ENDEES
Get the app
Brew guide · Competition recipe

The 4:6 method by Tetsu Kasuya, with timer.

Tetsu Kasuya won the 2016 World Brewers Cup with this V60 recipe. The idea is simple: the first 40 % of the water decides how sweet or bright the cup is, the last 60 % how strong. Choose both, and the timer tells you when to pour how much.

Your 4:6 recipe

Coffee
20 g
Water
300 g
Taste
Strength
40 % Taste60 g60 gSweetness and acidity in balance
60 % Strength60 g60 g60 gKasuya's standard
Ratio
1:15
Temperature
92 °C
Grind
Coarsecoarser than for a normal V60
Brew time
3:30+ 2 min prep
Guided BrewStep 1 of 5
0:45left in this step
Pour 1: up to 60 g0:00 → 0:45 · 60 g
  1. 0:00 Pour 1: up to 60 g
  2. 0:45 Pour 2: up to 120 g
  3. 1:30 Pour 3: up to 180 g
  4. 2:15 Pour 4: up to 240 g
  5. 2:45 Pour 5: up to 300 g
  6. 3:30 Lift off the V60

Beeps at every step. Keep this page open while you brew.

Before you start

Heat the water to 92 °C, the temperature Kasuya brews with. Rinse the paper filter with hot water and pour the rinse water away. Grind 20 g of coffee coarse, clearly coarser than for our V60 recipe. Put the coffee in the filter, the V60 on the carafe, everything on the scale, and tare it to zero.

What you need

  • Hario V60 with a paper filter
  • Kettle, ideally with a gooseneck spout for a slow, steady pour
  • Scale that weighs in 1 g steps
  • Grinder that grinds coarse and even: a burr grinder
  • 20 g of fresh coffee and a carafe

Step by step

These are Kasuya's standard steps: five pours of the same size. If you choose another taste or strength above, the timer changes the pours.

  1. 0:00

    Pour 1: up to 60 g

    Start the timer and pour 60 g in slow circles until all the coffee is wet. The first two pours are the first 40 % of the water, and they set the balance: a smaller first pour makes the cup sweeter, a bigger one brighter.

  2. 0:45

    Pour 2: up to 120 g

    When the water has run through, pour up to 120 g. That completes the first 40 %.

  3. 1:30

    Pour 3: up to 180 g

    The last 60 % starts here, and it sets the strength. More pours make the cup stronger, fewer make it lighter. The standard is three equal pours.

  4. 2:15

    Pour 4: up to 240 g

    Same again, as soon as the coffee bed has drained.

  5. 2:45

    Pour 5: up to 300 g

    The last pour. Then let it run through.

  6. 3:30

    Lift off the V60

    At 3:30, take the dripper off the carafe, even if there is still some water in it. That is where Kasuya stops. Swirl the carafe and pour.

How the 40 and the 60 work

For 20 g of coffee and 300 g of water. The timer scales every pour to your dose.

You choosePoursIn the cup
SweeterFirst 40 %: 50 g, then 70 gMore sweetness, less acidity
BalancedFirst 40 %: 60 g, then 60 gSweetness and acidity in balance
BrighterFirst 40 %: 70 g, then 50 gMore acidity, less sweetness
LighterLast 60 %: 2 pours of 90 gA lighter cup
StandardLast 60 %: 3 pours of 60 gKasuya's standard
StrongerLast 60 %: 4 pours of 45 gA stronger cup

Where the recipe comes from: the schedule for the standard version is the one Philocoffea, Kasuya's own coffee company, publishes. The dose, the 92 °C and the two rules are from his interview with Kurasu after the World Brewers Cup. For two or four pours in the last 60 %, Kasuya gives the rule but no schedule. The timer spaces them so you still lift off the V60 at 3:30. The timer sets the pace. If the water from the last pour hasn't run through yet, wait a moment before you pour.

FAQ

What is the 4:6 method?

A V60 recipe by Tetsu Kasuya, who won the 2016 World Brewers Cup with it: 20 g of coarse coffee, 300 g of water at 92 °C, five pours, done at 3:30. The first 40 % of the water sets sweetness and acidity, the last 60 % the strength.

Why is the grind so coarse?

Kasuya grinds coarse for a clean cup. He starts each pour only once the water before it has run through, which, he says, gets more out of coarse coffee.

Can I brew less or more?

Yes. Keep the ratio at 1:15 and the 40 to 60 split. Change the dose at the top and every pour scales with it: 15 g of coffee takes 225 g of water, 30 g takes 450 g.

Is the 4:6 method better than a normal V60 recipe?

Not better, different. Our V60 recipe grinds finer and takes three minutes. The 4:6 method grinds coarse and gives you two things you can change on purpose: the balance of sweetness and acidity, and the strength.

More brew guides

Hario V601:16.7 · 3 minClean and bright, made for fruity coffeesAeroPress1:15 · 3 minForgiving and quick, rich or clean as you likeFrench Press1:16.7 · 10 minFull body, no paper, hard to get wrongChemex1:16.7 · 4.5 minVery clean and light, made for sharingCold Brew1:12.5 · 14 hSmooth and soft, made the night beforeEspresso1:2 · 26–30 sConcentrated and syrupy, needs a machineAll brew guides6 guidesWork out how much coffee you need, then pick your method.