Lance Hedrick Pour Over Technique
Lance Hedrick — barista, former US AeroPress champion, and prolific educator — built a pour-over approach for accessibility and repeatability on imperfect home gear. His signature moves are a coarser grind (to dodge the clogs and astringency that fines cause on cheap grinders) paired with aggressive, high-pour turbulence to make up the lost extraction, plus a habit of adjusting grind and temperature together by roast. It's a method that meets ordinary kitchens where they are. 🛠️
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Brewer | Hario V60 |
| Dose | 18 g |
| Water | 288 g total |
| Ratio | 1:16 |
| Temp | 90-99°C (hotter for light, cooler for dark) |
| Grind | medium-coarse — see Grind Size for Pour Over |
| Bloom | 54 g for 45 s, vigorous |
| Brew time | ~2:30-3:30 |
| Roast | any — adjust grind and temp to suit |
| Source | Lance Hedrick, early 2020s |
| Resulting cup | Sweet, clear, even; forgiving of fines and modest grinders |
#Pour Schedule
- 0:00 — Add 54 g (cumulative 54 g, ~3× dose); stir or swirl vigorously to fully wet and agitate; bloom 45 s.
- 0:45 — Pour from height in the centre to ~170 g (cumulative ~170 g), creating turbulent droplet impact.
- 1:30 — Pour again from height to 288 g (cumulative 288 g).
- ~1:45 — A gentle swirl to settle and flatten the bed.
- ~2:30-3:30 — Drawdown completes.
#Why It Works
Hedrick's insight is that most home grinders make too many fines, which clog the filter, stall flow, and add astringency. Going coarser sidesteps that, and the lost surface area is recovered by pouring from height — water breaking into turbulent droplets at the "stream breakup point" agitates the bed hard, boosting extraction without a finer grind (see Agitation and Turbulence). He also adjusts by roast: light roasts finer and hotter (dense beans need more energy), dark roasts coarser and cooler (porous beans extract fast). Above all he preaches that grinder quality is the highest-leverage upgrade a home brewer can make.
This is a robust, low-drama daily recipe that forgives modest equipment — ideal if your cups come out muddy or astringent. Pair it with Dialing In Grind Size to find your grinder's sweet spot.
#Continue Reading
- Fines and Boulders — the problem coarser grinding solves
- Agitation and Turbulence — why pouring from height works
- Burr Grinders vs Blade Grinders — Hedrick's grinder-first message
- Dialing In Grind Size — adjusting by roast
- James Hoffmann V60 Technique — a gentler alternative