# Kalita Wave recipe and dial-in guide

> A flat-bottomed dripper with three small holes and fluted filters. The flat bed extracts evenly and is forgiving of an uneven pour.

Source: https://cuplift.app/brewers/kalita-wave · Updated 18 October 2026

## A starting Kalita Wave recipe

This is where Cuplift starts a new Kalita Wave brewer before it knows anything about the coffee. Once you add a bean, the recipe adjusts for roast, process and altitude, then learns from what you taste.

| Size | Coffee | Water | Ratio | Grind | Temp | Target drawdown |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 155 | 12g | 200ml | 1:17 | 660µm (Medium-Coarse) | 94°C | ~3:00 |
| 185 | 18g | 300ml | 1:17 | 720µm (Medium-Coarse) | 94°C | ~3:30 |

Grind is in microns because a click means something different on every grinder. 660µm is about 22 clicks on a Comandante C40. Filter: Wave Paper (x1).

### Steps (155)

1. Rinse filter
2. Add 12g coffee
3. Bloom with 30ml at 94°C, gentle swirl, wait 45s
4. Pour to 120ml in slow circles by 1:15, at 0:45
5. Pour to 200ml by 2:00, at 1:15
6. Drawdown complete by ~3:00

## Dialling in a Kalita Wave

- Time the drawdown. A bed that stalls or gushes is the first thing to fix, because the cup can't be judged on a brew that didn't flow properly.
- Grind is your main extraction lever — finer to extract more, coarser to extract less.
- Pour height stands in for contact time: a higher, more energetic pour extracts more.
- Temperature and water minerals come after, once grind has had its turn.

Whatever the problem, change one thing per brew. The [dial-in guide](https://cuplift.app/dial-in) covers the order to fix things in.

## Common pour over problems

- [Why does my coffee taste sour? How to fix it](https://cuplift.app/fix/sour-coffee)
- [Why does my coffee taste bitter? How to fix it](https://cuplift.app/fix/bitter-coffee)
- [Why does my coffee taste dry, chalky or astringent?](https://cuplift.app/fix/astringent-coffee)
- [Why does my coffee taste weak or watery?](https://cuplift.app/fix/weak-coffee)