The V60 coffee dripper is a mandatory fixture in the homes and cafes of coffee enthusiasts who drink pour-over coffee. But how did this conical contraption come into such popularity, and why do people love it so much?
The V60 was developed by the Japanese glassmaking firm Hario in the early 2000s. Prior to the V60, pour-over coffee brewing was frequently associated with what you might think of as an immersion method: the French press. Hario’s device provided a new, direct approach to pour-over brewing, where the user has complete control over the extraction process. Its name comes from its 60-degree cone-shaped body, which was designed to allow water to flow and extract with maximum efficiency.
The V60, though invented in Japan, was adopted as the go-to manual brewer across the globe by people who liked their coffee to be simple, precise, and tasty. The coffee shop, the home barista, and the casual coffee drinker alike all adopted it.
They come in all shapes and sizes – there’s a ceramic V60, a glass one, a plastic one, a metal one, and a copper one. The material will affect the way your coffee is brewed. Ceramic and glass ones are popular because they retain heat, but they are also attractive. Plastic ones are lighter and much cheaper, which makes them good for beginners. Copper and metal ones provide durability and a nice high-end feel – coffee purists tend to go for those.
Regardless of material, the Hario brand guarantees quality construction for each V60. The spiral ridges inside the dripper encourage water flow, which encourages the grounds to expand and extract evenly, producing a clean, well-rounded cup that’s less bitter than the alternative.
How to Use the V60
The V60, at first sight, seems like a simple tool – but even this one requires some dexterity to use. Here is a quick rundown on how to use it.
Pre-wet the filter: Place the paper filter in the cone pour hot water through it to ‘de-papery’ the filter and preheat the dripper.
Measure your coffee: Around 15-18 grams for every 250 ml of water. But the beauty of the V60 is that you can play with the ratios a little.
How to pour technique: Pour just enough water to saturate the coffee grounds in order to ‘bloom’ and allow the gases trapped in the beans to be released, and then allow the coffee machine to pour slowly and in a circular motion maintaining the water level.
You’re done: your pour is finished, and water has run through the grounds. Your cup of coffee is clean, smooth, and even.
The V60 dripper has a significant following for a few reasons. A big one is control. It allows the user to completely control the brewing process, from grind size, to pour speed and water temperature.
But this is far from all that the V60 has done. By encouraging users to tweak and fiddle until they find the perfect recipe, it has created an online community of coffee fanatics, swapping recipes, recommendations, and techniques. You can overhear conversations about the humble dripper in cafés, on forums, and on social media – and in doing so, connect with fellow obsessives.
