Why we Love the Hario V60

What one word would you use to describe your favourite coffee brewer? Practical? Dependable? Finicky? This might be a somewhat annoying question because you might have many words, or, like me, many favourite brewers. 

But what if I told you there exists a brewer that is consistent, elegant, functional, efficient, durable and inexpensive? And on top of all this, it can be described using one word. You'd be forgiven for thinking there can't be. But there is. It's the Hario V60 and it kanso. 

 

Read on to find out more.

 

What is Kanso?

Before I tell you more about why I love the Hario V60, we must journey to its homeland of Japan. The Japanese are not just experts in car making, food, animation, and technology (to name just a few!); they also have an incredible way with words. Specifically, in words that describe very specific feelings, aesthetics, or experiences that don't translate neatly into English. Some of my favourites are...

 

• Komorebi (木漏れ日) - Sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees.
• Wabi-sabi (侘寂) - Appreciation of imperfection or beauty in worn, weathered objects.
• Tsundoku (積ん読) - Acquiring books and allowing them to pile up unread.
• Kintsugi (金継ぎ) — The art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and gold, embracing the object's history.

 

Then we have Kanso (簡素), which roughly translates to "purposeful simplicity." Or, the removal of the unnecessary. It operates on the principle that if an element in an item does not have a genuine purpose or function, then what's the point? A kanso item, such as the V60, isn't simply minimalism for the sake of appearance, but an appreciation that some things don't need excess. They are designed to slow you down and appreciate the final result.

 

However, when the V60 first appeared, the world was more interested in going faster. Now! But before we get to its launch, let's go back to Hario's beginnings.

 

 

A Coffee Brewer Born From Laboratory Glass

Hario was founded by Hiromu Shibata in Kanda, Tokyo, in 1921. Long before the company became famous for coffee brewing gear, though, it produced heatproof glass for laboratories and scientific equipment. In fact, the name "Hario" literally means "King of Glass" (combining the Japanese words hari for glass and ō for king). This background in beakers, flasks and precision glassware makes perfect sense when you think about the V60. It's a brewer designed with almost scientific intent.

 

The inspiration for the V60 reportedly came from laboratory funnels. And once you know that, you can't unsee it. The clean cone shape, the minimalist design, the emphasis on control and flow rate… it all suddenly feels very "coffee chemistry". Hario aren't the only brewers in town with a background in chemistry, mind you. Dr Peter Schlumbohm, inventor of the Chemex, was influenced by the non-porous glassware used in his labs. I suppose it's not impossible that he used Hario glassware in his labs. But I digress. You can read more about the story of the Chemex here.

 

The name itself is wonderfully straightforward, too. "V" for the cone shape. "60" for the 60-degree angle of the brewer. No dramatic branding. No unnecessary flair. Just a very Japanese approach to naming things. And yet, despite its simplicity, the V60 completely changed how many people approached filter coffee. But certainly, not overnight.

 

 

The First Hario Brewers

Although the V60 as we know it today wasn't released until 2005 (which is already over 20 years by the way!), the company had been experimenting with cone-shaped brewers for decades. Earlier versions appeared as far back as the 1980s, but the coffee world simply wasn't ready for them. Technology was booming, certainly in 1980s Japan, and the world was intent on everything going faster! Home coffee was dominated by instant coffee, automatic filter machines and convenience above all else. The idea that someone would carefully weigh coffee, time the bloom, and slowly pour water by hand seemed to most people unnecessarily complicated.

 

As a result, these original Hario filter brewers struggled to find an audience, and the company went back to doing what they did best: glassware. However, they never gave up their coffee dream and quietly continued refining the design in the background. Then, almost by accident, the world around the brewer began to change. As speciality coffee gained momentum in the early 2000s, coffee drinkers became increasingly interested in not simply consuming coffee, but in understanding it. Suddenly, the V60's slow, methodical precision and ability to highlight a coffee's character became its strength rather than an obstacle.

 

What had once seemed overly complicated was now seen as engaging and rewarding. Cafés adopted it to showcase unique, single-origin coffees, baristas embraced it in competitions, and home brewers discovered that this simple cone offered almost endless opportunities to experiment. The V60 had not changed; the coffee world had simply caught up with it.

 

 

It Also Makes Incredible Coffee

Ultimately, the love of any coffee brewer will boil down to this point: the V60 makes great coffee. It is famous for producing cups with exceptional clarity and brightness and tends to highlight delicate flavours particularly well. Brewed right, a V60 brew can taste incredibly clean and layered. Sweetness becomes more pronounced. Acidity feels lively, and flavours that might get lost in heavier brewing methods suddenly become very obvious.

