Making delicious coffee is a science and an art, and the pour over method is one of the most popular choices for coffee enthusiasts. Many factors such as the coffee grind, ratio, and filter affect the flavor. However, finding the best water temperature for your pour over coffee can have huge effects on the extraction. My advice, along with most coffee experts, is to use water between 195-205°F (90-96°C). However, like most things in specialty coffee, there is more nuance in the details!
Whether you make drip coffee on a Chemex, V60, or any other dripper, achieving the ideal coffee brewing temperature is a critical step. But it is often overlooked. And, people become frustrated that they cannot brew delicious coffee at home as they drink at the cafe.
My plan for this article is to discuss how I approach pour over coffee water temperature at home, along with some science about how it affects extraction/taste.
These temperature tips will also apply to your automatic drip coffee maker. If you have a thermometer to measure your machine, you can potentially figure out why your drip coffee is not tasting ideal.
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Optimal Water Temperature for Pour Over Coffee
If you’re here for a short answer about the ideal water temp for pour over coffee, you will generally produce the best flavors between 195°F and 205°F (90°C and 96°C). Water that is too cold under-extracts the coffee grounds and leads to a weak and flavorless cup. And if the water is too hot, you risk extracting too much from the grounds and producing bitter and unpleasant flavors.
In my own experiments dialing in new coffees, I am always surprised at just how differently coffee extracts at different temperatures!
See Also: How To Make Pour Over Coffee: Complete Guide For Any Dripper
Temperature aside, make sure you use filtered water. Since coffee is mostly water, any bad flavor in your hot water will be a major part of your final brew.
Coffee Brewing Temperature: General Guidelines
Water temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the molecules. With hot water, the molecules move around more energetically and have more interaction with the coffee grounds, leading to more extraction. But there is an ideal temperature range of coffee brewing that produces a well-balanced and flavorful cup. And venturing outside of that range can lead to a bitter or sour brew.
Temperature and Extraction
To better understand this, know that coffee extraction means that water (a polar molecule) is dissolving compounds within the bean. The taste and aroma of coffee occur because of soluble compounds like sugars, acids, and oils dissolving into the brewing water. And, coffee grinding increases the surface area and gets an even extraction.
See Also: How To Choose The Best Pour Over Coffee Maker
If you were to put a whole coffee bean directly into the filter, hot water would only contact the outside layer. But a ground coffee bean increases the surface area and allows the internal structures to dissolve their delicious compounds into your brew. And, research over time has shown that with the proper grind size, you will get the best coffee extraction between 195°F to 205°F (90°C to 96°C).
This range is a fantastic starting point, but don’t be afraid to experiment with temperatures outside this range. If you are a serious coffee lover, experimenting with brewing temperature can lead to surprisingly beautiful cups!
However, if you’re struggling with a weak-tasting pour-over brew, low water temperature is one possible cause.
How I Think About Pour Over Water Temperature
If you want to be properly scientific about the best pour over water temp, you should understand that it is more about the coffee bed temperature than that of the water. Whatever temperature your kettle shows, the biggest factor is keeping your slurry between the range of 195°F to 205°F.
And since water gives off heat as it falls from the kettle, my experiments with a Thermapen consistently show that using water right off the boil achieves this goal. If the water in your kettle is at 195°F to 200°F, then you’re letting the coffee brew below that range.
How To Measure Water Temp for Pour Over
The most consistent and precise method of achieving the ideal pour over temperature is to use a thermometer. If you buy a gooseneck kettle such as the Fellow Stagg or the WENEGG, they come with a thermometer built in. Fancy electric gooseneck kettles like this Fellow Stagg EKG even have an LCD for the temperature and hold hot water at your preset for up to an hour.
Features:
- Stovetop pour-over coffee kettle
- 301 18/8 stainless steel material & 1.0 Liter boiling capacity
- Built-in thermometer
- Precision pour spout with fluted tip & counterbalanced handle
- Used by Brewers Cup Champions
These real-time temperature measurements allow you to notice the subtle differences in how temperature affects the extraction and taste. You can keep track throughout your brews to dial in the perfect flavor. Specialty coffee is a science, so it shouldn’t surprise you that you can geek out and take data points while brewing your morning coffee!
Measuring Ideal Water Temp without Thermometer
Without a thermometer, it is tricky to get scientific about how the pour over water temp affects the outcome. In this case, aim for the standard temperature of 205°F (96°C) by letting your boiling water sit for 30 seconds before you begin the brew. At a coffee class once, an expert barista told me “Simply boil the water and then wait for two sneezes before you brew.”
Joking aside, the advice is pretty decent: the idea is that you only need to wait moments after the rolling boil stops as water will lose temperature as it falls from the kettle and mixes into the coffee bed.
Note: Keep in mind that water’s boiling point depends on your elevation, and 212°F is the boiling point at sea level. For example, water boils at 202°F in Denver, Colorado where the elevation is over 5000 feet.
