How to Make Pour-Over Coffee Without a Dripper the Next Time Your Machine Breaks!

Are you pulling a McDonald’s with these broken machines? Is breaking the coffee machine and crying in the morning for no coffee your new habit? Set that money aside; I have a better solution for you. This just needs you to use items available at home for a cup of joe that can raise you from the dooms of caffeine deficiency.

How to make pour-over coffee without a dripper? Making a coffee without a dripper is easy if you know how to make some coffee filters at home with either coffee filters and coffee bags or simply using a microfiber cloth. You can try the cowboy coffee method for this.

You can also make your coffee without a scale using fresh, whole coffee beans, a dripper, and a kettle. Last but not least, if you don’t have a fancy gooseneck kettle, you can use just a brewing mug to get the desired coffee! 

How to Make Pour-Over Coffee Without a Dripper?

There are some DIY pour-over coffee dripper techniques that you need to know of. The first one you’ll learn is how to make Cowboy Coffee which requires brewing coffee beans in boiling water. To make this, you just need some medium/fine ground coffee beans, a heating source, a pour-over coffee maker, and water. But no cowboy hats.

Follow these steps:

1. You’ll need more water than you regularly take in order to make your coffee. For those of you that took a cup, take a cup and a half. The remaining water will lie in the bottom of the saucepan. Anyway, now pour the water into your saucepan. 
2. Don’t boil the water and the coffee beans in the same pan. Boil your water first. When it comes to a boil, put your grounds in. You’re supposed to put 2 tbsps of coffee for every 6 ounces of water, but who’s who when it comes to taste, right?
3. Now remove the water from the heating source and remove the lid. Let the coffee grounds settle themselves at the bottom of the saucepan.
4. If you don’t like waiting like me, sprinkle some cold water on it to help the baby grounds settle.
5. Now pour from the upper part and enjoy the black caffeinated concoction of your dreams!

How will You Make a Pour-over DIY Coffee Filter?

Another technique is to use a DIY filter. Did you think no Chemex meant no pour-over coffee? Making a DIY coffee filter is easier than you think. It only needs you to have a handkerchief or filter paper, coffee grounds, water, and paper binders.

If you don’t have a handkerchief, you can always use your cheesecloth, kitchen towel, or something of a similar texture. But make sure that it can sustain high heat from the hot water that you are going to pour. We don’t want there to be a hole in the middle of your coffee filter now, do we?

Now do the following:

1. Open your handkerchief to a square and place it on your mug to check if it is the right size. For the right size, it will hang beyond the circumference of the cup.
2. Now using paper binders, fix your handkerchief on the sides of the wall of the cup. These paper binders should be able to hold the cloth in position as you pour the boiling water in!
3. Spread your coffee grounds on the cloth as evenly as possible.
4. Next, boil two cups of water in a pour-over kettle and let it cool for thirty seconds. Pour enough water to let the coffee grounds bloom in the wetness. Keep pouring in small actions every thirty seconds till you have used up all the water.
5. Wait till the remaining coffee water drains from the cloth to the cup/mug, remove the makeshift filter, and enjoy!

Do you want to know how to make coffee without filter or paper towel?

How will You Make Pour-Over Coffee Without a Scale?

In this case, you only need to have fresh coffee beans, a pour-over coffee dripper, a filter for the coffee dripper, and a kettle.

What you will need to do is:

1. Grind your coffee for a fine/medium grind of the fresh beans.
2. Put your ground coffee in a paper filter or coffee filter and place it on the dripper. You should slightly wet the filter for the coffee grounds to stay in place. 
3. Place the dripper on your coffee mug.
4. Now, use your electric kettle at 200 degrees or boil water in your saucepan/stainless steel kettle till it is done, and wait out the water for 30 seconds.
5. Pour your water into the dripper. Start on the outside and move your way in circular motions. Let the coffee bloom first, then carry on with the process.

How Can You Make Pour-Over Coffee Without a Kettle?

You don’t always need a gooseneck kettle to make a pour-over coffee. You can do it with an electric kettle or even just a mug (for brewing), water, and coffee grounds.

Here’s how you will do it:

1. Make coarse grinds from your coffee beans. For every cup of water, you will need two tsp of coffee grounds. Depending on how big the mug is in which you’ll drink, eyeball your measurements.
2. Place the grinds in your brewing mug and pour enough boiling water to saturate and soak them. They’ll bloom now. Don’t put any more water on for the next thirty seconds!
3. Do another slow pour and pour the water in without any gap this time.
4. Let the coffee sit and brew for another 3-4 minutes, depending on how strong you want it.
5. Pour the water from above onto your other favorite cup and enjoy!

Final Words

This is how to make pour-over coffee without a dripper. You can always use what’s available at your place. You don’t need fancy coffee makers or Keurigs or Chemex. 

All you need is the sheer dedication to whip up some DIY coffee filters, whether or not you have a kettle of your own. And that’s how folks, you make a beautiful cup of joe. No crying for the next time your machine breaks!