How to brew coffee with a Kalita Wave pour over
13 Jan 2018
Next up in our keeping it special at home brewing series, we walk you through how to brew a full-flavoured delicious cup of coffee with the Kalita Wave. The Kalita Wave offers a classic brewing dynamic to the pour-over method which has become very popular in specialty coffee circles. These wave drippers feature a flat-bottomed brew bed for even extraction which helps to brew coffee more evenly. This directly contributes to fuller flavor and a more balanced extraction.
While your water is boiling, weigh out your whole bean coffee and grind it on a medium-fine setting. Kalita Wave is usually a notch coarser than v60, so on your porlex hand mill start about 3-4 clicks from closed.
Place the wave paper inside the kalita dripper. Set the dripper on top of your cup or if you are brewing a large recipe, brew into a Range Server.
Pour hot water around the inside of the filter for about 5 seconds. This will pre heat the vessel you are brewing into so the coffee will stay hotter for longer. Rinsing the filter also helps seal it inside the dripper and removes any papery taste. Take the dripper off of your mug and discard the water inside.
Pour your ground coffee into the filter inside the dripper. Gently shake the Kalita dripper back and forth to settle the grounds, then set it back on top of your mug. By settling the coffee you create an even bed to pour the water on, which ensures an even saturation of the coffee.
Time: 0:00-0:45 Place your Kalita Wave on your scales and tare to zero. Start your timer and pour hot water over the grounds. This is a saturation and acts like a pre-infusion in a commercial espresso machine. You need double the portion of water to coffee, so for this recipe about 36g of hot water is good. Don't fuss too much about the accuracy, a little more is ok. Using your Bamboo paddle stir the coffee and ensure that all of the grounds are evenly saturated and wet. This step is called the bloom. Hot water forces the coffee to release trapped gases, leading to expansion of the coffee bed, bubbling at the surface, and wonderful aromas for you to enjoy. Let it sit until your timer reads 45 seconds.
Time: 0:45-2:00 Begin pouring hot water over the grounds in a circular motion, around the center of the dripper. Try to keep the water level below the rim and avoid pouring around the edges of the filter. At this point you want the rest of the allocated water (see recipe above) in the kalita dripper. In this case 300ml (grams) in total.
Time: 2:00-2:30 Allow all the water to drain through the filter. If your final time was longer than 3:00 minutes then your grind was probably too fine. If your final time was shorter than 2:00, then your grind was probably too coarse. Practice definitely makes perfect in the world of coffee so just make a small adjustment to the grind next time you brew. Remove the filter from the dripper, discard the grounds, you are now ready to enjoy your brew. Enjoy!
What you need
- Kalita Wave dripper here
- Kalita Wave filter here
- Kettle
- Timer (use your phone)
- Mug or Range Server here
- Burr grinder here
- Scale here.
- Bamboo paddle.
Measurements & recipes
Cup sizes in your home will vary, so here are some recommendations on how to brew the wave. Measure your cup to find its capacity then follow one of these recipes.| Cup Size | Water Measure (ml) | Brew Into |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Cup (200ml) | 12 | Mug |
| 1 Cup (250ml) | 15 | Mug |
| 1 Cup (300ml) | 18 | Ranger Server Jug |
| 2 Cup (400ml) | 24 | Ranger Server Jug |
- Note: All Kalita Wave recipes are based on a specialty coffee standard ratio of 6g of coffee to 100ml of water.
- We recommend adding 1 to 2 grams per 100ml of water to increase strength and subtracting 1g per 100ml to make the brew weaker.
Grind and weigh on demand
As always, if you start with whole bean coffee and grind the just before making your Kalita Wave, you will enjoy your coffee a lot more. If you grind your coffee too soon, it will quickly lose many of the compounds that give it such delightful aromas and flavors. Use a scale, we think using a 0.1g accurate pocket scale actually makes brewing easier by taking any guesswork out of the equation, further improving your repeatable cups of coffee at home. The recipe we will use here today is the 300ml, which works perfectly with Kalita Wave and the ACME diner mug.Step 1
Heat your water to 94ºC by bringing it to a boil and letting it sit for 30 seconds. Alternatively if you have a programmable temperature kettle set it appropriately.
Step 2
While your water is boiling, weigh out your whole bean coffee and grind it on a medium-fine setting. Kalita Wave is usually a notch coarser than v60, so on your porlex hand mill start about 3-4 clicks from closed.
Step 3
Place the wave paper inside the kalita dripper. Set the dripper on top of your cup or if you are brewing a large recipe, brew into a Range Server.
Step 4
Pour hot water around the inside of the filter for about 5 seconds. This will pre heat the vessel you are brewing into so the coffee will stay hotter for longer. Rinsing the filter also helps seal it inside the dripper and removes any papery taste. Take the dripper off of your mug and discard the water inside.
Step 5
Pour your ground coffee into the filter inside the dripper. Gently shake the Kalita dripper back and forth to settle the grounds, then set it back on top of your mug. By settling the coffee you create an even bed to pour the water on, which ensures an even saturation of the coffee.
Step 6
Time: 0:00-0:45 Place your Kalita Wave on your scales and tare to zero. Start your timer and pour hot water over the grounds. This is a saturation and acts like a pre-infusion in a commercial espresso machine. You need double the portion of water to coffee, so for this recipe about 36g of hot water is good. Don't fuss too much about the accuracy, a little more is ok. Using your Bamboo paddle stir the coffee and ensure that all of the grounds are evenly saturated and wet. This step is called the bloom. Hot water forces the coffee to release trapped gases, leading to expansion of the coffee bed, bubbling at the surface, and wonderful aromas for you to enjoy. Let it sit until your timer reads 45 seconds.
Step 7
Time: 0:45-2:00 Begin pouring hot water over the grounds in a circular motion, around the center of the dripper. Try to keep the water level below the rim and avoid pouring around the edges of the filter. At this point you want the rest of the allocated water (see recipe above) in the kalita dripper. In this case 300ml (grams) in total.
Step 8
Time: 2:00-2:30 Allow all the water to drain through the filter. If your final time was longer than 3:00 minutes then your grind was probably too fine. If your final time was shorter than 2:00, then your grind was probably too coarse. Practice definitely makes perfect in the world of coffee so just make a small adjustment to the grind next time you brew. Remove the filter from the dripper, discard the grounds, you are now ready to enjoy your brew. Enjoy!
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