and keep it centered.

Water drains through one side: Channeling. Swirl more gently during the bloom and keep pours centered.

Coffee tastes flat regardless of grind: Check water. Very soft or very hard water both mute flavor. If your tap water is extreme, try filtered or bottled water with moderate mineral content.

Adjusting for Your Coffee

• Light roasts: Start at 100°C and the finer end of medium-fine.
• Medium roasts: 95–97°C works well.
• Dark roasts: Drop to 90–93°C and grind slightly coarser to avoid bitterness.

Change one variable at a time. Grind is the most impactful; adjust it first before changing temperature or ratio.

Tools That Help

Brew Great Coffee offers free interactive brewing tools, including filter coffee recipes from Hoffmann, Rao, and Kasuya with a built-in timer, plus an extraction compass for diagnosing sour, bitter, weak, or strong results. These can help you track changes across brews, though the recipe above works with any scale and timer.