Pour Over Coffee Guide: Chemex vs V60 vs Kalita Wave Compared
There has never been a better time to brew exceptional coffee at home. The UK’s speciality coffee scene has matured considerably over the past decade, with independent roasters from Edinburgh to Bristol producing world-class beans, and the equipment to brew them properly now widely available online and on the high street. If you are moving beyond a cafetière or capsule machine and want to understand what all the fuss is about with pour over brewing, this guide is for you.
Pour over coffee — sometimes called filter coffee or manual brewing — involves pouring hot water through ground coffee held in a filter, letting gravity do the work of extraction. The results, when done well, are clean, nuanced, and remarkably different from espresso. Where espresso is concentrated and intense, pour over coffee reveals the full aromatic complexity of a bean: the floral notes in an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, the dark cherry undertones of a Guatemalan natural, or the gentle nuttiness of a washed Colombian.
Three brewers dominate the conversation in speciality coffee circles: the Chemex, the Hario V60, and the Kalita Wave. Each produces excellent coffee, but they are meaningfully different in design, technique, and the kind of cup they deliver. Understanding those differences will help you choose the right one for your kitchen and your palate.
Why Bother With Pour Over at All?
Before comparing the three brewers, it is worth addressing the obvious question: why go to the effort? A decent bean-to-cup machine or a quality cafetière can produce good coffee with far less involvement.
The answer is control and clarity. Pour over brewing gives you command over almost every variable — water temperature, pour rate, grind size, brew time, and the ratio of coffee to water. Each of these affects the final cup, and learning to adjust them is genuinely satisfying. It is a process that rewards attention without demanding perfection.
There is also the matter of taste. The paper filter in pour over brewing removes the oils and fine particles that make cafetière coffee feel heavy and sometimes muddy. The result is a brighter, cleaner cup that lets the character of the bean come through without interference. If you have spent good money on freshly roasted coffee from a speciality roaster — say, a bag of single origin from Hasbean, Round Hill, or Ozone Coffee — pour over is one of the best ways to honour it.
The Chemex
What It Is
The Chemex is an American icon. Designed in 1941 by chemist Peter Schlumbohm, it looks more like a piece of laboratory glassware than a kitchen appliance — a hourglass-shaped borosilicate glass vessel with a wooden collar and a leather tie. It sits in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is also an excellent coffee brewer.
In the UK, you can find the Chemex from retailers like Hasbean, Pact Coffee, and Amazon, typically priced between £35 and £55 depending on the size. The 6-cup version (which brews roughly 900ml, or three generous mugs) is the most popular for home use. Proprietary Chemex filters cost around £10–£12 for a pack of 100 and are noticeably thicker than standard filter papers.
How It Brews
The Chemex’s thick, bonded filters are the key to its character. They slow extraction and hold back even the finest sediment and most of the coffee’s oils, producing an exceptionally clean, light-bodied cup. The flavour tends to be delicate and transparent — a Chemex rewards coffees with subtle complexity rather than big, bold profiles.
The brewing process is forgiving by pour over standards. The large opening makes it easy to pour without precise technique, and the thick glass retains heat reasonably well. A standard recipe might use 60g of coffee per litre of water, ground slightly coarser than you would for a V60, with a four-minute total brew time. A brief bloom — pouring around twice the coffee’s weight in water and waiting 30 to 45 seconds — allows gases to escape from fresh coffee and improves extraction.
Who It Suits
The Chemex is ideal for anyone who wants to brew for more than one person at a time and values a clean, refined cup. It sits beautifully on a kitchen counter, and because you brew directly into the vessel, there is no separate carafe to wash. If you prefer lighter roasts with floral or fruit-forward profiles — the kind of coffee that speciality roasters tend to champion — the Chemex will show them at their best.
The main drawbacks are cost and the proprietary filters. If you run out of Chemex papers, a standard V60 filter will not fit properly. It is also slightly more fragile than the other two options, and the wooden collar requires occasional care to keep it looking presentable.
The Hario V60
What It Is
The Hario V60 is Japanese in origin, produced by Hario — a glassware manufacturer that has been making heat-resistant glass in Japan since 1921. The name refers to the 60-degree angle of the cone, and the distinctive spiral ridges inside the cone are designed to allow air to escape and promote even extraction. It is the brewer most commonly found on the bars of UK speciality coffee shops, and it has a devoted following among home brewers.
The V60 comes in several materials: ceramic (around £20–£25), glass (£25–£35), plastic (£10–£15), and copper (considerably more, but largely unnecessary for most people). The plastic version, while aesthetically modest, is actually highly regarded among experienced brewers because it is lightweight, virtually indestructible, and retains heat well — plastic conducts heat away from the brew bed more slowly than ceramic or glass. Filters are widely available and inexpensive, costing around £5–£8 for 100 sheets.
