Beginner’s guide to pour-over with Kone and Chemex

We designed the Kone not only to make delicious coffee, but also to be easy for anyone to use. If you already make pour over coffee at home, we suggest starting with your normal recipe. You’ll find our unique hole size and pattern allows you to approach brewing just like you’re using a paper filter. 

Want to try a recipe we love? Or maybe you’re new to pour over and looking for a good starting point? Check out our recipe below:

Basic Kone recipe

Equipment needed:

• Able Kone
• 6, 8,or 10-cup Chemex, or Kone brewing system, or anything that fits the Kone
• A scale that’s accurate in grams (Don’t have one? No worries! We’ve added alternate measurements below.)
• A timer

Our favorite recipe (makes 2-3 cups):

• 50 grams of coffee (about 3.5 tablespoons)
• 750 grams (or ml) of water (about 3 cups)
• 4:00 total brew time

First, boil your water. Water is important - we talk about it frequently (water quality plays a big role in the flavor of your coffee!), but a good starting point is making sure your water tastes great when you drink it.

While the water’s boiling, grind your coffee to a medium fine grind (think: coarse sea salt). A quality burr grinder is best if you have one — but regardless of grinder, you’ll get the best results if your grounds are evenly sized, without too many big pieces or small fines.

Place your ground coffee in the Kone. Now is a great time to stick your nose in there and smell the goodness! You’ll be drinking this deliciousness soon.

Start your timer, and pour about 100 grams (a little under 1/2 cup) of water slowly over the bed of coffee grounds. We like water just off boil, but anything above 200F will get the job done.

After you’ve poured that first 100 grams of water, let your coffee rest for 30-45 seconds. See any bubbles forming? This is CO2 escaping from your coffee grounds and it’s a sign of freshly-roasted coffee. This 30-45 second rest — called the “bloom” — allows that CO2 to escape, making room for water to enter and extract maximum flavor.

After the bloom, or when it looks like most of the water from your initial pour has drained, start gently pouring water  on the coffee bed. Your goal is to use up all of your water by 3:00-3:30, so pour evenly, pausing when the coffee bed gets high, and resuming when the bed looks like it’s getting low.

This is a fun time to experiment with technique: you can pour in the center the entire time, or you can make gentle, concentric circles. Find the pouring style that feels and tastes best to you. As for us? We stay mostly in the middle when we pour, moving out to the edges every once in a while to make sure all of the grounds are saturated.

Ideally, your coffee should finish draining around 4:00. If it finishes a little fast or takes a little longer, that’s ok! Different coffees and different grind sizes will slow down or speed up the process. The important thing is that it tastes great.

Remove the Kone, and compost the grounds. If you want a cleaner cup, let the Chemex sit for a minute — this will allow some of the fines to settle. Then pour gently. Enjoy!