What grind size for V60?

For V60, aim at a medium-fine grind around 500-700 µm — close to caster sugar or fine sand. Total drawdown target is 2:30 to 3:15 for 15 g of coffee and 240 ml of water at 92-96 °C. You tune via grind size: finer if the brew runs too fast and tastes sour, coarser if it stalls and tastes bitter or muddy.

Grind is the single most decisive variable when chasing a 20 % extraction (SCA Golden Cup) with the clean, aromatic profile the V60 is known for. Median target sits around 600 µm — three times coarser than espresso and about 40 % finer than French press. Visually, you want a uniform texture close to caster sugar or beach sand, with few fines and few boulders. Distribution regularity matters as much as median size: a quality filter burr grinder (Baratza Encore, Wilfa Svart, Fellow Opus, or a manual 1Zpresso K-Max, Comandante C40) produces far more uniform particles than a blade grinder at the same nominal setting.

The physics are simple. V60 is percolation: water passes through the coffee bed in a 2:30-3:15 total, and during that time it dissolves solubles — acids first (first 30 seconds), sugars second (30-90 s), more bitter compounds at the end. If grind is too fine, water takes 4-5 min to drain, the coffee over-extracts, bitterness and astringency dominate. Too coarse, water runs through in 1:30-2:00, the cup is under-extracted, watery and sour. You adjust iteratively: if drawdown runs past 3:30 with coffee pooled at the end, open grind 1-2 steps; if the brew finishes in 2:00, tighten.

Origin calls for fine-tuning. Denser, harder beans (Ethiopia, Kenya, high-altitude) often need a slightly finer grind than softer beans (Brazil, low-altitude Colombia). A light roast asks for finer grind than a darker roast, because light-roasted beans are denser and extract more slowly. Freshness plays in too: a coffee within 10 days of roast date off-gasses a lot of CO₂ during bloom, creates channels and may need a slightly finer grind to compensate.

To check your grind is right, a TDS refractometer (Atago, VST) reads 1.25-1.45 % on a well-extracted V60, with calculated extraction yield around 18-22 %. Most drinkers trust the clock and the palate — the balance between sour edge (under-extraction), clean sweetness (ideal zone) and dry bitterness (over-extraction). In Brussels or Ghent specialty shops, a barista will often say V60 grind should 'crack like fine sugar' under the tooth, never feel powdery between fingers.

V60 grind — reference by use