Tetsu Kasuya's 4:6 Method, Explained: How to Adjust the V60 Recipe
How Tetsu Kasuya's 4:6 method works, how to adjust sweetness, acidity, and strength, and when this V60 recipe is worth using.
The 4:6 method is one of the most popular pour-over recipes in specialty coffee, and it works as a simple framework you can adjust. You split the brew water into two jobs: the first 40% shapes the balance of acidity and sweetness, and the last 60% sets the strength. This guide explains how each part works, how to change it on purpose, and when the method is worth reaching for. Want to brew it now? Use the 4:6 Method timer.
Who made the 4:6 method
Tetsu Kasuya, a Japanese barista, created the 4:6 method and used it to win the 2016 World Brewers Cup in Dublin. The name comes from how he divides the water: 40% first, then 60%. Splitting the brew this way lets you tune two things on their own. The first 40% sets how sweet or acidic the cup tastes. The last 60% sets how strong it is.
The basic formula
The reference recipe is 20 g of coffee and 300 g of water, a 1:15 ratio, ground coarse, with water around 92°C. The water divides into two parts:
- First 40% = 120 g, poured in two pours.
- Last 60% = 180 g, poured in pulses.
Kasuya’s competition pours were 50 g, 70 g, 60 g, 60 g, 60 g, with the dripper lifted around 3:30. For the full timed steps, follow the 4:6 Method recipe. The rest of this guide is about changing those pours on purpose.
The first 40% sets sweetness and acidity
This is the adjustment with the biggest effect on the cup, and the direction is easy to get backwards, so here it is plainly. The two pours that make up the first 40% control the balance between acidity and sweetness, and the lever is the size of the first pour.
- More water in the first pour gives a brighter, more acidic cup.
- Less water in the first pour gives a sweeter cup.
Kasuya’s competition recipe used a small 50 g first pour followed by a larger 70 g second pour, which leans sweet. Hario Europe, which publishes his ambassador recipe, states it directly: more water in the first pour means more acidity, less means more sweetness.
| Goal | First pour | Second pour | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweeter | 50 g | 70 g | less first-pour water, rounder and sweeter (the competition default) |
| Balanced | 60 g | 60 g | a neutral starting point (the BeanBench recipe) |
| Brighter | 70 g | 50 g | more first-pour water, more acidity and lift |
Both pours still add up to 120 g, the 40%. You are moving water between them, not changing the total.
The last 60% sets strength and body
The remaining 180 g controls how strong and heavy the cup is, and the lever is how many pours you split it into. Philocoffea, Kasuya’s own company, puts it simply: pour it all at once for a lighter cup, and split it into more pours for a stronger one.
| Goal | Last 60% | Example for 300 g |
|---|---|---|
| Lighter, cleaner | 1 pour | 180 g at once |
| Balanced | 3 pours | 60 g + 60 g + 60 g |
| Stronger, fuller | 4 or more | 45 g x 4 |
More, smaller pours add agitation and push fresh water through the bed, which raises extraction and body. Fewer, larger pours do less of that, so the cup comes out lighter. For dark roasts, which already brew heavy, Kasuya suggests starting with fewer pours to keep the cup from turning thick.
What the 4:6 method gets right, and what it leaves out
The appeal of 4:6 is that it turns brewing into two clear dials. That is genuinely useful, and it makes the method easy to teach and repeat. It helps to know what is happening underneath, because pour size does not change flavor by magic.
Every time you change a pour, you change several things at once: contact time, agitation, how fast the bed drains, and the slurry temperature. All of those feed into the two numbers that actually decide how a cup tastes, its strength (how concentrated it is) and its extraction (how much of the coffee dissolved). The SCA’s brewing chart lays out that relationship, and coffee extraction and measuring extraction yield go deeper. Treat 4:6 as a repeatable way to move the cup, and lean on it for that. The result still depends on your grind, water, roast, filter, and how evenly you pour.
Grind, water, and temperature
The 4:6 method runs a coarser grind than a typical modern V60, which is part of why it is forgiving. Philocoffea suggests a medium-coarse to coarse grind: coarser for a brighter, cleaner cup, finer for more body. Start coarse and adjust from there. See grind size for settings on common grinders.
Water temperature follows the roast. Philocoffea’s starting points are around 93°C for light roasts, 88°C for medium, and 83°C for dark. Lighter coffees need the heat to extract, and darker coffees turn bitter when the water is too hot. Brew temperature covers why, and coffee water covers the minerals that matter as much as the heat.
When the 4:6 method works best
The method is at its best with light to medium single origins, the kind of coffee where you want clarity and sweetness instead of a heavy, syrupy cup. It is also a good way to learn, because you can brew the same coffee three times, change only the first pour or only the number of later pours, and taste exactly what moved.
It is a weaker fit for very dark roasts, which can turn heavy under repeated pours, and for anyone chasing the high-extraction, fine-grind style of modern competition V60. For those, a hotter, finer, more continuous pour usually does more.
