What's the Difference Between Pour-Over and Clever Dripper Coffee, and Which Coffee Beans Are Best for the Clever Dripper

When it comes to simple and convenient brewing equipment, many people think of the French press. Indeed, compared to methods like pour-over coffee, moka pots, and coffee machines, the French press is considerably simpler.

However, it has one critical drawback: cleaning is quite difficult. It's similar to how for many people, cooking isn't the hard part—the challenge is the cleanup afterward. Coffee grounds get stuck between the glass and metal filter screen of the French press, making cleaning somewhat tedious.

For someone like me with advanced laziness syndrome, the thought of cleaning up can completely eliminate the desire to make coffee. That's precisely why it's worth praising the Clever Dripper—a coffee brewing device designed to treat the terminally lazy.

The Clever Dripper was originally manufactured in Taiwan. Its overall appearance resembles a large conical filter cup. The key to its design lies in the piston valve at the bottom of the filter cup. When hot water is poured into the filter cup, water pressure automatically seals the piston valve, allowing coffee grounds to fully steep in the water. After steeping is complete, placing the filter cup onto a mug causes pressure on the base to open the piston valve, allowing coffee to flow slowly into the cup.

In other words, the Clever Dripper is essentially a filter cup equipped with a controllable flow valve. Subsequently, various coffee equipment manufacturers have developed similar filter cups with valves.

Therefore, the Clever Dripper can be used in multiple ways. Some use it as a filter cup with a valve (for pour-over coffee), while others use it as a lazy person's version of a French press. Obviously, I belong to the latter category.

How to Use the Clever Dripper

Below, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to use this lazy person's Clever Dripper. You only need to prepare five items: the Clever Dripper, filter paper, coffee grounds, hot water, and a cup that can hold the brewed coffee.

First, the Clever Dripper also requires filter paper—specifically, large conical filter paper. After placing the filter paper in the Clever Dripper, you can add the coffee grounds.

The coffee grounds should be slightly coarser than those used for pour-over coffee, approximately with a 70% pass-through rate through a #20 sieve. The amount of grounds generally depends on personal preference. FrontStreet Coffee will use 15g for a single serving as an example.

Then pour in hot water, which needs to be at a relatively high temperature. FrontStreet Coffee suggests 94-95°C. Pour in 16 times the amount of water relative to the coffee grounds at once. For FrontStreet Coffee's 15g of grounds, this means pouring in 240ml of water. Afterward, you can cover with the lid and wait for 4 minutes.

After 4 minutes, gently swirl the Clever Dripper and place it on your cup. The coffee will then filter into your cup.

Cleanup is also very simple—just lift out the filter paper and discard it, then rinse the Clever Dripper with water. Isn't this much easier than cleaning a French press?

Flavor Characteristics

Pour-over coffee extraction involves both rinsing and steeping effects, while the Clever Dripper only provides steeping during extraction. Therefore, coffee brewed with pour-over methods tends to have more vibrant and complex flavors, while coffee brewed with the Clever Dripper tends to have more rounded and full-bodied flavors, making it comfortable to drink.

Coffee Bean Recommendations

Basically, any coffee beans suitable for pour-over coffee will work well with the Clever Dripper. If you enjoy coffee with floral and fruity acidity, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Kenya's Asalia, Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe Gotiti, and Panama's Flower Butterfly. These coffees feature excellent jasmine aromas and citrus fruit acidity.

If you don't prefer acidity, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Brazil's Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, Jamaica's Blue Mountain No. 1, and Papua New Guinea's Bird of Paradise. These coffees exhibit very clean flavors with notes of nuts, chocolate, and caramel.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's personal WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473