Kitchen Pros Say Pour Over Coffee Makers Make the Best-Tasting Brew Ever

Pour over coffee makers have a reputation for making really good coffee by achieving optimal flavor extraction and churning out richer, deeper brews than a conventional drip machine. They work by placing medium-fine ground coffee beans (although you may need to adjust the fineness of your grounds based on how quickly the water passes through) into a filter and pouring hot water over them to brew directly into your cup or a carafe. The process requires patience and time, but the result is worth it.

In the Good Housekeeping Institute, our Kitchen Appliance experts test a range of coffee makers from drip coffee makers to French presses to espresso makers and single-cup coffee makers and coffee accessories like coffee grinders and travel mugs. When we test coffee makers, we round up the best models on the market and narrow down the field before testing for aspects like ease of use (like filling the water tank and brew basket and cleaning the carafe and filter after use, if applicable). We also take temperature readings during and after the brewing process, as well as during the keep-warm cycle. And of course, we rate the flavor of the resulting cup of coffee.

While we haven't formally tested pour over coffee makers in the Lab, we've road tested a few of our top picks and know what to look for when it comes to buying; material, price, durability, and ease of use are the main things to consider and our list offers a variety of all.

How to make pour over coffee

The key to a tasty brew is warming your water to 200°F and first “blooming” the grounds. An electric kettle will help you achieve the perfect temperature, while a grinder and scale will help with the freshest and custom-tailored flavor. Here's how:

• Pour about 1/3 of the water onto the grounds in a circular motion and wait 30 seconds. This process saturates the grounds and gets them ready to brew.
• After 30 seconds, pour in the remaining water in the opposite direction. These circular motions help prevent the grinds from overflowing.
• Once all the coffee has brewed, remove the used filter with grounds and enjoy.

What type of pour over coffee maker is best?

There are three kinds of pour overs: Flat-bottomed, cone, and wedge.

• Flat-bottomed is the most user-friendly shape is flat bottomed because there is more surface area which leads to more even and consistent saturation of the grounds for a rich, full flavored coffee. A study at UC Davis shows that the shape of the filter highly affected the flavor notes for the brewed coffee, so choosing between flat and cone can also come down to which tasting notes you prefer in your cup of Joe.
• Cone requires a bit more precision when it comes to slowly pouring the water in circular motions because the water drains from one single point, so your hot water-pouring technique and rate is much more important here than in a flat-bottomed dripper. This means you’re going to need to be a bit more precise and engaged with the pouring process, but mastering the spiral pour method will prove to be advantageous with this apparatus because of the concave flow of water through the cone.
• Wedge pour overs possess similarities to both the flat-bottom and cone shape pour over. Because of the single hole at the bottom of the brewer, it is most similar to the cone shape in that it requires some level of precision when pouring water. Some wedge shaped pour overs do come with three holes which makes for a much more forgiving brew, so make sure to take note when looking at a wedge shaped apparatus.

Here are our favorite pour over coffee makers: