I've worked in the coffee industry for nearly a decade and still recommend the Hario V60 pour-over dripper for anyone who wants to make delicious coffee easily at home

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• I've worked in the coffee industry for nearly a decade and have helped coffee shops develop their menus.
• I recommend the Hario V60 for beginners and experts alike because it's easy to use and gives you full control of every brewing variable.
• Read more: How to level up your home-brewed coffee, according to the experts

A few years ago, I was hired to consult and help a new specialty coffee shop develop its menu in my small hometown of Warsaw, Indiana.

The owner wanted to offer a unique, high-end experience for customers who were used to getting their coffee from a drive-through window or a gas station drip pot. I suggested that we make every cup of black coffee to order using the Hario V60 pour-over dripper instead of using a drip pot to brew large batches. It worked.

The quality of the freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee won the community over, and I made hundreds of delicious cups using the V60 while I was there. Sharing how good home-style pour-over coffee can be was very rewarding, and using the V60 is still one of my favorite ways to brew coffee at home.

The Hario V60 is an easy to use, reliable, and inexpensive tool for pour-over coffee

Along with the Chemex and the Kalita Wave, the Hario V60 is one of the most popular and most recognizable pour-over drippers on the market.

It's available in plastic, ceramic, glass, and metal variations, and with a few color options. I have a white ceramic V60 in size 02, which currently retails for under $25. Smaller and larger options are available but they all work the same, so you can get the size that fits your needs best. If you choose a ceramic one, know that the material can crack and chip. However, most of the damage that my drippers have sustained have been cosmetic and hasn't affected the brewing process.

The dripper is small and shaped like an inverted cone, with a base just wide enough to fit over the top of most mugs, carafes, and pitchers. A series of spiral ribs inside the cone helps prevent the filter from clinging to the side, which helps water flow evenly through the grounds and allows for an even extraction.

The bottom of the cone opens into a single, circular hole that allows the bottom point of the conical filter to poke through. This is where your brewed coffee will drip into your mug or pitcher. The dripper has a handle on the side so you can pick it up without scorching fingers and clean it when you're done. Since the V60 dripper is separate from whatever vessel you use it with (unlike a Chemex, for example), it's really easy to clean.

My favorite thing about the V60 is its paper filter. Thick filters, like the ones from Chemex, allow very little sediment and oil to pass through, which helps produce a clear cup. Thin filters, which you often get from generic brands, are unreliable and too easy to break.

Hario filters sit perfectly in the middle. They're sturdy enough to withstand brewing, but they allow just enough of the coffee's natural oils to reach the final cup, producing a clean cup that still has character. The V60 makes a bright coffee that shows a full range of flavor notes in the finished cup and without the grit you may get with a French press, which I also love. Filters for the V60 generally cost less than $10 for a pack of 100, and although you can use cheaper, off-brand filters, I wouldn't recommend it.

Making coffee with the Hario V60 is easy and you can adjust every aspect of the brewing process to your liking

There's a range of complexity for you to explore with a dripper like this, but you can keep things really simple as well.

To start, put a filter in the cone and rinse it with hot water. This helps remove any lingering taste of paper. Grind your coffee to a medium-fine grind using a burr grinder and put it into the filter, making sure that the grounds are level at the bottom for even extraction. The recommended coffee-to-water ratio is one or two tablespoons per six ounces of water.

When you're ready to start brewing, place the dripper over your mug or pitcher. Pour hot water (190-205 degrees Fahrenheit) over the grounds, but only just enough to get them wet. Once the beans are soaked, wait about 30 seconds. This process is known as the "bloom." Blooming your coffee helps to degas the fresh beans, and releases some of the carbon dioxide present in freshly ground coffee. This gas can cause bubbles to form that can lead to uneven extraction. Once you give the coffee time to bloom, continue to gradually pour hot water over the grounds but be careful not to let the water overflow out of the dripper.

The V60 allows you to control every variable of the brewing process with absolute precision if you're up for it. A lot of V60 aficionados use kitchen scales, thermometers, and goose-neck kettles for accurate measurements and to control each step. There's a potential level of fine-tuning and customization that you just can't get with devices like the French press. There are even annual pour-over events, like the World Brewer's Cup, where baristas compete to see whose unique methods make the most delicious coffee. Creations using the Hario V60 regularly place near the top and many contestants have won first place using it over the years. The experts all have their own unique method and if you want to get scientific, you can develop your own too.

The bottom line

The Hario V60 is an affordable and essential piece of coffee gear that's perfect for someone who wants to make better coffee easily at home. It can get you a solid cup of coffee without much work but really shines if you take the time to master it. I love brewing with the V60 and I recommend it for both novices and experts.

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