TL;DR: Tetsuya Kasuya’s 4
method splits your total brew water into a 4 ratio. The first 40% controls taste balance (sweetness vs acidity), the remaining 60% controls strength. Five equal pours of 60ml each for 20g of coffee at 300ml total yield. Simple, repeatable, and tunable.
The Core Idea
Most pour-over recipes give you fixed water amounts and pour timings. Kasuya’s insight is different — he separates the brew into two distinct phases with different purposes:
- First phase (40% of water) — controls the flavor balance between sweetness and acidity
- Second phase (60% of water) — controls the overall strength and extraction level
This means you can independently adjust two dimensions of your cup: taste and strength. Want sweeter coffee? Change the first phase ratio. Want a lighter cup? Reduce the second phase volume.
The Recipe (20g / 300ml)
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Coffee | 20g |
| Grind size | Coarsest setting, roughly French press coarseness |
| Water | 300ml total (60ml x 5 pours) |
| Pour interval | ~45 seconds between each pour |
| Total time | 3 |
| Equipment | HARIO V60 + HARIO grinder |
The Five Pours
- Pour 1 — 60ml bloom and first extraction
- Pour 2 — 60ml, completes the “4” phase (taste control)
- Pour 3 — 60ml, begins the “6” phase (strength control)
- Pour 4 — 60ml
- Pour 5 — 60ml
After 3 minutes and 30 seconds, remove the dripper from the server. Your coffee is ready.
Tuning the Method
This is where the 4
method truly shines. It’s not a rigid recipe — it’s a framework.Adjusting Sweetness
The balance between pour 1 and pour 2 controls sweetness versus acidity. If you want your coffee sweeter, make the first pour smaller — for example, 50ml instead of 60ml. Then add the leftover 10ml to the second pour, keeping the total for the first phase the same but shifting the ratio.
The smaller the first pour relative to the second, the sweeter the result. The more even they are, the more acidity comes through.
Adjusting Strength
The last three pours (pours 3-5) control the brew strength. The default splits them evenly at 60-60-60ml. If the resulting coffee is too strong for your taste, combine the last pours into fewer, larger additions — for example, 90-90ml instead of 60-60-60. This reduces the overall contact time and extraction, producing a lighter cup.
The Math
The formula is straightforward: use 3x the coffee weight in water per pour, and do 5 pours. For 20g of coffee, that’s 60ml per pour. Adjust the grind to your preference, then fine-tune taste with the first two pours and strength with the last three.
Why It Matters
Tetsuya Kasuya won the 2016 World Brewers Cup with this method, demonstrating that specialty coffee brewing doesn’t need to be mysterious or overly complex. The 4
method provides:- Repeatability — fixed ratios make it easy to reproduce results
- Tunability — two independent adjustment knobs instead of guessing
- Simplicity — no complex pouring patterns or timing gymnastics
- Coarse grind friendly — works with the coarsest grinder setting, reducing bitterness from fines
A decade later, it remains one of the most practical pour-over frameworks for both beginners and experienced brewers. The principle of separating taste control from strength control is applicable far beyond this specific recipe — it’s a way of thinking about extraction.
Source
Video by HARIO Official Channel — A Coffee Brewing Theory “4
method” Invented by Tetsu Kasuya (World Brewers Cup 2016 Champion)
