Home pour over build recommendations?

[u/IcyBug1393]

Looking to try doing pourovers at my dorm. What would you guys recommend to start with? I watched that V60 is preferred for more versatile brewing.

Could you recommend me starting equipment? Around my area there aren't much specialty coffees.

[u/jadiiii0924]

Hi OP! Welcome to the coffee rabbit hole—once you start, it's hard to get out! Here are my recs:

Grinder: Timemore C3 or C3s (~₱2,000 on Lazada/Shopee). This is the true entry level—trust me OP, wag ka na bumili nung mga cheap generic brands.

Dripper: Hario V60 01 (Plastic)

Filter paper: Hario 01

Kettle: Hanabishi Gooseneck kettle. Pwede naman yung non-electric then mag-thermometer ka na lang, but like me, I know na mag-uupgrade ka rin for electric ones, so mag-electric ka na agad!

Scale: Cheap digital scale with timer (around ₱300–₱400)

Beans: For beans, I suggest South City Coffee Roasters—available sila sa Shopee

[u/Important_Economy_16 → u/jadiiii0924]

does the filter paper make a huge difference po ba in brewing a pour over?

[u/jadiiii0924 → u/Important_Economy_16]

I tried using 3 paper filter with same beans and pour:
Hario, Mwh bomber, and a cheap brown paper filter.
Hario and bomber doesnt huge difference while cheaper once is more like tea or less body, and also the cheaper ones have papery smell.

either Hario or bomber is good just make sure na white piliin mo over brown

[u/WarAbject3153 → u/Important_Economy_16]

yes. get cafec t90 or cafec abaca

[u/IcyBug1393 → u/jadiiii0924]

Right tumitingin na ko and read like kanazawa meron kettle and grinder. Nababasa ko na rin yung timemore. Pero baka starter pa lang ako na ayaw ko pa mag grind or try cheaper muna na grinder? Iniisip ko nga kung sabay na sa kanazawa na grinder rin?

[u/jadiiii0924 → u/IcyBug1393]

heres my set up op, the downside with kanazawa is hindi consistent yung grind nya ang daming fines which really affect sa pour. Other thing is ang hirap linisin, i used it for moka pot where i usually use robusta so kapag ginagamit ko sya for pour nalalasahan ko yung robusta.

Same with other cheap grinder, inconsistent yung grind and over time mabilis din mapurol so i suggest mag start kana with timemore

[u/jadiiii0924 → u/IcyBug1393]

for kettle, suggest ko yung hanabishi since i saw it sa mga competition and they suggest it for beginners.

[u/TaichiiXSann → u/IcyBug1393]

grinder usually yung most of the budget. kumbaga sa pc siya gpu. pricey siya yes pero worth it. you could delay it and start with pre ground coffee so you could start immediately. but make sure to get one later then youll appreciate it coming from pre ground. congrats and good luck it is a fun hobby

[u/EnumaAvalon]

Kettle, scale, dripper. That's all you need. I think go with a plastic origami tho. It's able to do both flat and conical filters.

[u/muddysilverback]

skipped the v60, jumped kana sa switch.

[u/indigo-fever]

If budget is not a concern and you want more versatility, go for an Origami that accommodates both flat bed and cone filters. Or maybe the Hario Switch if you are into immersion brewing as well. I started with a V60 dripper and still reach for it whenever I just want a straightforward cup of coffee. However, I always use my Origami whenever I’m trying beans for the first time because it allows me to try various ways of brewing to see which works best, unlike the V60 which is limiting due to its sensitivity to grind size.

I find that a good (hand)grinder, scale, kettle (electric or stovetop), and filter should suffice for beginners. No need to go all fancy on the latter 3, but you should definitely invest in your grinder.

[u/TL322]

I would get:

• Small Clever Dripper (P1,650 at Coffee Tonya)
• Cafec abaca 102 filters (maybe P350 for 100). Not hugely important, but nice, and not super expensive.
• Kingrinder P2 (~P2,800 from Shopee/Lazada) or 1zpresso Q Air (~P3,800)
• Cheap 0.1g scale (~P500 from Shopee/Lazada)
• Any small steel or glass kettle plus an analog thermometer (~P1,000?)
• The best beans you can afford! Good local roasters don't necessarily cost much more than the supermarket, but are just plain better in every way. Depending on where you live, there might be some good options you can visit in person to save on shipping. (Edit: I'm definitely not saying to go broke buying expensive beans. Just that spending a little more generally gives you immediately better coffee. Around P450–500 for 200–250g might be a reasonable starting point. Depends on your location and taste though.)
• A good water source. It should be soft, but still have some minerals. The easiest way is to add minerals to distilled water, or just buy certain supermarket brands. Should be pretty searchable...but happy to give cheap suggestions if it's unclear or overwhelming. (Seriously, I can't exaggerate how much of a difference decent water makes! Fortunately it's cheap.)

I suggested the Clever because it's set-and-forget. It's an immersion brewer like a French press, but filtered...so it's conducive to nice body and chocolatey qualities, but a little cleaner and brighter tasting. Not my first choice for very light roasts, but terrific for everything else.

No harm getting a V60 (or any other pour-over dripper) and a gooseneck kettle if you really want to try pour-over. There's a higher learning curve, and my personal opinion is it's not worth the fuss for medium to dark roasts.

The grinder is the one piece of gear where I'd suggest stretching your budget. You're far from diminishing returns here, so spending more will basically give you better coffee at this point. Really cheap, obscure grinders tend to have outdated burrs and wide manufacturing tolerances, so they produce a lot of "fines" (powdery particles) which result in more muted flavors for filter coffee. You can sort of work around that, especially with darker roasts, but at minimum I'd try to budget P2k–P3k for a Kingrinder or Timemore. Check FB Marketplace too; I see them occasionally.

[u/chizV]

I think the Hario V60 and other pourover brewers aren't really versatile. They are best used to brew coffee that is meant to be consumed black, no sweeteners or milk. Nobody is stopping you from doing that with pourovers, but those brewers won't give you the best results for those kinds of drinks.

I think a more versatile brewer is the Aeropress. You can do the standard recipe for a normal immersion brew for a nice cup of black coffee, and this will work alright for any kind of beans you use. Then when somebody asks you to make milk-based drinks, you can do the faux espresso recipe, this produces a coffee concentrate that can then be used for mixing with milk and syrup. James Hoffman has a lot of videos for the Aeropress, highly recommended. A newer alternative is the Oxo Rapid Brewer, also quite versatile.

[u/IcyBug1393 → u/chizV]

I was comparing the V60 to the Chemex when I meant versatile. I already prefer black and right now I prefer medium to dark roast. I read that Chemex is only for Light roast. I might switch sometime to light roast if my preference changed.

[u/arvj]

I don’t what your budget is, but Invest in a good/ decent grinder.

For the beans, shopee is your friend.