5 V60 Cleaning Tips to Keep Your Coffee Fresh
There’s an old adage that runs through many of my coffee posts. “If you look after your coffee equipment, it will look after you”. Keeping even the simplest of coffee brewing devices like the V60 clean and well maintained is essential to consistently making great tasting cups of joe.
Compared to cleaning and maintaining a highly strung, complex espresso machine, surely a bit of soap and water will do the trip with the humble V60? Well, yes and no. The maintenance schedule of a V60 doesn’t have to be arduous. Simply keeping an eye on residue build up and consistently rinsing and drying your device will go a long way to ensuring you keep on brewing great tasting coffee for years to come.
So, let’s dive into 5 V60 cleaning tips to keep your coffee tasting fresh!
What is a V60?
The V60 is a manual pour-over coffee brewer designed by Hario, a renowned Japanese glassware company. Its name, “V60,” originates from its characteristic V-shaped cone and the 60-degree angle of its walls. This cone-shaped dripper can be crafted from various materials, including glass, ceramic, plastic, and metal, each offering distinct aesthetic appeal and heat-retention properties. The most popular V60 is the simple plastic coffee brewer, which is the easiest to clean and maintain. The classic plastic V60 is also the most cost effective and portable in the range, making it incredibly versatile. The V60 stands out as a beloved tool cherished by coffee lovers worldwide. It is such a simple yet effective coffee brewing tool that can make outstanding coffee with a clean, fresh and delicate flavour.
Where some more popular coffee brewing methods like espresso and the French Press offer bold, punchy and viscous coffee, a V60 brew is a far more delicate affair. V60 coffee brewing can be a rewarding pursuit, as it offers silky smooth, fresh and refined coffee that cleans out your pallet and emphasises crisp tasting notes. Despite this, the V60 is a very simple and portable device that can make great tasting coffee anywhere you go.
However, V60 brewing is not without its challenges. Even seasoned enthusiasts can fall prey to common pitfalls of V60 brewing, leaving them with less than desirable results.
Why Should You Keep Your V60 Clean?
Keeping your V60 clean and free from residue is about more than just aesthetics. It can actually help keep your coffee tasting clean, fresh and well balanced. Like with many other coffee brewing methods, pesky coffee oils and loose grounds can get lodged and go rancid very quickly. Cleaning your V60 by rinsing it with hot water after each use, and opting for periodic deep cleans will reduce the chances of oils building up over time, which can cause discolouring and promote bacteria growth. The spiral grooves in a V60 are the perfect place for coffee residue to build up, and they can subtly become a hiding place for oils and grounds to build up without you noticing. If you keep your V60 clean and well maintained, there’s no reason it won’t be able to serve you great tasting coffee for years or even decades to come. As long as you look after it and avoid scratches and cracks, even the most humble plastic V60s can last a lifetime.5 V60 Cleaning Tips
Here are 5 top tips to keep your V60 clean, so it’s good as new every time you use it!1. Rinse Your V60 After Every Use
This doesn’t have to be an extensive deep clean, but rinsing your V60 with hot water after each use will wash enough of those pesky coffee oils, fines and grounds away to keep it fresh and clean. If you do notice any discolouring or build up of oils, then rinsing with a little unscented dish soap should do the trick. This should be enough to dispel any of that unwanted gunk, just make sure to use a soft sponge or dish cloth and really get into all of the grooves so you don’t leave any part of your V60 unwashed.2. Perform a Deeper Clean if Residue Builds Up Over Time
Every now and then it’s a good idea to perform a deep clean on your V60, just to make sure you’ve not missed any residue build up whilst brewing delicious pour over coffee. This can be done in a number of ways, but the simplest of these is to use your dishwasher. Most plastic V60 models are dishwasher safe, so you shouldn’t have a problem putting it in with your dishes and it comes out sparkling clean! However, ceramic, glass or metal based V60s may not be dishwasher safe, so it’s best to double check the manufacturer’s guidance. If you want to air on the side of caution or simply don’t have a dishwasher, you can use a baking soda solution to clean your V60. This is really simple to make up and apply, all you need is a small amount of baking soda and water! Use a 1:1 ratio of baking soda as this will create a strong solution that will cut through even the toughest coffee build ups. Take a small bowl and add your baking soda and water, mixing it thoroughly to ensure it’s fully combined. Then, take a dish cloth and coat your V60 in the baking soda solution, making sure not to miss any parts particularly around the bottom. Leave it to stand for 5-10 minutes and let the baking soda do its work. If you think your V60 needs a deeper clean, you can take a washing up bowl and add a larger quantity of water and baking soda so your V60 can be submerged fully in the solution. If you take this approach, add a small plate or something else heavy enough to keep your V60 submerged, as it will probably float above the surface. After 5-10 minutes, simply rinse your V60 with warm water to remove the baking soda solution and allow it to dry completely before putting away.3. Use Soft Brushes and Sponges, Not Hard Scourers
