Filter coffee with the Kalita Wave
A clean, sweet cup of filter coffee at home: amounts, water, grind and timings, step by step.
The Kalita Wave is a flat-bottomed dripper. Water drains evenly through three small holes, so the cup comes out balanced and forgives small pouring mistakes. A good first dripper for beginners, too.
What you need
- Kalita Wave 185 and Wave filters
- 16 g of filter roast coffee, ground medium-fine, roughly like sea salt
- 240 g of water at 92–96 °C (boiled water that has stood for a minute)
- kitchen scales, a jug or cup and, if you have one, a gooseneck kettle
Brewing
- Rinse the filter. Place the filter in the Wave, pour hot water through it and discard the water. This removes the paper taste and warms the dripper.
- Add the coffee. Shake the grounds level in the filter and tare the scales.
- Bloom (00:00–00:35). Pour 50 g of water so that all the grounds get wet. Blooming lets the carbon dioxide in freshly roasted coffee escape. The water then meets the grounds more evenly, and the cup tastes cleaner and more balanced.
- Pour in stages (00:35–01:35). Pour the rest of the water in 3–4 parts, about 50–70 g each time, in slow circles from the centre outwards. Do not pour straight onto the filter wall.
- Let it drain. Have all the water (240 g) poured by about 01:35–02:00 and let the coffee finish draining by 02:35–03:30.
If the taste isn’t quite right
We believe the best coffee is the one you enjoy. You can always adjust the recipe to your own taste. Here are a few common pointers:
- Sour or watery coffee that drains in under 02:35: grind finer.
- Too bitter coffee that takes longer than 03:30: grind coarser.
- Want a stronger cup: use 16–17 g of coffee for the same amount of water.
We can grind the coffee for you: choose “Ground – pour-over (Kalita, V60)” on the product page. For grinding by hand, the Kalita hand grinder works well.