Troubleshooting
| What you taste | Likely cause | First adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Sour, thin, sharp | Under-extracted | Grind finer, brew hotter, or use more final pours |
| Sweet but weak | Strength too low | Add a final pour, or tighten the ratio slightly |
| Bitter, dry | Over-extracted or too much agitation | Grind coarser, use fewer final pours, lower the temperature |
| Muddy, heavy | Too many fines or too much extraction | Grind coarser, pour gently, use fewer final pours |
| Bright but not sweet | First pour too large | Move water from the first pour to the second |
| Flat, dull | Stale beans, water, or low extraction | Check the roast date and rest, the water, and the grind |
Change one thing at a time so you can tell what did the work. Sour pour-over and bitter or dry coffee go deeper on those two faults.
4:6 vs other V60 recipes
The 4:6 method is one of several well-known V60 approaches, and they optimize for different things.
- 4:6 method: coarse grind, five pulse pours, built around easy adjustment.
- Hoffmann-style V60: usually hotter and finer, with a more continuous pour aimed at higher extraction and a fuller cup.
- Rao spin: less about the pour schedule and more about stirring and swirling to keep the bed even.
None is the right answer for every coffee. The 4:6 method is the most beginner-friendly of the three because the adjustments are so legible. See the best home brewers and the full recipe list.
Kasuya’s 2026 “Neo Brew” method
In 2026, ten years after the 4:6 method, Tetsu Kasuya shared a newer pour-over recipe often called the “Neo Brew” or multi-pour method. It comes from the same broad idea, using pour structure to shape flavor, but it is a different recipe.
It keeps the 20 g / 300 g, 1:15 ratio and pushes the brew the other way: water at 95 to 96°C, an extra-coarse grind (around 40 to 45 clicks on a Comandante C40), and ten small 30 g pours at 15-second intervals, finishing around 3:30. Kasuya recommends the Hario V60 NEO dripper, whose 72 ribs converge to 9 near the base for a faster, cleaner flow, though a standard V60 also works. The goal is a thick, sweet, low-acidity cup: hot water and many pours build sweetness and body, while the very coarse grind keeps it from turning harsh.
If you are starting out, 4:6 is still the better framework, because its two dials are easy to understand and adjust. The Neo Brew is more experimental, worth a try once you want to chase body and sweetness from a light roast. See our full Neo Brew guide for the recipe and how it works.
Track it in BeanBench
The fastest way to learn 4:6 is to brew the same coffee three ways, sweet, balanced, and bright, and compare them side by side. Memory is a poor notebook, so write down what you did.
In BeanBench you can log the dose, ratio, grind, temperature, each pour, and the drawdown, then your tasting notes and the next change. After a few sessions you will know, for a given coffee, how you like the first 40% split and how many pours the last 60% wants.
From here, dial in with grind size and brew temperature, or follow the timed 4:6 Method recipe.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 4:6 method?
A pour-over recipe from Tetsu Kasuya that splits the brew water into 40% and 60%. The first 40%, poured in two pours, sets the balance of acidity and sweetness. The last 60%, poured in pulses, sets the strength. The standard recipe is 20 g of coffee to 300 g of water, ground coarse, at around 92°C.
What ratio does the 4:6 method use?
1:15 by default, usually 20 g of coffee to 300 g of water. You can scale it up or down as long as you keep the 40/60 water split and the 1:15 ratio.
How do I make 4:6 coffee sweeter?
Use less water in the first pour and more in the second, for example 50 g then 70 g. Less first-pour water gives a rounder, sweeter cup. More first-pour water pushes toward brightness and acidity.
How do I make 4:6 coffee stronger?
Split the last 60% into more pours. Pouring all 180 g at once makes a lighter cup, three pours of 60 g is the standard, and four or more smaller pours makes it stronger and fuller.
What grind size is best for the 4:6 method?
Medium-coarse to coarse, coarser than a typical modern V60. Coarser grinds taste brighter and cleaner, finer grinds add body. Start coarse and adjust to taste.
Who invented the 4:6 method?
Tetsu Kasuya, a Japanese barista who used it to win the 2016 World Brewers Cup. His company, Philocoffea, still publishes the method.
Is the 4:6 method better than the Hoffmann V60?
Neither is better in general. The 4:6 method uses a coarser grind and pulse pours and is easy to adjust, which makes it great for light single origins and for learning. A Hoffmann-style V60 runs hotter and finer for a fuller, higher-extraction cup. Try both on the same coffee and see which you prefer.
Did Tetsu Kasuya release a new method?
Yes. In 2026, ten years after the 4:6 method, he shared a multi-pour recipe often called the Neo Brew. It keeps the same 20 g to 300 g ratio but runs hotter (95 to 96°C), uses an extra-coarse grind, and pours ten small 30 g pours, chasing body and sweetness more than balance. The 4:6 method is still his classic and the easier place to start.