Pour over coffee brewing is one of my favorite ways to make coffee. It draws me into the moment and forces me to invest physically and mentally in a simple process. It’s meditative, inspiring, and rewarding on so many levels.

However, there was a time when pour over coffee mainly brought me frustration. I nearly gave it up altogether!

The cause of this deep frustration? I didn’t have a specialized kettle for pour over brewing: the gooseneck kettle.

This type of kettle boils water like any other kettle, but it has a long narrow spout that resembles - you guessed it - a goose neck. It’s a little funny looking, but it’s a powerful tool in the coffee lover’s gear arsenal.

Read: Is Pour Over Coffee Brewing Worth The Effort?

If you’re into making pour over coffee at home, it’s a tool you’ll rapidly fall in love with.

Let me share with you why with these three reasons.

Control Over Water Pouring

The odd spout shape of gooseneck kettles may look hard to use, but the opposite is true. The spout is carefully designed to give you complete control over the speed and strength of your pour.

Regular water kettles have a major flaw when it comes to pour over brewing. They pour water with inconsistency and chaos. Some are better than others, but in the end, control is lacking.

And don’t you hate trying to pour water in a specific spot and only hitting everything around it?

Read: Making Iced Pour Over Coffee With The JavaPresse Dripper

With a gooseneck kettle, you can easily pour quickly, slowly, and in any exact spot you want. I cannot overstate how significant this level of control is for pour over brewing.

With this style of brewing, hitting all of the coffee grounds evenly with water is very important. It’s one of the keys to brewing balanced, rich coffee.

You can also manipulate the total brewing time by pouring slowly or quickly, enabling another layer of control and precision that regular kettles cannot dream of.

Consistency Day After Day

This added control leads to a dramatic boost in the consistency of your coffee.

Brewing pour over coffee with a regular kettle means:

• You never use the same amount of water
• You never pour at the same speed
• You never hit all the grounds evenly

The resulting coffee is imbalanced and inconsistent from day-to-day.

Read: How To: The Golden Ratios in Coffee Brewing

Brewing pour over coffee with a gooseneck kettle means:

• You can easily pour the exact amount of water you need
• You can easily pour at a controlled speed
• You can easily hit all the grounds evenly

The result is coffee you love every single day. No more “off” days. No more spilling water because you’re trying to pour slowly with a regular kettle. Your coffee is consistent, reliable, and delicious.

Speaking of delicious...

Better Tasting Coffee

When you have this high level of control over the water your pour, and you take advantage of that control to create consistency, your coffee can taste much better.

Firstly, being able to pour water over the grounds evenly makes a huge difference in flavor. It encourages balance as all the grounds give up the same amount of flavor, reducing sourness and bitterness from some grounds being over and under extracted.

Read: How To Taste Coffee Bitterness

Secondly, the total brewing time is under your control. You can pour slowly to extend the brewing time or quickly to shorten it. This means you can easily make changes to your routine to refine your coffee’s flavor.

Gooseneck kettles make brewing better pour over coffee so easy!

Use one, and the improvements in your technique and coffee’s flavor will appear instantly.

Stovetop VS Electric Gooseneck Kettles

Now that you’re aware of how pour over coffee kettles improve pour over coffee with ease, let me share some things to consider when you’re looking at buying one for your home.

I’ve been testing and suggesting kettles to curious coffee lovers for years and am very confident in the following advice.

If you need a simple, inexpensive kettle, go with a stovetop model. They’re compatible with all stove types, they’re easy on the budget, and they’ll last for years since there are no built-in electronics.

Read: The Perfect Water Temperature For Coffee Brewing

However, there are some drawbacks. They take a little longer than electric kettles to boil water (unless you have a gas stove) and you can’t use them in hotel rooms.

Hotel rooms? Yeah, if you want to take your favorite brew on your travels, this is something to consider. Stovetop kettles need something most hotel rooms don’t have: a stove.

Electric gooseneck kettles are powered via an outlet. The kettle sits on a base that rapidly boils the water. These are nice because they boil water quickly, turn off automatically when the water’s heated, and they can be used anywhere you can find an outlet - including hotel rooms.

If you want an extra layer of bells and whistles, check out variable temperature kettles. These guys attach to a base that allows you to set a specific target temperature. The base then heats the water to that point and can hold it there for up to an hour.

This allows you to be very precise with your water temperature. It’s also a great feature for brewing tea, which requires lower water temperatures to produce the best flavors. However, they cost a pretty penny.

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Kettle Types In Review

• Stovetop - simple, stove powered, budget-friendly
• Electric - convenient, outlet powered, slightly more expensive
• Variable Temp - empowering, holds defined temperature, most expensive

Kettle Brand Suggestions

I highly suggest the following brands. They’ve been tested by the greater specialty coffee community and have come out on top.

• Bonavita
• Hario
• Tiamo
• Fellow

I’ve used each one and can personally vouch for their durability and the control they offer.

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My gooseneck kettle changed the way I brew pour over coffee. It gave me incredible control, allowed me to brew great coffee consistently, and empowered me to level-up in terms of coffee quality and deliciousness.

I strongly suggest adding a gooseneck kettle to your equipment arsenal!

Of course, it all begins with coffee beans. The most expensive kettle won’t help you if you’re starting with stale or low-grade beans.

Have freshly roasted coffee shipped right to your door with the JavaPresse Coffee Subscription. We source coffees from some of the best farms in the world. They’re focused on empowering wages, environmental friendliness, and - of course - stellar coffee quality.

If pour over coffee with notes of blueberries, baker’s chocolate, or roses sounds fascinating, check out our specialty-grade coffee subscription.

Happy brewing!