8 Best Coffee Beans for Pour Over Coffee: 2022 Reviews

Pour-over brewing is experiencing a heyday. Baristas and home brewers alike are realising the power of this technique for emphasising the subtle and complex flavours in a cup of coffee. 

Choosing the best coffee for pour over mostly comes down to personal taste. However, this article offers some useful guidelines as well as eight good recommendations to suit any palate. We cover beans suited to pour over only, in this guide. For a wider range of options read out guide: best coffee beans bucket list.

How to Choose the Right Coffee Beans for Pour-over

If you like your coffee flavour-forward, with a bright and clean cup, skip the French Press; the pour-over method is perfect for you. So, the most important thing is tracking down high-quality coffee beans whose flavours you genuinely love. For this, we’re here to help.

IMAGE	PRODUCT	DETAILS
Best Overall Best Overall	Colonna Coffee Finca La Colombia Gesha	Filter Colombia Floral, sweet	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE
Best Light Roast Best Light Roast	Pact Coffee San Jeronimo	Light roast Guatemala origin Honey, lemon	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE
Best Blend Best Blend	Balance Coffee Level Up Blend	Medium roast Colombian, Tanzanian origins Red berries, caramel, pecans	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE
Budget Pick Budget Pick	Bird & Wild Medium Roast Seasonal Blend	Medium roast Various origins Dark chocolate, floral	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE
Best Decaf Best Decaf	Decadent Decaf Guatemala Acatenango	Roast not specified Guatemalan origin Milk chocolate, raisins, blood orange	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE
Best Dark Roast Best Dark Roast	Clumsy Goat Fairtrade Colombian	Dark roast Colombian origin Apple, raspberry	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE
Best Value For Money Best Value For Money	Scott & Co. Kenya AA Coffee	Medium Roast Kenya origin Nutty, complex	See on Amazon
Best Medium Roast Best Medium Roast	Brown Bear Picchu Peru	Medium roast Peruan origin Caramel, cinnamon	CLICK TO CHECK PRICE

If you’re brand-new to pour-over brewing, check out our guide on making great pour-over coffee, and be sure to invest in the right equipment. We’ve got you covered with our reviews of the best gooseneck kettles for pour over for your hot water, the best pour over coffee makers, and great pour over coffee stands.

Choosing the right beans.

A beautiful thing about the pour-over brewing method is that it is compatible with nearly any coffee. The most important thing is to find the one that you enjoy, so don’t be afraid to experiment. As Blue Bottle Coffee suggests (1), pour-overs are great at highlighting the more subtle nuances of a good coffee:

Pour overs are often used to brew single-origin beans and light roasts, which are known for their sophisticated flavours. It’s also ideal to choose whole beans over ground coffee.

Find your favourite flavour

Several factors influence the flavour of your coffee beans. Yet, two factors are crucial: their region or regions of origin and roast level.

A bag of coffee beans can include beans all grown in the same area, known as single-origin, or of a mixture of beans from different regions, which is known as a blend. Either one can yield a delicious pour-over brew.

This makes them more approachable and consistent. In contrast, single origins are unique and exotic.

Single origins showcase the flavours and terroir of a specific area. The subtle or complex characters that we might lose in a blend are here allowed to shine (2).

Roast Levels will affect flavours in a big way

The roast level also has a strong influence on the taste, aroma, and mouthfeel of your coffee. 

Lighter roasts typically have fragrant floral and/or fruity notes, with a mild body and brighter acidity. They’re excellent for exploring the subtleties of single-origin coffee beans, and brewing using the pour-over method is a great way to appreciate a light roast. Here are some of our favourites.

Medium roasts offer a bit more sweetness and less acidity than light roasts, due to the caramelisation of sugars during the roasting process. They will have a more substantial body and a slightly toasted flavour.

Good dark roasts have a bittersweet taste profile and a bold, rich body. Their flavours, which tend towards chocolatey, nutty, and earthy, are a product of the roasting process as much as the coffee bean itself. Personally, I avoid dark roasts for pour over brewing – but here are a few great dark roast coffees if you’d like to experiment.

