---
slug: how_to_use_a_pour_over_dripper
category_path: home_kitchen/kitchen_dining/coffee_tea_espresso/pour_over_drippers
type: informational
title: "How to Use a Pour-Over Coffee Dripper"
lead: "Rinse the paper filter with hot water first, add medium-fine coffee at about 1:16 (say 20 g to 320 g), then bloom the grounds with a splash for thirty to forty-five seconds before pouring the rest in slow spirals. Keep the bed flat and finish around three minutes."
recommendation:
  name: "Rinse the filter, bloom 30-45 s, then pour in slow spirals to ~1:16, finishing near three minutes"
  reason: "Pour-over is about pouring evenly so every ground extracts the same, and it comes down to grind, ratio, and a steady pour. Set the filter in the dripper and rinse it through with hot water — that washes out papery taste and warms the cup — then discard that water. Add a medium-fine grind (like table salt) at roughly 1 part coffee to 16 parts water, and start with the bloom: pour just enough water to wet all the grounds, about twice their weight, and wait 30-45 seconds while they puff and release gas. Then pour in slow, steady spirals from the center outward in two or three additions, keeping the grounds bed level and not pouring onto the paper. Aim for water just off the boil (about 93 °C) and a total brew time of two and a half to three and a half minutes; if it runs too fast and tastes thin, grind finer, and if it stalls and turns bitter, grind coarser."
published: 2026-07-08
updated: 2026-07-08
---


<ComparisonTable
  columns={["Step", "Do", "Why"]}
  rows={[
    ["Filter", "Rinse with hot water, discard it", "Removes paper taste, warms the cup"],
    ["Dose", "Medium-fine, ~1:16 (20 g : 320 g)", "The balance of strength"],
    ["Bloom", "Wet all grounds, wait 30-45 s", "Lets gas escape for even extraction"],
    ["Pour", "Slow spirals, bed level, ~3 min total", "Even pouring extracts evenly"],
  ]}
/>