James Hoffman’s Ultimate V60 Brew Method

Part of the Brew Method of the Week series — #3.

This week, I’ve been really enjoying James Hoffmans ‘Ultimate V60 Technique’. It’s slightly more complex than my typical V60 method, but with a noticeable improvement to the extraction and the taste.

Before we get to the brew method, I recommend watching Hoffman’s video all the way through.

He is one of my favorite coffee experts to watch and learn from, thoroughly explaining why certain methods, work and taste the way they do.

Watch: ‘The Ultimate V60 Technique’

The next step is coming back and using this page as a reference. It will guide you, step by step as you brew in real-time.

Yields 500g. Enough for 2 people.

What you’ll need:

• Hario V60 Ceramic Coffee Dripper
• Hario V60 Paper Coffee Filter
• 30g Coffee: Ground medium. (Setting 14 on a Baratza Encore grinder)
• Coffee server (something for the coffee to drip into, I use an insulated metal server.
• Kettle (gooseneck is preferred)
• Water
• Scale
• Timer
• Spoon

Set-Up:

1. Start by filling up your kettle and setting it to boil.
2. Rinse the paper filter with the now boiled water, ensuring that it is fully saturated.
3. Grind your 30g of coffee to a medium consistency. Use setting 14 on a Baratza Encore grinder.
4. Position your V60 coffee dripper on top of your coffee server. Ensure that the server will hold more than 500g of coffee to avoid a spill.

Brew Instructions:

1. Add 30g of ground coffee to the V60. With your finger, create a small well in the middle of the grounds.
2. Start the timer and add 60g of water to bloom the coffee. Pick up and swirl the coffee 5 times.
3. At the 45 second mark, continue pouring until the scale reads 300g. Aim to complete this pour within 30 seconds, finishing at the 1:15 mark. (Hoffman recommends a flow rate of 8g per second if possible.)
4. At the 1:15 minute mark, complete the pour by pouring until the scale reads 500g.
5. At the 1:45 minute mark, use the spoon to stir once clockwise and once anti-clockwise, knocking off the grounds from the sides of the V60.
6. After letting the V60 drain a little, give it 3 more swirls.
7. Allow the water to drip through the grounds entirely, ideally finishing by the 3:30 mark. Remove the filter and serve.

Enjoy.