Best Coffee for a V60: Why Jojo Wins (and When to Pick Something Else)

If you're looking for the best coffee for a V60, our pick from our own shelf is Jojo; our Ethiopian Limu single origin. Fruity, winy, and sweet, at roast level 2.5/5 with acidity 4/5, it's exactly the kind of cup the V60 was built to show off. Here's the full case, and the two runners-up if Jojo's profile isn't for you.

What a V60 actually needs from a coffee

The V60 is a paper-filter brewer, and the paper does most of the work most people credit the beans for. It strips oils and fines, losing body and gaining clarity. What's left is aromatics and acidity; the high, bright, complex end of a coffee's flavour.
A heavy, dark-roasted coffee in a V60 is a waste of both the brewer and the beans. The filter mutes the very thing dark roasts do well (body, richness), and the roast mutes the very thing filter brewing does well (aromatic complexity). You want a lighter roast with bright, well-defined acidity and a profile that rewards being listened to.

Why Jojo is our pick

Jojo is our Ethiopian single origin from the Limu growing region. The tasting notes on the bag are fruity, winy, and sweet, with a roast level of 2.5/5, acidity 4/5, sweetness 4/5, and body 3/5, a textbook V60 profile.
What the V60 pulls out of Jojo is the wine-like quality. The paper filter strips what little body it would have had and what's left is the fruit and the sweetness sitting on a clean finish. First sip is fruit. Mid-cup the sweetness settles in. The finish has the earthy note that marks Ethiopian coffees out.
This is a cup you sit with, not one you drink while answering email.
Caveat: Jojo's 4/5 acidity won't suit everyone. If you find bright Ethiopian coffees too sharp, read on.

The runners-up

Parrot — our Brazilian single origin from Cerrado Minas Gerais, roast 2.5/5, acidity 3/5, with sweet, nutty, chocolatey notes. Pick Parrot if Jojo sounds too bright for your morning. You lose some of Jojo's fireworks but gain a gentler, chocolatier cup.

Little Robot — our Brazil, Costa Rica and Indonesia blend with berry, vanilla and milk chocolate notes, roast 3/5 and sweetness 4/5. If you want a V60 that tastes like dessert rather than a wine bar, Little Robot is the pick. The berry note lifts in a V60 where it can be lost in heavier brews.

What we wouldn't put through a V60

Two of our own coffees, and we'll say it plainly. Komodo, our Sumatran (body 5/5, notes of spicy, bold, tobacco) is built for body;  the V60 takes that away. And Audley at roast 4.5/5, body 5/5, is a strong espresso coffee, send it through a V60 and the paper filter flattens the roasty depth that makes it worth drinking.

One V60 recipe for Jojo

15g Jojo, ground medium-fine
250g water at 94°C
Bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds
Pour to 250g in two stages, finishing around 3:00

If it tastes sour, grind finer or raise the temperature. If it tastes bitter, the other way.
If you want to try it
Jojo is £9.50 for 250g - select Filter as the grind at checkout. Free UK shipping over £30, which is Jojo plus a Parrot or Little Robot to compare against. Use NEW10 for 10% off your first order.