It's the cheapest way to a cup of coffee that tastes like the beans you bought, as long as you get the grind and the pour right. The recipe is further down, in grams.
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The Hario V60 plastic 02 costs about $12 and it's the same cone as the porcelain and glass V60s that cost twice as much. It's also the easiest one to live with: plastic barely soaks up heat, so rinsing the paper is all the warming it needs, and it survives a drop onto the tile. If you don't own a carafe, get the starter set instead, about $27 with a glass server and 40 filters.
You set the cone on your mug, rinse the paper, and tip in the grounds. The first splash of hot water makes them swell up and bubble, and a warm, toasty smell rises off the cone. Then you pour the rest in a thin stream, in slow circles, and listen to it drip into the mug. The cup that comes out is clean and light, closer to tea than to a French press, and it's the brewer that makes one bag of beans taste clearly different from the next.
The cone is the cheap part of all this. The grind and the pour decide how the cup tastes, so put the money you save into a burr grinder first and a kettle with a thin spout second. The recipe, in grams, is further down.
You want to learn the V60 without spending more on the cone than on a bag of coffee.
Skip it if
You'd rather not have plastic touching hot coffee. The steel and glass cones brew the same way, and the plastic-free brewer guide goes further.
Same cone, half the price
Hario makes the clear 02 in a hard resin, in Japan, rated for one to four cups. It has the same 60-degree cone, the same spiral ribs and the same single wide hole as every other V60. Hario says the same about every V60: pour fast and the cup comes out lighter, pour slow and it gets fuller. The dripper leaves the speed up to you, which is the whole point of a V60.
What the plastic changes is heat. Porcelain and glass drink up warmth from the first pour, so most V60 guides start by heating the cone. Resin barely does, and your water stays close to the temperature it left the kettle. One buyer of the small plastic 01 weighed it against ceramic and came out on the plastic's side: kinder to the water's heat, and harmless when it falls.
What owners report
The one detailed comment on Hario's own store is about exactly this: it holds heat well for a plastic cone.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It's plastic touching water near 200°F, which some people rule out on principle.
It looks and feels like a $12 cone. Even the buyer who chose it over ceramic found it plainer.
Hario's page gives no care instructions, dishwasher or otherwise.
Made in JapanSurvives a dropResin, not glassClear, red or white
2
Best first kit
Hario V60 Starter Set
The cone, a 700 ml glass server to brew into and 40 filters, for about what the glass cone costs alone.
You're starting from nothing and want to brew for one or two.
Skip it if
You already have a mug that holds 300 ml and never brew for two. The cone alone does the job for $15 less.
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The kit, if you own no carafe
The set puts a plastic 02 cone on top of a 700 ml glass server, with a lid and 40 filters, for about $27 on Amazon. The cone in the kit is polypropylene, a softer plastic than the clear standalone one, and brews the same way. The server is the useful part: brewing for two needs somewhere bigger than a mug to land.
One buyer on Hario's store makes a good point about the price: the kit is cheap enough that you have money left over for better papers, and they name the ones they'd upgrade to.
What owners report
Every review on Hario's page for the set was positive, most of them short, from people who'd just started with pour-over.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
40 filters is about six weeks of one cup a day, so budget for a 100-count box.
No scale and no scoop, so the recipe still needs gear you may not have.
700 ml server40 filters includedPlastic lidNo scoop
3
Best for one mug
Hario V60 Plastic 01
The small cone, sized for a single mug, so a 15 g dose sits deeper in the filter.
Anyone else in the house drinks coffee. The 02 handles one cup or four.
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The small cone for one mug
The 01 is Hario's one-to-two-cup size, in the same clear resin, around $11. For a single mug, the smaller cone makes a 15 g dose sit in a deeper, narrower bed than it would in the 02, and Hario's whole case for the cone shape is that deep layer of grounds.
