V60 Pour Over

Hario, whose name means "King of Glass" in Japanese, was founded in 1921 as a glassware manufacturer in Tokyo. The company spent decades producing laboratory equipment and household glass before turning its attention to coffee. In 2004, Hario introduced the V60 to the Japanese market — named for the 60-degree angle of its conical dripper — and released the ceramic version commercially in October 2005 after extensive prototyping.

The V60 gained worldwide recognition after Michael Phillips used it to win the 2010 World Barista Championship in London, proving that a simple cone of ceramic and paper could outperform far more elaborate brewing systems on the competition stage. Its spiral ridges and single large drainage hole gave baristas unprecedented control over flow rate and extraction, making it the instrument of choice for third-wave specialty coffee.

James Hoffmann, the 2007 World Barista Champion turned educator, further cemented the V60 as an icon by publishing his single-cup technique, which became one of the most widely referenced pour-over recipes in the world. Today, the V60 is as synonymous with specialty coffee as the espresso machine itself — a testament to the idea that great engineering can hide inside the simplest forms.