Key takeaways
- Classic pour-over brewers like V60 or flat-bottom drippers are reliable, easy to dial in, and minimise unnecessary variables.
- A medium-fine grind size is best for filter coffee, but you can adjust based on drawdown speed and taste.
- Brewing should be calming, not stressful. Pair it with a mindfulness ritual and you can relax and enjoy your coffee a lot more.
Filter coffee has never been more accessible – but making a perfect cup still requires work. In theory, learning how to make filter coffee seems straightforward. Just grind your coffee, boil the kettle, pour the water, wait, and drink. But in practice, it’s something else entirely.
The questions soon pile up as you brew. Which grind size works best for your method? Should you bloom for 30 seconds or 45? Is a higher temperature better for light roasts? Why does one cup taste balanced and sweet, while the next feels thin or bitter?
For anyone trying to make filter coffee at home, these key details can quickly become overwhelming. To learn more about how to make filter coffee, I spoke to Pratama Rakhmatullah. He is the Head of Coffee Operations at bkry and the 2019 UAE Roasting Champion. Read on for his insight.
What is the best way to make filter coffee and why?
Pratama believes that the best way to make filter coffee is the simplest one – classic pour-over methods like V60 or Chemex.
“Even though there are a lot of new, interesting devices in the market now, they usually take more effort to get to the best recipe,” he tells me. “On the other hand, cone and flat-bottom drippers will let you dial in faster with fewer variables and less waste.”
Cone brewers, such as a V60-style dripper, encourage a steady central flow. Flat-bottom brewers promote more even extraction across the bed. Both designs are mechanically simple, even for beginners, because the water simply flows through gravity alone. There are no valves to close, no immersion phases to time precisely, and no pressure elements to manage. Simple.
The more variables introduced into a brew method, the harder it becomes to diagnose what went wrong. If a cup tastes sharp and sour, your mind starts questioning. Was the grind too coarse? Did you pour too quickly? Did the water channel through evenly? Suddenly, you’re troubleshooting five different things at once, with no clear answer.
Strip it back, and the noise disappears. You can find a method that works for you and prepare your brew every morning with confidence. For those looking for both ease and convenience, pour-over methods are perfect in this regard.
How to make filter coffee at home – The Zesto recipe
Understanding the theory is one thing, but standing in your kitchen in the morning, ready for your morning brew, is another. For Pratama, brewing at home should feel precise, but never frantic. Controlled, but never overcomplicated.
“You don’t need to overthink it,” he explains. “If your ratio, grind size, and pouring structure are consistent, you’re already 90% there.” Here is our guide to making the best filter coffee at home.
Preparation
“I usually like to keep my recipe simple and repeatable, because I’m quite demanding even when I brew at home,” Pratama says. “I always use 12g of coffee to 200g of water. It’s very versatile, no matter the variety or processing method.”
You also need to adjust your grind size based on your brewing method. “I usually grind about 400 to 450 microns,” he explains. The finer size means more particles, leading to a higher surface area and faster extraction. When we have really good coffee, we want to extract all of the good stuff inside.
“If it’s choking and drawing down too slowly, go coarser. If it’s running through too fast and tasting sour, go finer,” he says. “Always adjust one thing at a time.”
It’s also important to note that you generally shouldn’t brew coffee with boiling water. “I usually brew with water at 90ºC,” Pratama says. “Remember, heat is a form of energy, and the higher the temperature you use, the more energy you have for extraction.” However, if you use boiling water, you can over-extract the coffee and emphasise bitterness. Therefore, water slightly off the boil is best.
Pratama’s general recommendations are as follows:
Brew ratio: 1:16
Grind: Medium-fine (400 to 450 microns)
Water temperature: 90°C
Step 1: Rinse & reset
First, place your paper filter into the dripper and rinse thoroughly with hot water. “People skip this, but you shouldn’t,” Pratama notes. “It removes the papery taste and stabilises temperature. Temperature stability is extraction stability.”
Be sure to discard the rinsed water before adding coffee.