It looks tiny out of the box. A first-time V60 buyer thought so too, then found it just right for an 8 to 10 ounce cup, about three quarters of a regular mug. Someone who also owns a Kalita Wave finds the flavors and the body easier to pick out in the V60.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Takes 01 filters only, a second size to stock if you ever buy an 02.
Tops out at about two cups, so a 30 g recipe like Hoffmann's won't fit.
115 x 100 x 82 mmTakes 01 filtersMade in JapanClear
4
A cone you leave on the counter
Hario V60 Ceramic 02
Handmade porcelain from Arita in Japan, heavy and good-looking, if you don't mind warming it first.
The dripper lives on the counter and you want it to look like it belongs there.
Skip it if
You'll skip the preheat on busy mornings. The plastic cone doesn't need one.
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Porcelain, for the counter
Hario's ceramic V60 is porcelain from Arita, a Japanese town that has fired ceramics for about 400 years, and Hario says each one is shaped by hand there. It brews one to four cups, the same as the plastic cone that costs half as much.
What you get is weight and looks, and a cone you're happy to leave out. What you take on is an extra step: pour hot water through it before you brew, or the cold porcelain pulls heat from your first pours. One person who likes tinkering now reaches for it instead of their automatic brewer's single-cup setting and finds the cup very clean. The one unhappy buyer saw their brews stretch to nearly six minutes and taste over-extracted, and found it too heavy. Six minutes usually means the grind is too fine for the cone.
What owners report
Four of the five reviews on Hario's US page were happy.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It breaks if dropped, and a chipped cone is finished.
Twice the plastic cone's price for the same shape and range.
Handmade in Japan140 x 120 x 102 mmNeeds preheatingWhite
5
Most to look at
Hario V60 Glass 02
You can see the coffee through the glass as it drains, which teaches you to pour faster than a timer does.
You're learning, and you want to see what your pour is doing.
Skip it if
You'd rather have something you can knock off the counter without a second thought.
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Glass, to see what your pour is doing
Hario's glass V60 is borosilicate, the heatproof kind used in labs, sitting in a plastic holder. It brews one to four cups.
It's the best teacher of the lot. You can watch the water sink through the grounds, see whether it's running down one side, and check whether the bed ends up flat at the bottom. If you're learning to pour, you'll see your mistakes as you make them. One buyer uses theirs on top of a Hario Switch, which it fits.
What owners report
Everyone on Hario's page liked the glass. The complaint was the holder: one buyer found the light plastic stand flimsy under such a heavy glass cone and wished Hario sold a wooden one in that size.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Glass breaks, and the plastic holder is the part people criticize.
Glass takes heat like porcelain, so rinse it hot first.
Heatproof glassPolypropylene holder128 x 115 x 95 mmBlack base
6
Camping and clumsy kitchens
Hario V60 Metal 02
Bare stainless steel on a silicone base, light and nearly impossible to break.
You brew at home only. The plastic cone costs about $14 less.
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Steel, for travel and hard floors
The metal V60 is bare stainless steel on a removable silicone base, one to four cups. Hario calls it light, and says it conducts heat well, so it warms up quickly.
That makes it the one for a cabin, a campsite or a kitchen with a history of broken mugs. Hario also sells an Outdoor version of the same cone, which tells you where it expects this one to end up.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
A cold steel cone pulls heat from the first pour, so rinse it hot.
The silicone base is a separate part to keep track of.
No coatingRemovable silicone base145 x 120 x 90 mmWarms up fast
V60 papers are cones cut to the same 60-degree angle as the dripper. A flat-bottomed basket filter or a generic #2 filter isn't, and it won't sit flush against the ribs. A box of 100 white 02 papers is about $10 on Amazon, about ten cents a brew, and Hario's unbleached natural box is about $6.
I'd take white. Unbleached paper can give the cup a faint cardboard taste unless you rinse it well, and while you rinse V60 papers anyway, white starts out cleaner. Paper is also what makes a V60 cup so clear: it holds back the oils and the fine grit a French press lets through.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
02 papers don't fit the 01 or 03 cones.
