Taking speciality coffee to the people is a difficult task. Making high-quality coffee at home has been a challenge until the development of the classic V60. Many individuals who enjoy their daily cup of coffee at a coffee shop raised their desire to improve the coffee they can make at home.

The V60 was created to fight against the immersion brewers. Hario wanted to provide customers with a pour-over option that would provide them with a cleaner cup of coffee and something other than the immersion brewing methods that were in the spotlight.

A brief history of the V60 coffee brewer

Hario was the inspiration behind the V60 coffee brewing method. The company was founded in Tokyo by Hiromu Shibata, focusing on glassware and was very popular for its manufacturing. The name Hario means king of glass.

The V60 received its name simply due to its appearance. The 60-degree angle of the brewer looked like a V, and the angle was added to the name to ensure that consumers could quickly identify it.

The dripper was designed to hold a paper filter, ensuring that the coffee brewed with the dripper has a clean body and complex flavours. The large hole at the bottom allows the water to drip into a cup or decanter, while the spiral ribs allow air to be released throughout the brew.

The European coffee trip has more historical details on these fantastic little brewers.

The benefits of the V60

There are many ways to use the V60. Many coffee lovers do not have to go through barista training or coffee courses to understand this brewer, although it might assist them in mastering the brewer.

The affordability

We are all aware of the expensive equipment and products that come with hobbies. Coffee is no different. The scales, gooseneck kettles and add-ons can cost quite a heavy penny. The V60, on the other hand, is an affordable option for home brewers.

The brewer only requires filters, and coffee enthusiasts can enjoy the brewer without any of the expensive equipment. These add-ons can be purchased at a later date.

Practical and portable

The V60 is a practical and portable coffee brewer. The brewer can fit in a backpack, enabling coffee enthusiasts to enjoy filter coffee anywhere. The filters will fit perfectly into the brewer, which eliminates additional space needed. The only additional product required is coffee, which can be purchased anywhere in the world.

Easy to understand

The V60 is quite an intricate brewing method. The key, however, is to keep it as simple as possible. Coffee is technical and takes time to master. The V60, on the other hand, can be enjoyed without the technicalities, especially if you are starting with your coffee journey.

Coffee lovers can ask baristas or roasters to grind the coffee to the perfect grind size. This will enable them to simply add the coffee to the filter of the V60, add water and enjoy as the water is drawn down through the coffee.

A simple and effective coffee brewing method.

Flavour and texture

Unlike the French press, the V60 is a pour-over method. This means that instead of the coffee being immersed fully under the water, the water is poured over the coffee, allowing gravity to pull the water through the coffee.

The French Press produces coffee with a heavy body, oily coffee and tiny coffee particles in your cup. The V60 filter will reduce the amount of oils in your cup, ensuring that the flavour of the coffee is displayed in the cup. No more coffee particles or heavy oils. The V60 will allow coffee enthusiasts to enjoy an easy-drinking beverage and a light texture with little effort.

Control of the variables

The V60 has various levels to it. If you are a coffee lover who wants to improve your coffee at home, starting with this brewer is a great idea. As you dive deeper down the rabbit hole, you can use this brewer to experiment with the various variables that come with it.

Adding a temperature variable gooseneck kettle, a scale, and a grinder will completely change the home brewing experience. By adding these pieces of equipment, home-brewing coffee enthusiasts can play around and dive head-first into the complexity of filter coffee.

These additions can lead to many coffee lovers struggling to find consistency, and this is where barista trainers and baristas can add great assistance.

The variety of brewing options

Brewing hot filter coffee is one of the great benefits of the V60. Home-brewing coffee enthusiasts can, however, experiment with flash brewing (brewing filter coffee over ice). This enables coffee lovers to make delicious cold-brew coffee on those hot summer days.

How to master the V60

Mastering the V60 can take some time. The key to mastering starts with understanding the variables and their impact on the extraction of your coffee. Each variable will play a massive role in your coffee's flavour, extraction and texture.

