V60 Dripper Features and Pour-Over Coffee Methods: What Makes the V60 Dripper Design Unique?

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The V60 filter cup is characterized by multiple flow ribs on the cup body and a large drainage hole at the center, which accelerates water flow. The spiral-shaped ventilation groove design extends the water flow path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the center point of the filter cup, creating more concentrated pressure on the coffee grounds. Due to the rich layering of extracted coffee, it has become the preferred filter cup for many coffee enthusiasts.

About the Design Principles of V60 Filter Cup

When mentioning the V60 filter cup, the first brand that comes to mind should be Hario. FrontStreet Coffee also uses Hario's resin V60 filter cup for daily brewing at their stores.

Hario Corporation of Tokyo, Japan was founded in 1921, initially focusing on producing heat-resistant glass products. The highly popular heat-resistant sharing pot commonly seen in coffee shops is one of Hario's hot products. In the 1980s, the first drip coffee filter cup, the Melitta filter cup, was born. It had a small bottom drainage hole, resulting in slow flow rate, where coffee grounds were essentially in a soaking state during the later stages of extraction. Therefore, Hario's designers came up with the idea of using a parabolic-shaped filter cup, hoping to concentrate the extraction path and allow coffee liquid to drip directly into the lower pot, thereby reducing the chance of over-extraction.

The prototype of V60 design is the quadratic equation y=x^2. Later, people improved the parabolic-shaped filter cup to nearly conical, which further evolved into the shape of the letter V. The name Hario V60 originates from the filter cup's characteristic 60-degree cone angle.

The Brewing Characteristics of V60 Filter Cup

Nowadays, there are various materials of V60 filter cups on the market. Besides the resin mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee, there are also ceramic, glass, copper, stainless steel, and others. Each material not only affects the appearance of the filter cup but also has different thermal conductivity during brewing, but the structure of these filter cups remains unchanged.

The interior of the filter cup has multiple spiral ribs and a large circular drainage hole at the bottom. During extraction, coffee liquid can flow down along the cup wall toward the bottom. The raised ribs create ventilation gaps with the filter paper, accelerating water flow while the spiral shape extends the path for water flow. This allows brewers to control the flavor changes of coffee by adjusting the speed of the water stream.

However, FrontStreet Coffee needs to emphasize one point: precisely because of the V60's characteristic of fast flow rate, it requires brewers to have good water control ability, enabling stable and even water injection to avoid problems of insufficient extraction or uneven extraction.

How to Use V60 to Make Better Tasting Coffee?

When using V60 filter cups for brewing, FrontStreet Coffee chooses the resin #01 filter cup. The resin material prevents heat loss, and the #01 size is suitable for single-serving brewing. Due to V60's characteristic of fast drainage, FrontStreet Coffee uses a finer grind to increase contact area between grounds and water, allowing for more thorough coffee extraction and fuller flavor. However, the finer the coffee grind, the more easily coffee grounds accumulate at the bottom of the filter paper, increasing water flow resistance, slowing flow rate, extending extraction time, and making coffee prone to over-extraction with unpleasant woody and miscellaneous flavors. Therefore, we also need to pay attention to pouring technique to avoid blockage in the later stages.

If you want to extract coffee flavors while maintaining stability, FrontStreet Coffee suggests continuously expanding the circular pouring range from center to periphery after the bloom ends. As the water level rises, use the water stream to thoroughly rinse the entire coffee bed, aiming for even extraction of coffee grounds. Here, FrontStreet Coffee uses their own roasted FrontStreet Coffee Guodingding Cooperative coffee beans as an example, with 15g of coffee, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, total water injection of 225g, yielding approximately 200g of coffee liquid after filtration, using a three-stage extraction method.

First Stage: Inject 30g of water for 30 seconds of bloom. Start timing while injecting water, using a small water stream injected from the center point and moving outward in circles, ensuring the entire coffee bed is moistened.

Second Stage: After 30 seconds, begin injecting the second stage of 95g water with a slightly larger, stable water stream, aiming to raise the entire coffee bed. The water stream needs to be injected vertically and evenly. At this time, the timer scale shows 125g, completed in approximately 55 seconds.

Third Stage: When the liquid level drops to half, begin injecting the third stage of 100g using a small water stream in small circles. Try to control the water stream from circling too widely, as this can easily disperse the coffee bed and cause insufficient extraction. Finally, the total water injection is 225g, with completion time around 2 minutes. After removing the filter cup, shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot evenly before tasting.

The FrontStreet Coffee Guodingding Cooperative, extracted using the V60 filter cup with分段式手法, possesses extremely balanced characteristics. Upon tasting, you can experience distinct flavors of berries, lemon, sugarcane, and melon. As the temperature decreases, the green tea finish becomes more pronounced, creating an overall rich yet gentle layering.

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