Guide

Pour Over Setup: Dripper, Grinder, Scale and Water in Three Steps

What you need for great pour over depends on how far you want to go. Three steps, each with a clear job, and at the end the recipe we brew with ourselves.

What gear do you need for good pour over coffee?

Good pour over takes less gear than most shopping lists suggest. You start with a dripper that holds its temperature, matching paper filters, freshly ground coffee and a scale that reads to 1 g. That alone gives you a clear, sweet cup. The biggest next step is a hand grinder with an even grind, because particles of different sizes extract at different speeds and make the coffee sour and bitter at the same time. A coffee scale with 0.1 g resolution and a timer makes any recipe repeatable. If you want to go further, you take control of your brewing water with mineral concentrates and measure extraction with a refractometer. This page sorts the gear into three steps, says which variable each step controls, and ends with our house recipe: 15 g of coffee, 250 g of water at 93 °C, 25 clicks on the Comandante C40 and a Sibarist Fast Cone filter.

Step 1

Getting started: dripper and filter

The Graycano Dripper is made from around 250 g of cast aluminium. The material stores heat and gives it back to the coffee bed, while the lava ribs guide the water evenly through the coffee. The GC01 filter, made from Japanese wood pulp, is matched to that rib geometry.

To begin with, a kitchen scale that reads to 1 g is enough, along with freshly ground coffee from your roaster or a grinder you already own.

Graycano Graycano Dripper

Around 250 g of cast aluminium keep the coffee bed warm, and the lava ribs keep the flow even.

65 € to 75 €
Graycano Filter GC01

Japanese wood pulp with a medium to slow drawdown, matched to the ribs of the Graycano Dripper.

14 €
Step 2

Repeatable: grinder, scale, fast paper

An evenly grinding hand grinder is the biggest single upgrade. The Comandante C40 is the reference grinder of our Brew Lab, and every click setting there refers to it. The Acaia Pearl reads to 0.1 g, has a timer and shows your flow rate while you pour. The Sibarist Fast Cone drains faster than the GC01, which lets you grind finer.

Already own a 1Zpresso, Timemore, Kingrinder, Baratza or Fellow? Keep it: the Brew Lab converts the clicks of these grinders.

Comandante C40 Nitro Blade

Nitro Blade burrs for an even grind. The house recipe sits at 25 clicks, and the Brew Lab calculates on this scale.

299 €
Acaia Pearl - Pitch Black

Measures to 0.1 g, with timer and flow rate display. That is how you hit every pour of the recipe.

192 €
Graycano Filter Fast Cone

Drains faster than the GC01, which lets you grind finer. The paper of our house recipe.

45 €
Step 3

Measure and refine: water and TDS

Water is the largest part of every cup, and its minerals help decide what gets extracted from the coffee. APAX LAB lets you mix your own brewing water: the Box Set holds the three concentrates TONIK, JAMM and LYLAC, while KONFLUX is a single concentrate for more body and sweetness.

The DiFluid R2 Extract measures the TDS of your cup. Enter the reading in the Brew Lab and see how close the calculation gets to your cup.

APAX LAB APAX LAB Box Set

Three 100 ml mineral concentrates for mixing your own brewing water, approx. 150 brews per bottle.

90 €
APAX LAB KONFLUX

A single concentrate for more body, sweetness and texture. The easiest way into your own brewing water.

32 €
DiFluid DiFluid R2 Extract

Refractometer for TDS. Enter the reading in the Brew Lab to check whether your extraction is on target.

225 €

The three steps compared

What each step adds and which variable it controls
StepAddsControlsFor whom
1 Getting startedGraycano Dripper, GC01 filterTemperature and flow in the dripperAnyone starting out with pour over
2 RepeatableComandante C40, Acaia Pearl, Sibarist Fast ConeGrind size, dose, pouring speedAnyone who wants the same good cup every morning
3 Measure and refineAPAX LAB, DiFluid R2 ExtractMinerals in the water, extractionAnyone comparing coffees and dialling in on purpose
Graycano house recipe

15 g, 250 g, 93 °C, 25 clicks

Coffee
15 g
Water
250 g
Ratio
1:16.7
Temperature
93 °C
Grind
25 clicks C40
Filter
Sibarist Fast Cone
  1. 0:00 to 0:3040 gBloom: wet the coffee evenly and let it degas.
  2. 0:30 to 1:0070 gSecond pour, 110 g in total.
  3. 1:00 to 1:3070 gThird pour, 180 g in total.
  4. 1:30 to 2:0070 gFourth pour, 250 g in total. At 2:00 all the water is in the dripper.

Water: filtered, or with an APAX LAB concentrate of your choice. Different grinder? The Brew Lab converts the 25 clicks to your grinder and helps you dial in by taste.

Frequently asked questions

Not to get started. Freshly ground coffee from your roaster already makes a good cup in the dripper if you use it up within a few days. A quality hand grinder pays off once you want to compare coffees or dial in a recipe on purpose. At that point grind size shapes the taste more than any other tool. If you already own a grinder from 1Zpresso, Timemore, Kingrinder, Baratza or Fellow, keep it: the Brew Lab converts its clicks.

To start with, yes, as long as it reads to 1 g and reacts quickly. With 15 g of coffee, one gram off is already almost 7 percent of the dose. A coffee scale like the Acaia Pearl reads to 0.1 g, has a timer and shows the flow rate. That makes it easy to hit the timings and amounts of a recipe like our house recipe.

Water makes up most of every cup, and its mineral content affects which flavours end up in it. Filtered water is a good start. With mineral concentrates such as those from APAX LAB you build your own water on a soft base and can change it on purpose. That pays off most with light roasts or when you want to compare coffees side by side.

Not for good cups. A refractometer such as the DiFluid R2 Extract measures TDS, and together with beverage weight and dose that gives you the extraction yield. The target range is 18 to 22 percent. It helps when you want to understand why a cup tastes sour or bitter, and when you want to find a great cup again exactly. You can enter the reading in the Brew Lab.

The Dripper page gives 15 g of coffee to 225 ml of water at 94 to 96 °C, a 1:15 ratio, as a general starting point for any paper and any grinder. The house recipe on this page is our team's version with the Sibarist Fast Cone and the Comandante C40: a little more water, 93 °C and four pours finished by 2:00. Both work, so start with the one that fits your gear.

Further reading