 

But More Than That...

What I love most about the V60 is that it evolves alongside you. You can start with a very simple recipe and make excellent coffee (see below). But years later, you can still be learning new techniques and discovering small changes that improve your brew. Few brewers have that kind of longevity. It also suits almost every type of coffee drinker.

 

• For beginners, it's affordable, beautiful and capable of making café-quality coffee at home.
• For enthusiasts, it becomes an endless playground of variables and experimentation.
• And for cafés and professionals, it remains one of the purest ways to showcase the character of a coffee.

 

There's a reason it became so dominant in brewing competitions and speciality coffee shops worldwide. The V60 allows great coffees to speak clearly for themselves. And in a coffee world increasingly filled with gadgets, apps and complicated equipment, there's something refreshing about that. Almost ritualistic.

 

 

The Ritual Of It All

The Japanese are already famous for their tea brewing ceremonies. Built from centuries of craft, where every movement is intentional and methodical. And in many ways, the V60 feels at home with this notion. The V60 slows people down. But not in an obstructive way. I still have time to brew with one every morning while getting the kids' lunches ready and out the door! 

 

But there's no button to press. No automation. No rushing. You heat the water. You grind the coffee. You rinse the filter. You bloom the grounds. You pour carefully and deliberately. Even the sound of brewing feels calm. The soft drawdown of coffee through paper. Just a cone, a filter and gravity doing most of the heavy lifting. That simplicity is probably part of why the V60 has endured for so long. Trends in coffee come and go. Brewers rise and disappear. But the V60 remains true to its purpose.

 

 

How To Brew With a Hario V60

You can go deep with a Hario V60, but if you already know that, you'll probably be skipping past this section anyway. But if you're new or unsure, here's a simple step-by-step guide to brewing with a V60. Specifically, 500ml of coffee using a Hario V60 02. The 02 essentially stands for 2 cup. You can also get a 01 (1-cup) or even a 03 (you guessed it, 3-cup). The technique will be the same; just adjust the coffee-to-water volume ratio. A good catch-all ratio is 60g:1L of water.

 

1. Boil your kettle. You can brew light roast coffees (FiXX Single Origin) straight off the boil. For darker roasts (FiXX Classic, Organic), let the kettle sit for 5 minutes before pouring.
2. Place your V60 on top of your jug/vessel of choice.
3. Place a filter paper in the V60, rinse it with hot water to remove any papery taste, and preheat the V60.
4. Discard the water from the jug/vessel and place it onto a scale.
5. Add 30g of your favourite FiXX, then shake the V60 to level the coffee bed.
6. Tare the scales to zero, then slowly pour in approximately double the amount of hot water (60-75g), ensuring you soak all the coffee.
7. Leave to bloom for 30 seconds. You will see gas bubbles escape during this period.
8. Add another 100g of hot water, slowly pouring in a circular pattern.
9. Wait 10 seconds, then add another 100g of water.
10. Use a teaspoon to stir and remove any coffee from the sides of the brewer. If you're feeling confident, you can hold the jug/vessel and V60 together and give a little swirl.
11. Add another 100g of hot water, again pouring it slowly in a circular pattern. Wait another 10 seconds, then add the remaining water.
12. Give it another little stir/swirl to free any coffee from the side of the filter paper. Essentially, you want the water to draw down evenly, leaving you with no coffee on the sides of the V60 and a flat bed of coffee at the bottom.
13. When all the water has passed into the jug/vessel, remove the V60; your coffee is now ready to enjoy.

 

The V60 puts more responsibility in your hands. Your grind size, your pouring technique, and your timing all contribute to the final result. If you want to go deeper, then I suggest checking out this YouTube video!

 

 

In Conclusion

The world has certainly not slowed down since the 1980s. In fact, it seems to be moving at breakneck speed at the moment, with more technology than we could have imagined back then. But the V60's wonderful simplicity slows you down. It helps keep you grounded and connected to the natural ingredient that coffee is.

 

And while some brewers feel hidden away inside a machine, the V60 puts the process front and centre. You can actually watch the extraction happening in real time. It feels transparent. Honest. Slightly theatrical, even. And if you've never used one before, you'd be forgiven for thinking such a brewer can't possibly exist. It does. It's the Hario V60. And it kanso.

 

Thanks for reading.

Kevin