Grinder

A grinder is the first component to enhance home brewing coffee. Freshly grounded coffee will impact your coffee's taste, flavour and extraction. Pre-ground coffee that has been standing longer might have less flavour and can appear bland or stale.

A hand or electrical grinder should be your first big purchase. The grinder will enable coffee enthusiasts to control the grind size, enabling them to determine the extraction strength and the coffee's freshness.

The grind size will have a great impact on your brew time. A course grind setting will lead the brew to finish before the 3-minute mark, while a finer grind setting will lead to your brew time exceeding the 3:30-minute mark. The target of your brew is 3:00 - 3:30 minutes per brew, depending on the dose.

Scale

Precision is key. Like baking a cake, a great-tasting coffee takes precision and consistency. A scale will ensure that every part of the brewing experience is consistent and exactly what the coffee lover desires.

As little as one gram can greatly impact the taste of your coffee. The scale will assist the coffee enthusiast in brewing the desired cup to perfection. A scale will be used to weigh the amount of coffee that will be brewed and included when the home brewer adds water.

Gooseneck kettle

A gooseneck kettle is a fun addition to the brewing equipment. Not only does this kettle advertise the expertise of the home brewer, but it also improves the water poring accuracy, flow and speed.

The kettle looks like a goose and allows the coffee enthusiast to pour, with a thin stream, water onto the coffee. The precision will enable the coffee lover to aim for the darker spots in the coffee bed, ensuring optimal extraction.

Water Temperature

Water temperature is one of the last variables that home brewers can control. Some gooseneck kettles have a base that enables coffee enthusiasts to determine and select the exact water temperature.

There are ways to work around this problem. Coffee lovers can do a Google search to find the water boiling point in their region. The boiling temperature for water differs based on altitude and pressure. Coffee brewers can manipulate their kettles by determining the boiling point to ensure they use the best-suited temperate.

The ideal water temperature for a V60 is 90 - 94 degrees Celsius. (194 - 201 Fahrenheit. If the water boils to 100 degrees (212 Fahrenheit), the coffee enthusiast can open the lid and allow the boiling water to cool down to ensure it does not burn the coffee when poured into it.

Burnt coffee will have burned nuts, dark hot chocolate and raisins flavours, with a heavy body and unpleasant bitterness.

Water

The last variable that will have the most significant impact on the taste of coffee is the water. Certain minerals will increase the extraction, while others will reduce the amount of coffee solubles extracted from the coffee.

Hardness, alkalinity, minerals and pH are critical for great-tasting water and coffee. Water accounts for 98% of the coffee in your cup. Thus, coffee lovers should watch for the water they use to have the best-tasting coffee.

Here is a guide by the Barista Institute to assist homebrewers with their water.

A simple recipe to start with

The following recipe is best suited for a two-cup V60. The key to this recipe is precision, but home brewers can adjust it to ensure they have the best-tasting coffee for them.

You need 20 grams of medium ground coffee, 300g boiling water ( 92 degrees works best), A kitchen or coffee scale, a timer, and a decanter or cup.

Nice to have: A gooseneck kettle with a temperature variable base.

The first step is to bring the water to a boil, place the paper filter in the V60, and rinse it with hot water.
Add the coffee to the filter paper and shake until the coffee bed is flat.
Start with a slow pour of water over the coffee; the aim is 50g. This will allow the coffee to release CO2 ( Known as blooming) and increase the extraction of the brew.
Wait 35 seconds for the blooming to end, then pour 100g of water.
Wait until the water is almost done running through, then pour another 100g.
End off the brew with another 50g of water. The entire brew should be between 3 and 3:30 minutes.

Conclusion

The V60 is a fantastic brewer for all coffee lovers. Coffee enthusiasts can use it as a starting brewer when they jump into their journey of improving coffee at home or for those coffee snobs who want to dive deeper into the technical aspects of brewing coffee. Try it out, and let us know what you think about this intricate brewer.

The little brewer that changed home brewing: The history of the V60