Pour-Over
Kalita Wave
A flat bed, an even flow, and a cup you can repeat tomorrow.
The Wave's flat bottom and three small holes hold the water back more evenly than a cone does. The coffee bed stays level, water cannot carve a channel through it, and the cup comes out balanced — and, more to the point, the same again next time.
- Ratio1:16
- Base recipe20g to 320g
- Water temperature92 to 94°C
- GrindMedium — A little coarser than table salt
- Total time3 min 20 s
- LevelSome practice · 2 cups
Why Kalita Wave?
- It forgives an unsteady hand: pour speed matters less here than in a cone.
- It flatters light roasts and fruit-forward acidity.
- It makes two cups without changing the recipe.
What you need
- Kalita Wave 185 dripper
- Wave filter
- Gooseneck kettle
- Digital scale
- Timer
Step by step
- 1
Rinse and warm the filter
Seat the wave filter in the dripper and wet it through with hot water. That rinses away any papery taste and warms the dripper and server at the same time. Discard the water that collects below, then zero the scale.
- 2
Bloom
to 40gPour 40g of water gently across all the grounds so no dry pockets remain. Carbon dioxide escapes and the bed rises. The fresher the roast, the more it domes and foams.
- 3
First pour
from 45 sto 160gStart at the centre and spiral slowly outward, but keep the water off the paper itself. The flat bed is what keeps the grounds level as you go.
- 4
Second pour
from 1 min 30 sto 320gWhen the water has drawn down about halfway, pour again. Short, repeated pours hold the temperature steadier than one long one.
- 5
Drawdown and serve
from 2 min 30 sLet it run out completely. The spent bed should be flat, without a crater dug against the wall. Swirl the server once to even the cup and drink it straight away.
If it did not come out right
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Bitter and dryingOver-extraction | Over-extraction | Grind a step coarser, or drop the water by a degree or two. |
| Sour and hollowUnder-extraction | Under-extraction | Grind finer, or let the bloom run to 50 seconds. |
| Drawdown crawlsGrind too fine, or a compacted bed | Grind too fine, or a compacted bed | Go coarser and pour more gently so the bed is not packed down. |
| Grounds stranded up the filter wallPouring onto the rim | Pouring onto the rim | Pour only across the middle two-thirds, and swirl the server at the end. |
Frequent questions
Can a V60 filter stand in for a Wave filter?
No. The flat bottom of the wave filter is exactly what evens out the flow; a cone crumples inside the Kalita and opens a channel for the water.
Can I brew this without a scale?
You can, but not repeatably. A basic scale is the cheapest jump in quality available to you.