Slurry Temperature
In filtered coffee, whether with a manual dripper or automatic machine, the slurry temperature is the temperature of the mixture of coffee grounds and water. Being mindful of your water temp is a critical step, but checking in on your slurry temperature with a thermometer is also useful, and you will see just how much heat is lost to the air.
Features:
- High-Precision Drip Coffee Scale: 0.1-gram increments
- Built-in timer
- Auto-off feature after 5 minutes (not activated while the timer is in use)
- Slim Design
- Anti-slip rubber feet, improved water resistance
- Uses 2 AAA batteries (included)
Maintaining the proper temperature evenly throughout the coffee slurry is also crucial for an even extraction. Many automatic drip coffee makers fail to do this, which is why pour over is better than drip.
Pre-heating your dripper will help maintain a consistent slurry temperature and get you a well-extracted and balanced cup of coffee.
Dialing In Pour Over Coffee Water Temperature For Each Coffee
Much of specialty coffee brewing involves a process of “dialing in” your coffee. Especially with a new coffee bean, this process is how you figure out the optimal extraction. Try a few temperatures within the ideal range and notice how it affects your brew.
Taste Test Your Brews and Make Adjustments As Needed
All of this effort we coffee lovers put into our brewing is so that we can enjoy the most delicious cup of coffee. As such, the best way to dial in the perfect temperature for your pour-over coffee is to mindfully taste it and make adjustments.
Plenty of details like ratio, grind size, and pouring technique will affect extraction. But using the graphic above, know that hotter water extracts more and cooler water less. Aim for the sweet spot right in the middle!
Why Is My Pour Over Coffee too Bitter?
Over-extraction is the primary reason your coffee is bitter, especially if accompanied by a drying sensation. The main causes for over-extraction when you brew a pour over include:
- You brewed the coffee too long (See Also: How To Fix a Slow Pour Over)
- The grind was too fine
- Dirty equipment or old coffee beans
- The coffee-to-water ratio is incorrect
- Your water is too hot—make sure it is between 195°F and 205°F (90°C to 96°C).
Often, low-quality grinders produce too many fines, which contribute to over-extraction and bitterness. Consider getting a quality burr coffee grinder if you do not already have one—I tend to recommend the Baratza Encore for most people.
See Also: Cheap vs Expensive Coffee Grinder: Are Expensive Grinders Worth It?
Best Pour Technique
A skilled coffee brewer has to worry about multiple details at once. Getting any one of them wrong can lead to problems. For example, if your ground coffee is too fine, water will flow too slowly through the grounds and cause over-extraction.
Features:
- 5 One-Touch Temperature Presets
- 1 Hour HOLD TEMP function
- Food-grade 304 stainless steel material
- Precision spout and counterbalanced handle
Similarly, you need a specific pouring technique to get a high-quality cup of coffee from manual drippers. The proper method is to pour in a slow, circular motion over the coffee grounds, starting from the center and moving outward toward the edges of the brewing vessel. The goal is to saturate all the coffee grounds evenly, leading to an even extraction.
Depending on your specific pour-over coffee maker, you may need to make multiple pours to achieve the proper speed. You can refer to this pour over brew guide for a detailed explanation of how to make delicious coffee on any dripper.
FAQs
Before you launch into your next brewing session with new knowledge, let’s wrap up by answering some common questions people have about the ideal temp for pour over coffee.
How do I get more flavor of pour over coffee?
Using a finer grind, hotter water, and blooming at the beginning of brewing will all help you extract more flavor when you make pour-over coffee.
What temperature should water be for pour over coffee?
The optimal coffee brewing temperature for pour over coffee (and most other methods) is between 195°F and 205°F (90°C to 96°C). With a pour-over, aim for the high end of this range since you will lose heat as you brew.
What temperature should dark roast pour over be?
Dark roast coffee extracts more easily, meaning that you should use a lower temperature like 195°F (90°C) when making a dark roast pour-over.
How hot should the water be for pour over coffee?
The easiest way to find the ideal water temp for pour over is to boil the water and wait 30 seconds before you brew. Alternatively, use a thermometer and aim for 205°F (96°C).
Final Thoughts on Finding the Perfect Temp for Pour Over Coffee
As you can see, brewing coffee is a fun combination of science and art. If you want to consistently brew the perfect cup, you have to pay attention to the fine details of your coffee brewing method. A coffee lover grows to enjoy this process and has fun noticing how adjusting coffee ratio, grind, and temperature affects the flavor.
And hopefully, you now understand that the best water temperature for pour-over coffee is almost always between 195°F and 205°F (90°C and 96°C). Assuming you’ve figured out the other steps, this should lead to delicious coffee!
P.S. If you want some help choosing the best coffee dripper, here’s a regularly updated article with the best drippers on the market.
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