A couple of years ago I learned how to make pour over coffee and I started making it every morning since then. It has been one of my absolute favorite rituals. When I’d tell people I do this, some would ask me how I even have the time for that?

Sometimes I’d hear, “who has the time to make a pour over coffee in the morning?”

A few times I heard, “wow, you must be lucky to have that much time to make coffee in the morning, I’m too busy for that.”

Whatever the comment, it made me wonder, why do I make my own coffee?

Before I dive into why, I’ll share how I do it. This way you what I mean by making my own pour over coffee, which is also an important part of the reason why I do it.

How I Make My Coffee?

Getting the Beans Ready is All About Precision and Consistency

I start by measuring out 23 grams of coffee beans on my kitchen scale. I get my coffee beans from a coffee subscription service called Trade Coffee. It’s pretty cool because every 2 weeks I receive a new bag of coffee from a roaster I would not have found on my own.

Then I pour the beans into my Baratza Encore grinder. I learned about the Baratza Encore by talking to several baristas at different coffee shops. Most agreed this model was the top of the line for a serious home coffee enthusiast. They shared that moving beyond the Baratza would require a significant jump in price. Maybe I’ll save that for later in my coffee journey.

I set the grinder to somewhere between 12-20 depending on the country and roast of the bean. A lot of this I figure out by testing out different grind sizes when I get a new bag. Once I find the right size, I keep that setting for the rest of the bag. Generally, the finer the grind, the darker your coffee will be. The coarser, the lighter it will be. For light roasts, I usually go a little finer and for darker roasts I go a little coarser. This keeps the darker roasts from getting too bitter and allows me to extract more flavor notes from a lighter roast that isn’t too bitter to start. Check out this great article on Trade Coffee’s site on everything you need to know about coffee grind size.

Preparing the Water and Coffee Maker

After it’s ground, I put on a goose neck kettle of filtered water on the stove. The kettle has a built in thermometer to let me know when the water temperature is just right for pouring over. I use the Coffee Gator Gooseneck Kettle which I found on Amazon.

I then set my ceramic V60 coffee dripper on my clear glass coffee server. Both of these are set on my scale. I take out a size 2 V60 paper coffee filter and place it in the V60 dripper. I take the kettle off the stove and pour some of the hot water around the paper filter. This helps remove some of the paper filter smell and taste from the final cup of coffee. Since the hot water is pouring into the glass coffee server as well, it is also pre-heating the glass. Then I pour out the water from this pre-heating step.

Don’t Talk to Me While I’m Pouring!

Now, with my coffee filter moist, the dripper and server pre-heated, I pour my coffee grounds into the V60 dripper evenly so I get a flat top. I then use a small spoon to create a small divot in the middle of the grounds. I start by pouring in about 50 milliliters of water (measured by the scale), making sure to cover all of the grounds and I wait about 30 seconds. You’ll notice that the grounds almost start to bloom. There is a chemical reaction going on where the grounds are releasing some gas.

After the 30 seconds, I carefully pour 100 milliliters of water in a circular motion and wait about a minute, then I carefully pour the remaining 200 milliliters of water in a circular motion and wait until a total of 4 minutes have passed since the first pour. By then all of the water has gone through the grounds.

I remove the dripper, seal the server, and pour myself a cup of coffee to take over to my desk. I also bring the server with me so I can pour the rest when my first cup runs out.

So Why Do This Everyday?

Why do I take this time every morning or middle of the day to make my own pour over?

It’s a mindful start to my day.

For me, making this pour over, is part of my mindfulness practice each day. The level of concentration and focus I put into this allows my brain to calm down, get centered on coffee making, and ready to make my day great!

It helps me step away from my work.

If I’m stopping in the middle of my day to make my pour over, the attention that I put into this exercise forces me to disconnect from my work and allows my brain to process what it has taken in throughout the day so far. This background brain processing is critical to discovering new ideas, insights, and solutions.

I love coffee!

I absolutely enjoy the taste of pour over coffee (with no sugar). It’s a real treat to explore different flavor notes and aromas. Since I get a new bag every two weeks, I get a lot of variety out of this ritual.

It’s a reminder that there are always adjustments I can make.

Since it takes me several days to find the right grind size for every new bag, I’m testing and measuring for a few days every couple of weeks. There’s always variety and discovery in this process and it reminds me to make small adjustments in other areas of my work and life.

It grounds me (no pun intended).

Finally, this practice grounds me in a daily activity that I can enjoy every day. Full disclosure, I’m currently not pouring over my own coffee while in Ireland since I didn’t bring all of my coffee making gear. However, while in Ireland, I am learning the art and science of making espresso with a moka pot and I take that process just as seriously every single day.

What are some of your daily routines, rituals, or practices that do more for you than others can see or appreciate?