Speaking of roasting, if you ever wish to try and roast your own beans, check out our video on home roasting:

The 8 Best Coffee Beans for Pour Over in 2022

Here are our eight favourite coffee beans for pour-over brewing this year. They range from light to dark roasts and from bright, fruity single origins to rich chocolatey blends, so you’re sure to find the right beans for you.

1. Colonna Coffee Finca La Colombia Gesha – Best Overall

• Roast: Filter

• Origin: Colombia
• Tasting notes: Floral, sweet
• Whole bean or ground: Whole bean

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Colonna Coffee wows in every facet of the coffee industry. Their flagship cafe in Bath won “Best Coffee Shop in Europe” in 2016, and their founder Maxwell is a three-time winner of the UK Barista Championship. The roastery side of the business began in 2015 to support farmers, showcase high-end coffees, and explore innovations in processing, roasting, and grinding.

Colonna doesn’t sort its coffees by roast. Instead, it offers two different selections: espresso and filter. The filter range is all specialty single origins, any of which would be a great match for your favourite pour over brewer. But we particularly love this micro-lot Gesha coffee from Colombia. It is honey-processed, making it sweeter and less acidic than a typica Gesha. It is smooth, aromatic, and richly floral.

The geisha bean is typically associated with Panama, but it grows well in other parts of the Americas. This particular coffee is sourced from the Antioquia region of Colombia, where farmer Gonzalo employs 80 workers every season to hand-pick the best coffee beans.

2. Pact Coffee San Jeronimo – Best Light Roast

• Roast: Light

• Origin: Honduras
• Tasting notes: Grapefruit, jasmine
• Whole bean or ground: Either

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The versatility and complexity of Guatemalan coffee make it a great choice for pour over brewing. There’s a reason this country has an excellent reputation in the specialty coffee industry. The Pact San Jeronimo coffee comes from the Patulul region, a gorgeous area bound by both beaches and mountains.

The rich volcanic soil in the foothills of those mountains, combined with the skill of the Bressani family – 4th-generation coffee farmers – is what makes this coffee so outstanding. The beans are the Caturra varietal, and they are wet processed to yield crisp flavours and a clean cup.

Pact has given the San Jeronimo coffee a light roast to properly showcase the nature of the beans themselves. It’s a gentle and comforting brew, with a syrupy mouthfeel and balanced flavours of honey and lemon.

3. Balance Coffee Level Up Blend – Best Blend

• Roast: Medium

• Origin: Colombia, Tanzania
• Tasting notes: Red berries, caramel, pecans
• Whole bean or ground: Either

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The pour over method is a popular choice for bringing out the best in a single-origin coffee, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a suitable way to brew a good blend. Especially when the beans in the mix are as good as these ones. 

Just under half of the blend is Colombian La Joyería from the Antioquia region. This coffee is known for being a great all-rounder, with both fruitiness and chocolate notes. The other 60% is sourced from the GDM farm in Mbeya, Tanzania. The farm is proudly locally owned, compared to other farms run by overseas investors, and is one of the biggest producers of speciality coffees in the district. 

The combination creates a very forgiving blend that’s great as an everyday brew. It starts with undertones of caramel and nuts, finishing with notes of red berries that develop well with pour over brewing. 

4. Bird & Wild Medium Roast Seasonal Blend – Budget Pick

• Roast: Medium

• Origin: various
• Tasting notes: Dark chocolate, floral
• Whole bean or ground: Either

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This is another blend that is suitable for everyday pour over brewing. The origin of the beans will vary by season and availability, but Bird & Wild’s skilled coffee makers manage to maintain a consistent quality. 

It’s a medium roast but has the deep chocolate flavours you might expect from a dark roast. This is lifted by a nice balanced acidity and fresh floral aroma. It’s not the most obvious choice for a pour over, but one to try if you’re looking for something different. 

Home Grounds has long been a fan of Bird & Wild for the brand’s commitment to sustainable sourcing. Being both bird-friendly and shade-grown certified, you can rest assured that the farms where these beans are grown will maintain and diversify natural habitats. This coffee is also organic and fair trade.