How It Brews
The V60 has a single large drainage hole at the bottom, which means the flow rate during brewing is almost entirely controlled by the grind size and pour technique. This makes it the most technique-dependent of the three brewers. Grind too fine and you will over-extract a bitter, slow-draining brew. Grind too coarse and water rushes through before adequate extraction can occur, producing a weak, sour, underdeveloped cup.
Getting the V60 right takes practice, but the learning curve is genuinely enjoyable. A standard recipe uses around 60g of coffee per litre of water (some recipes go up to 65g for more intensity), with a medium-fine grind and a total brew time of around two and a half to three minutes. Pour technique matters: most recipes use multiple pours — a bloom pour followed by two or three larger pours in a slow, circular motion — to keep the coffee bed agitated and promote even extraction.
When it clicks, the V60 produces a cup that is bright, lively, and almost effervescent with flavour. It is particularly good for highlighting the acidity and aromatics in washed African coffees. Many UK home brewers use recipes developed by James Hoffmann — whose YouTube channel and book The World Atlas of Coffee have become essential resources for the curious home brewer — and his single-pour V60 method is a good starting point for beginners.
Who It Suits
The V60 suits people who enjoy the process of brewing as much as the result. If you find satisfaction in refining a technique, adjusting variables, and noticing how small changes affect the cup, the V60 will keep you engaged for years. It is also the best option if you want access to the widest range of community recipes, guides, and troubleshooting advice — the V60 is simply the most discussed brewer in speciality coffee, and information is everywhere.
It is less ideal for those who want a reliable, low-effort result every morning. On days when you are tired or distracted, the V60 will remind you of your inattention in the cup.
The Kalita Wave
What It Is
The Kalita Wave, also Japanese in origin, takes a different approach to the pour over problem. Rather than a cone, it uses a flat-bottomed dripper with three small drainage holes at the base. The filters — wave-shaped, with distinctive crimped sides — are designed to sit away from the walls of the dripper, insulating the brew bed and promoting even water distribution across the flat bottom.
The Wave comes in stainless steel (around £30–£40), glass (similar price), and ceramic, and is available from most speciality coffee retailers in the UK including Hasbean and Prufrock. The filters are slightly more expensive than V60 filters and occasionally harder to find in supermarkets, though any good online coffee retailer will stock them.
How It Brews
The flat bed and multiple drainage holes make the Kalita Wave the most forgiving and consistent of the three brewers. Because water is distributed evenly across the flat bottom and drains through three holes rather than one, the process is far less sensitive to pour technique. You can be less precise with your pouring and still achieve an even, well-extracted result.
Brew times are typically around three to four minutes for a single cup, using ratios similar to the other brewers. The resulting cup sits between the Chemex and the V60 in character — cleaner and brighter than a cafetière, but with slightly more body than a Chemex and a touch less acidity than a well-made V60. It is a versatile brewer that handles a wide range of roast levels without fuss.
One practical note: the Wave’s filters occasionally collapse inward during brewing if the pour is too aggressive, which can restrict drainage and lead to inconsistent results. Pouring gently and keeping the water level steady avoids this entirely, and it becomes second nature quickly.
Who It Suits
The Kalita Wave is the brewer to choose if you want consistent, excellent results without a steep learning curve. It is well-suited to those who brew a single cup each morning and want the process to be pleasurable rather than technical. It is also a strong choice for anyone exploring medium roasts or coffees from Central and South America, where balance and body are more prominent than in the bright, acidic profiles of East African beans.
Side-by-Side Comparison
- Ease of use: Kalita Wave is the most forgiving, followed by the Chemex, with the V60 requiring the most skill and attention.
- Cup clarity: Chemex produces the cleanest, lightest cup; V60 is close behind; the Wave has slightly more body.
- Brew time: V60 is fastest at 2–3 minutes; Chemex takes 3.5–4.5 minutes; Kalita Wave sits in between at 3–4 minutes.
- Flavour profile: V60 emphasises brightness and complexity; Chemex delivers clean, tea-like clarity; Kalita Wave offers balanced sweetness and body.
- Best for beginners: Kalita Wave, thanks to its flat bed and consistent flow rate.
- Best for experimentation: V60, where small adjustments yield noticeable differences in the cup.
- Best for entertaining: Chemex, with its elegant design and larger brewing capacity.
Final Thoughts
Choosing between the Chemex, V60, and Kalita Wave ultimately depends on your priorities as a coffee drinker. If you value consistency and ease of use, the Kalita Wave is an excellent starting point that will reward you with reliably delicious coffee. For those who enjoy the ritual of brewing and want to explore the full spectrum of flavours in single-origin beans, the V60 offers unmatched versatility and control. And if you appreciate both form and function—seeking a clean, refined cup alongside a beautiful brewing vessel—the Chemex is hard to beat.
Whichever brewer you choose, remember that great pour over coffee comes down to fresh beans, proper grinding, good water, and a bit of patience. Each of these methods can produce exceptional results when you understand their strengths and adjust your technique accordingly. Start with one, master it, and you may find yourself collecting all three as your palate and curiosity develop.
