How to brew V60 like Reuben (2-cup) (a guide by Reuben Mardan)

This is how the founder of Sample Coffee makes a 2-cup V60 at home.

Unlike in most common methods, he doesn’t pour in circular motions nor stirs with a tool. When pouring, he uses the ‘paintbrush’ method: soft linear motions from left to right and back, then from top to bottom and back. The purpose? Apparently creates less agitation and achieves a more even extraction.

Here’s the step-by-step guide (or jump onto this guide’s Frequently Asked Questions):

Gear

• Hario V60 02
• Filters filter
• Server
• Gooseneck kettle✎
• Grinderℹ︎
• Scales
• Timer
• Mug(s)!
Goods

• 30g of coffee beans
• A couple of extra beans (~1g) to season the grinder (optional)
• 500g of just-boiled water ♨︎
• Extra water to rinse the filter

✎: We recommend using a gooseneck kettle because it offers higher pouring precision. However, if you don’t have one, you can always use a standard one or literally any pouring source. Your coffee, your rules.

ℹ︎: If you don’t have a grinder, that’s OK! You can always use pre-ground coffee, though we recommend freshly ground because it does elevate the flavour of each brew.

♨︎: In our recipes, we measure water in grams because we use scales, and it’s easy to achieve precision this way. However, if you don’t have scales, the conversion is easy: 1g=1mL.

Method

Set your grinder to the finer side of the filter setting and season it. Then, grind 30g of coffee beans.

At home, I use a Breville Smart Grinder, and for brewing V60 I set it at 48-50.

Whenever I can, I season it with a couple of beans (~1g) to purge any old or differently-sized ground particles from previous grind doses. It’s not absolutely necessary, but I think it helps to achieve a better flavour! Don’t forget to discard these grounds.

Set a paper filter in the V60, then on top of the server. Rinse and discard this water.

The wet paper makes the cone surface more grippy for the coffee grounds, plus this warms up the vessel when you do it with just-boiled water.

Bring the server and V60 onto the scales. Add your 30g of ground coffee.

Once you’re done, tare the scales so you can measure the added water from 0.

First pour (bloom): at 0:00, add 90g of just-boiled water (start the timer immediately after).

I use what I call the ‘paintbrush’ technique. Instead of pouring in circles, I pour in a linear motion from left to right and back, then from top to bottom and back. This creates less agitation.

Second pour: at 0:45, add 210g of just-boiled water (so total in the scales shows 300g).

Third and final pour: at 2:00-2:05, add 20g of just-boiled water (so total in the scales shows 500g).

After the final pour, I give the V60 a couple of gentle taps to flatten the puck/coffee bed.

The final pour should finish dripping at ~4:00-4:30.

If it takes longer, try grinding a bit coarser next time. If it takes shorter, try grinding a bit finer next time.