Coffee Machine or V60?

“Which is the best coffee machine?” or “Which coffee machine do you recommend I buy?” you might ask. Our answer is; do not buy one - the V60 is best!

For many this is a shocking response. I have worked in coffee for many years, and I have supplied and worked with top-end commercial coffee machines that are beasts, right down to the home consumer, so-called espresso machine. Why wouldn’t I recommend one?  Quite simply, because your money is best spent on the coffee and not the machine.

You can have the best coffee machine available, but if you brew with poor, over-roasted coffee, this will be reflected in the taste.    

So how do you make coffee without a machine at home?

I do not own a coffee machine and my favourite home brew method to use is the V60. It requires truly minimal investment on your part, roughly £20-30 of equipment and I have yet to meet someone who regretted purchasing it.

To start you off on your V60 brewing, see the step by step guide below.

Equipment List

• Top notch delicious ground coffee
• Hario V60 02 Coffee Dripper Kit
• V60 paper filters
• Scales (kitchen scales will do)
• Kettle

If you decide this way of brewing is for you, I recommend adding to your coffee kit a:

• Wilfa Nymalt Electric Coffee Grinder
• Hario Bona Enamel Stove Top Drip Kettle

A grinder will give you better tasting coffee and greater control over your brew, and this grinder covers all your home brewing needs.

To get you started with minimal fuss, let’s assume you brought yourself a top-notch bag of pre-ground coffee and invested in a wallet friendly V60 kit, the very basics.

Decide if your coffee is for one cup or two. The following will assume two.

• two cups (500ml) use 30g of coffee
• one cup (250ml) use 15g of coffee

Method

1. Get your water boiling in the kettle - and do not worry boiling is fine. The myth that boiling water burns coffee is finally fading; even I believed it once.

2. While it’s boiling pop your V60 and jug onto your scales and put your filter paper in your cone ready for the next step.

3. Now rinse your V60 paper with the water from the kettle - a small amount enough to get the paper wet will do. Then pour out the rinsed water - This is to prevent any residual paper taste, but also preheats the V60 cone.

4. Zero your scales and weigh your coffee (30g) into the cone and form a bird’s nest. Zero your scales again.

5. Now pour in approximately three times the water weight (90g) - this will bloom your coffee. Give it some help with a teaspoon to make sure all the coffee is wet.                                                                                           

6. Continue pouring in a circular motion as slowly as possible from a constant height till your scales reach 500g (500ml of water). If you pour slowly enough you should get the full amount of water in one pour, but you can do this in two stages.                                                                                                                                                 

7. Perform the Rao Spin, my favourite step. This is to take off any coffee stuck to the sides of the paper and to bring it to the bottom of the cone. Usually one spin is enough, but I sneak in a second spin if I spot more coffee stuck on the sides as the water will draw this down. Any coffee geeks reading this may have just choked on that one.

8. The best part: once water has filtered through, pour and enjoy!

Most V60’s brew in between 3-4 minutes. It is a ritual I hope you enjoy as much as the coffee it produces.

If you decide this is the coffee brew for you, I recommend you invest in a good home grinder and gooseneck kettle, as it will complete your V60 brewing kit and make your coffee taste even better.