5. Decadent Decaf Guatemala Acatenango – Best Decaf

• Roast: not specified

• Origin: Guatemala
• Tasting notes: Milk chocolate, raisins, blood orange
• Whole bean or ground:

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Hopefully, if you’ve spent some time on Home Grounds, you’ll have realised that decaf coffee is no longer something to be looked down on. The folks at Decadent Decaf obviously agree, after setting up Europe’s first single-origin Swiss Water Decaf coffee company.

On the south coast of England, they roast in small batches to ensure decaf lovers get the same attention to detail as their caffeine-fuelled friends. There’s a limited selection, but you’ll find examples from some of the world’s best growing regions.

The Guatemala Acatenango is one of the better choices for pour over brewing, with a medium strength and complex flavour profile. There’s a creamy milk chocolate base with a raisin sweetness, balanced by bright citrus grapefruit.

6. Clumsy Goat Fairtrade Colombian – Best Dark Roast

• Roast: Dark

• Origin: Colombia
• Tasting notes: Apple, raspberry
• Whole bean or ground: Whole bean

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At Home Grounds, we’re aware of the dark side of the coffee industry, which is why brands like Clumsy Goat are so important. They ensure all of their beans are sourced ethically and sustainably, often working with cooperatives that help smallholders get better prices for their crops.

For their Fairtrade Colombian offering, Clumsy Goat has travelled to the hills of Medellin. The city is part of Antioquia, the first part of Colombia to grow coffee and still considered to produce some of the highest quality coffees in the country.

Dark roasts aren’t always popular with fans of pour over brewing, but the sweet fruity flavours of this coffee might make you change your mind. Brew with your favourite filter brewer and you can expect to get delightful tastes of apple and raspberry.

7. Scott & Co. Kenya AA Coffee – Best Value for Money

• Roast: Medium

• Origin: Kenya
• Tasting notes: Nutty, complex
• Whole bean or ground: Whole bean

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Scott & Co. is a small family business based in Yorkshire, where they hand roast all their coffee. They source exclusively high-quality Arabica coffee beans from some of the world’s most famous growing regions, including these Kenyan AA beans. AA is the highest grade of Kenyan coffee, so to find it at this price is an exceptional deal.

This delightful medium-roast coffee has the sort of complexity that is best highlighted by a pour over brewing method. You’ll taste buttery cashews and hazelnuts followed by a delicately acidic finish. The aroma is breathtaking, with notes of the winey fruit character often found in the best East African coffees.

Scott & Co. coffee is hand-roasted in small batches, and every bag is sealed in an inert atmosphere before shipping. Even when buying from Amazon, you can trust that your coffee will arrive fresh and flavourful.

8. Brown Bear Picchu Peru – Best Medium Roast

• Roast: Medium

• Origin: Peru
• Tasting notes: Caramel, cinnamon
• Whole bean or ground: Either

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Brown Bear coffee set out with a simple mission to provide high-quality coffee at affordable prices but to also do a little bit of good along the way. The company donates 5% of sales to Free the Bears UK, a charity that helps rescue bears from captivity in South East Asia.

The company has a good offering of blends and single-origin coffees, including this Picchu Peru. It is sourced from the Chanchamayo area, which is said to produce the highest quality coffee in the country, at altitudes of up to 5,000 feet.

Typical of many Peruvian coffees, this one is on the mellow side, but complex in flavour. This makes it a good match with pour over brewing, but not a good pick if you want something with a bit more oomph. In the cup, you can expect caramel and cinnamon notes, which give way to a clean finish.

The Verdict

There is no single best coffee for pour-over brewing, which is good news because it means you can find a favourite that suits your taste. Look for something with complex, subtle, or contrasting flavours to understand why the pour-over technique has become so popular.

A great place to start is with The Roastery’s Peru Guardian Del Bosque Geisha. This organic, single-origin coffee bean makes a smooth and refreshing cup, with delicate flavours of marzipan, peach and jasmine that are sure to intrigue.