You should also be careful when cleaning your V60 not to damage it with hard scourers, bristle brushes or steel wool. Not only do soft brushes and sponges help apply cleaning solutions more evenly, but they also reduce the risk of damaging your V60. I’d recommend using a dish cloth or small kitchen sponge to clean your V60, as the soft surface is pliant enough to get into those small gaps at the bottom of the device, as well as digging into those spiral grooves on the surface.4. Dry Your V60 Thoroughly
One of the most underrated tips when it comes to cleaning and maintaining a V60 is allowing it to dry thoroughly before storing it away. This may sound like an obvious tip, but you’d be surprised how many people rinse their V60 (or any coffee brewing device for that matter) and put it in the cupboard damp. This can spell disaster for future brews as a warm, damp device with lots of small ridges is the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria and mould. The last thing you want is to leave your V60 in your kitchen cupboard for a few days, only to pull it out with some weird fungus or mould growing on the side of it. Yuck! Make sure to leave your V60 to air dry for plenty of time, and then thoroughly dry it off with a kitchen towel, ensuring to reach into all of those small gaps and ridges.5. Try to Avoid Damage to Your V60
The final tip in this article is to try your best to avoid damaging your V60 when using, cleaning, storing or travelling with it. Cracks, scratches and chips in your V60 can actually have a greater impact than just the way it looks sitting on your kitchen counter. They can also impact the way your coffee is brewed. Consistency and even water flow are hallmarks of great V60 coffee brewing, which is why those spiral grooves exist in the first place. They help water fall evenly down the sides of the V60’s cone, over the coffee grounds and through the filter paper. If you have any major abrasions on your V60, this can upset the flow of water through your bed of ground coffee and lead to uneven extraction. To reduce the risk of damaging your V60, make sure to store it in a safe corner of your kitchen where other items are not stacked on top of it. Also, when cleaning your V60, be sure to use soft sponges or dish cloths rather than hard brushes or metal wool scourers as this will massively reduce the risk of scratching your V60 and leaving permanent damage. Finally, if you want to take your V60 with you whilst travelling, be sure to store it in a protective container, or wrap it in a soft material like a cloth or paper towels. This will help protect the V60 from damage.Summary
Overall, keeping your V60 clean and well maintained is about more than just how it looks. Having a solid and regular maintenance schedule for all your coffee brewing devices is a really good habit to get into, even for the most straightforward of topper brewers like the V60. Cleaning your V60 really doesn’t have to be a long and drawn out process. Just rinsing it with warm water after every use and giving it a deeper clean with dish soap, baking soda or chucking it in the dishwasher every now and then will go a long way.V60 Cleaning Frequently Asked Questions
I would recommend rinsing your V60 with hot or warm water after every brew, once you’ve disposed of your filter paper and ground coffee of course. This will get rid of most of the coffee residue that may have built up during your brew.
However, depending on how often you use your V60, I’d suggest giving it a deep clean on a weekly or at least monthly basis.
Yes! This is a really important part of the coffee brewing process that shouldn’t be ignored. It doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out process, but cleaning your V60 is a really key element of consistent coffee brewing that will increase the longevity of your device.
Yes, depending on what it’s made from. Most V60’s are dishwasher safe, but the plastic based ones in particular are almost always fine to put in the dishwasher. Ceramic, metallic or glass V60s may not be dishwasher safe, so it is definitely worth checking the manufacturer’s guidance before placing them in the dishwasher, or simply opting for one of the alternative cleaning routines listed in this article.