White costs about $4 more per 100 than natural.
100 per boxFits 02 drippersNatural version also soldAbout 10 cents a brew
8
Brewing by weight
Hario V60 Drip Scale
A scale and a timer on one flat pad, reading tenths of a gram for your beans.
You're brewing by the recipe below and want the scale and timer in one place.
Skip it if
You already have a kitchen scale that reads single grams. Add your phone's timer and you're set.
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A scale made for pour-over
Hario's Drip Scale weighs up to 2 kg: in 0.1 g steps up to 200 g, 0.5 g steps up to 500 g, and whole grams after that. The timer sits on the same screen, the pad is 120 by 190 mm, and the batteries are in the box. It's about $46 on Amazon.
That's the right kind of precision for this job. You want tenths when you weigh 15 g of beans, and you don't need them when the brew reads 250 g. You start the timer with your first pour and watch both numbers climb together, so you always know if you're ahead or behind the recipe.
What owners report
The few reviews on Hario's US page are all positive and mostly about how little counter space it takes.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Runs on disposable batteries. Hario's newer stainless model charges over USB.
Past 500 g it reads in whole grams, which is rough for big batches.
0.1 g to 200 gBuilt-in timerBatteries included120 x 190 x 29 mm
9
Stovetop pouring
Hario Buono Kettle
A long, thin spout for a slow stream you can aim, on any stove including induction.
You have a stove and want the pour control the recipe depends on.
Skip it if
You want a set temperature at the push of a button. Hario's electric Buono does that for about $26 more.
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The kettle with the thin spout
The Buono is stainless steel with a heat-resistant resin handle, sold as 1.2 liters but usable to 800 ml, and it works on any stove, induction included. The long, thin spout is the reason to buy it. It lets you pour in a slow, narrow stream and put the water exactly where you aim, which a regular kettle can't do.
One owner has used theirs for years, first for coffee and now for tea, and it holds enough for a big batch of iced tea.
It has no thermometer. Hario's own V60 guide handles that by telling you to boil and wait a moment, aiming for 92 to 96°C, about 198 to 205°F.
What owners report
None of the reviews on Hario's US page were negative, and most came back to how precisely it pours.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
800 ml usable, not the 1.2 liters on the box.
No thermometer, so temperature is a boil and a short wait.
1.2 L nominal, 800 ml usableInduction readyPhenol handleMade in Japan
The V60 recipe, in grams
This is Hario's own recipe for one mug, with the numbers checked against Stumptown's and James Hoffmann's for two.
For one mug: 15 g coffee, 250 g water, about 1 to 16.7.
Set the dripper on your mug, fold the paper along its seam, and rinse it with hot water. Pour that water out.
Grind 15 g of coffee medium-fine, about like table salt, add it, and zero the scale.
Heat water to 92 to 96°C, 198 to 205°F. Off the boil, a short pause gets you there.
Pour just enough to wet all the grounds, about 30 to 40 g, and wait 30 seconds. This is the bloom: the grounds puff up and bubble as the gas escapes, and it's when the coffee smells best.
Pour the rest slowly, in small circles, keeping off the paper, until the scale reads 250 g.
Let it drain. Hario puts that at about 2.5 minutes, so roughly three minutes from the first pour. The grounds should end up in a flat bed, not stuck up the sides.
For two: 30 g coffee, 500 g water, Hoffmann's timings. Wet the grounds with 60 g and swirl, wait up to 45 seconds, reach 300 g by 1:15 and 500 g by 1:45, stir once each way, swirl gently, and aim to finish draining by 3:30. Hario publishes this method on its US site.
Stumptown's version, 21 g to 360 g at about 205°F in three minutes, sits in between. All of them land between 1 to 15 and about 1 to 17, and that's the range to stay in.
