Kalita Wave Brew Guide

Brew Guides

Kalita Wave

The Kalita Wave is a unique brewing process that provide foolproof pour over coffee extractions. The inside of this brewer features a wave design with a contrasting 20-wave filter that works rhythmically together to limit contact between each other so water can flow evenly and at just the right rate.

Quick Recipe

20 grams fine ground coffee

300 grams (ml) water at 201°F

3:30 brew time

Step 1

Weigh and Grind Coffee

Using a scale, measure out 20 grams of coffee. Grind the coffee to a medium-fine setting, slightly coarser than you would for a drip pot. On a Baratza Encore or Virtuoso this equates to a setting of about 13.

Meanwhile, heat your kettle (gooseneck style is best) to 201°F. If heating on the stove, heat to boiling and let cool for 40-60 seconds.

Step 2

Insert and Pre-wet the Filter

Open the filter and insert it into the brewer. Pour hot water over the filter, just enough to get the filter soaked through. Pre-wetting the filter is more important when using brown, non-bleached filters, but is a good practice for any method using paper filters.

Step 3

Add Coffee and Bloom

Pour your ground coffee into the filter, and shake the brewer side-to-side to create a level bed of coffee. Place the brewer on your scale and tare/zero the scale.

Pour just enough water to cover all the grounds, no more than 65g water in about 15 seconds, and wait 20-30 seconds. When finished, your scale should read around 65g and 0:35s.

This part of the brew process is called the “bloom” due to the fun dome of coffee and bubbles that appear when the hot water comes into contact with fresh coffee. This occurs due to a relatively large amount of carbon dioxide within the ground coffee being released when the brewing process begins.

Step 4

Perform First Pour

Point your kettle spout at the center of the brewer and begin making small, slow concentric circles with water. Slowly increase the diameter of your circles to move out and cover the rest of the coffee.

Pour around 85g of water in 15 seconds and wait up to 25 seconds for the water to draw down. By the end of this step, your scale should be near 190g and 1m:20s.