Brewing guide
Kalita Wave
A flat-bottom dripper with three tiny holes that trades the V60's drama for repeatable, forgiving extractions.
The setup
Where the V60 funnels everything to a single large hole, the Kalita Wave has a flat bottom and three small holes. Those holes — not your pour — control the flow rate, which makes the Wave remarkably forgiving. A sloppy pour that would wreck a V60 still lands a balanced cup here. It's the dripper many cafés reach for precisely because it's hard to mess up.
You'll need:
- Kalita Wave 155 (1–2 cups) or 185 (2–4 cups), steel or ceramic
- Wave filters (the fluted ones — they keep the paper off the walls)
- Gooseneck kettle
- Scale + timer
Recipe — 20g coffee, 320g water
| Step | Time | Water | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloom | 0:00 | 40g | Wet all grounds, gentle swirl |
| Pour 1 | 0:30 | +100g | Small concentric circles |
| Pour 2 | 1:15 | +90g | Keep the water level steady |
| Pour 3 | 1:50 | +90g | Top up, let it draw down |
| Drawdown | ~2:45 | — | Aim to finish by 3:15 |
The Wave likes a series of smaller pulse pours that keep the slurry topped up at a constant level, rather than one big draining pour.
Try the timer
Kalita Wave 20g recipe timer
3:15of 3:15
Bloom until 30s
Next: Bloom at 0s
Press Space to start/pause.
- 0sBloom+40ml
- 30sPour 1+100ml
- 1m 15sPour 2+90ml
- 1m 50sPour 3+90ml
- 2m 45sDrawdown+0ml
Common mistakes
- Pouring too aggressively. The flat bed means a hard central pour can dig a hole and channel. Stay gentle.
- Using cone filters. Only Wave filters seat correctly; a folded cone filter chokes the holes.
- Letting it run dry between pours. Keep the bed submerged for an even extraction.