If it tastes wrong, change the grind first. Sour and thin means the water ran through too fast, so grind finer. Bitter and dry means it sat too long, so grind coarser. When it's right, the cup tastes sweet and clean, and you can taste what the roaster printed on the bag. A grinder with small, repeatable steps makes that a one-click fix, which is what the burr grinder guide is about.
Size, material, kit
Size: 01, 02 or 03
The 01 brews one to two cups, the 02 one to four, the 03 one to six. The 02 is the safe choice because it handles a single mug and a pot for guests with the same papers.
Material: what actually changes
Heat and breakage, nothing else. Plastic barely absorbs heat and survives drops. Porcelain and glass absorb heat, need a hot rinse, and break. Steel warms fast, survives anything, and still wants a rinse. The cone, the ribs and the hole are the same.
Kit or pieces
Buy the starter set if you have nothing to brew into. If you already own a carafe and a scale, the cone and a box of papers are all you need, about $22.
Where the rest of the money goes
After the cone, I'd spend on a grinder, then a kettle, then a scale. The dripper is the cheapest part of the setup and the one that changes the cup least.
Not worth the money
V60 size 03 for home
Hario rates the 03 for one to six cups. Unless you brew for four or more most mornings, it's a bigger cone and a third filter size for a job the 02 already does.
Stainless mesh filters
Sold as a reusable swap for the papers, and they change the drink. Mesh lets the oils and the fine grit through, so the cup gets heavier and cloudier, which is the opposite of what a V60 is for. If that's the cup you like, a French press makes it with less fuss.
Look-alike ceramic cones
Amazon has plenty of unbranded ceramic cones sold as V60-compatible, often with filters thrown in. For about the same money, the Hario plastic cone gives you the original shape and papers made to fit it.
How I picked
Hario V60 cones in every material and sizeFilters, scale and kettle from the same systemSpecs from Hario's own pagesBuyer reviews on Hario's US store and AmazonSold on Amazon US
I compared 17 V60 products: the plastic, porcelain, glass and steel cones, the 01, 02 and 03 sizes, the starter set and the ceramic set, the Switch, white and natural papers, two scales and two kettles. Specs come from Hario's product pages. The recipe comes from Hario's guides, checked against Stumptown's brew guide and James Hoffmann's method as Hario publishes it. Buyer comments come from Hario's US store and, for the 01, from Amazon.
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Common questions
How much coffee should I use for a V60?+−
Hario's recipe uses 15 g of coffee for 250 g of water, one mug. For two, 30 g to 500 g. Anywhere between 1 to 15 and 1 to 17 is a fine place to start.
How long should a V60 brew take?+−
About three minutes from the first pour for one mug: a 30-second bloom, then about 2.5 minutes of pouring and draining, by Hario's guide. Hoffmann's two-cup method finishes draining at 3:30. If it runs much past four minutes, grind coarser.
Is a V60 dripper worth buying?+−
At about $12 for the plastic 02, yes, as long as you also have a scale and a kettle with a thin spout. Without them, it's hard to make the same cup two mornings in a row.
Is the Hario V60 better than a Chemex?+−
Different, not better. The V60 sits on your mug and brews one to four cups with its own papers. A Chemex is a glass carafe with the filter in its neck, made for more cups. For one person, the V60 is simpler to start with.
Why is the V60 so hard?+−
Because it does nothing for you. The one big hole means your pour sets the speed, so small changes in grind, pour or water temperature show up in the cup. Weigh, time, and change one thing at a time, and it gets easy quickly.
The verdict
Buy the plastic V60 02
It's the cheapest cone Hario makes and the least fussy: the paper rinse is all the warming it needs, and it won't break. If you have nothing to brew into, get the starter set. If it's only ever one mug, the plastic 01. If it's going camping, the metal 02. Then spend what you saved on a burr grinder first and a kettle with a thin spout second, because they decide how your coffee tastes far more than the cone does.