Step 2: Weigh & grind
Weigh your beans precisely based on the 1:16 ratio, and grind your coffee immediately before brewing. “A fresh grind is everything for filter coffee,” he says. “Once it’s ground, the clock is ticking.”
Step 3: Bloom properly
Once the coffee is ground and placed in your dripper, start your timer and pour around 30g of water evenly over the grounds.
“Make sure all the coffee is saturated,” Pratama advises. “Dry pockets mean uneven extraction.”
Allow it to bloom for 30 to 45 seconds. “You’ll see it rise and bubble. That’s gas escaping. If you rush this part, the rest of the brew suffers.”
Step 4: Controlled main pours
After blooming, continue pouring slowly in steady circles until you reach 150g total weight. Pause briefly, and then pour again to reach 212g total weight.
“Don’t panic pour,” he advises. “Control the stream. Keep it gentle. You’re guiding the water, not attacking the coffee.” Aggressive pouring increases agitation and extraction. That can be useful intentionally, but it can also over-extract the coffee’s bitter flavour compounds.
“I aim for roughly 2 minutes 15 seconds of total contact time,” he says. “If your time is wildly outside that range, something’s off.”
Tips for making filter coffee at home
Beyond the numbers, beyond ratios and brew times, there is simply a feel when you make filter coffee. Pratama believes that the biggest improvements rarely come from dramatic changes. Instead, they come from paying closer attention.
“I believe the most important tip is to try and keep it simple and repeatable,” he says. “Don’t overcomplicate the recipes – you’ve got everything in your hands, don’t rush it.”
If you spot something wrong with your coffee, you should gradually adjust each variable – from grind size to contact time – and monitor the results. “After you brew your initial cup, you can adjust one brewing variable at a time,” he says. That way, you can identify any differences to remember for next time.
Perhaps most importantly, don’t treat brewing coffee as a chore. It shouldn’t be a means to an end; a way to get your morning energy boost. Instead, it should be something that soothes you and rewards your time and dedication.
“Crucially, don’t forget to enjoy it,” Pratama stresses. “Enjoy the coffee and enjoy the process!”
Tips for batch brewing
Making filter coffee with a batch brewer is a slightly different process. Rather than preparing just one cup of coffee, you can make litres of filter coffee at once to enjoy throughout the day.
That said, you need to approach brewing slightly differently. You should grind more coarsely than you would for regular filter coffee, and you’ll end up with a longer contact time – usually around six minutes.
Most batch brewers prepare up to two litres of coffee at once, so you’ll naturally need to adjust your volumes based on the brew ratio you choose. That said, your coffee-to-water ratio should be broadly similar to the 1:16 ratio Pratama recommends – it’s just done on a much larger scale.
Start off by placing a cone-shaped filter into the filter basket, and rinse it with hot water. Place the coffee inside the filter and level it, then place it in position on the brewer. Fill the water reservoir with water based on your chosen ratio and then activate the brewer. It should take between five and seven minutes in total for all of the coffee to filter into the carafe. Give the coffee one last swirl in the carafe before pouring, and then enjoy!
At Zesto Coffee, our coffees are designed to give you that moment of enjoyment – the chance to slow down, breathe deeply, and savour your brew. Learning to brew well isn’t about buying the most complex equipment on the market. It’s about refining the fundamentals until they feel instinctive, and having the best coffee by your side.
If you want high-quality specialty coffee to enjoy every morning, we’re here to help. Browse our collection of coffees here to pick your next brewing companion.
FAQ
What is the best method for making filter coffee at home?
It depends on your preference and experience level, but pour-over methods like the V60 and Chemex are popular because they offer control and simple variables to manage.
How fine should I grind for filter coffee?
Start with a medium-fine grind and then brew the coffee. If it drips down too quickly and tastes sour, grind the coffee finer. If it draws down slowly and tastes bitter, grind coarser.
Why does my filter coffee taste bitter?
Common causes include grinding too fine, using water that is too hot, or over-agitating the grounds while you pour.
