Clever Coffee Dripper Brands and Which Type to Buy Best - Features Analysis

The "Coffee Artifact": Clever Dripper's Unique Design

"A must-have for lazy people" and "a coffee artifact" are the two major titles that the Clever Dripper has been given since its launch. The "must-have for lazy people" is easy to understand because using the Clever Dripper allows you to easily make a cup of coffee while also being very convenient to clean, which is why it's often called a must-have coffee device for lazy people. The reason it's called a "coffee artifact" stems from its unique mechanism design.

FrontStreet Coffee will first briefly introduce the Clever Dripper. The Clever Dripper was invented by Coffee Gator, a coffee equipment manufacturer from Taiwan Province, China. It was named "Clever Dripper" because the word "Clever" directly reflects its design characteristics: the ability to change extraction modes according to the user's purpose. In fact, from the image above, we can see that the overall appearance of the Clever Dripper is that of a large filter cup with a base, and its unique key feature is concentrated at the bottom of the filter cup.

Inside is a specially designed piston valve. By opening and closing this valve, we can control the liquid permeation in the filter cup: when the valve is open, the water flow channel is opened, and liquid can permeate out from the filter cup; when the valve is closed, the water flow channel is sealed, and liquid is "trapped" in the filter cup and unable to seep out. It is precisely this valve design that has earned the Clever Dripper the nickname "coffee artifact." Because by controlling the valve switch, the Clever Dripper can have at least three different extraction modes. Later, many coffee equipment manufacturers also scrambled to imitate and launched Clever Dripper styles to match their own filter cups.

This is indeed an excellent design, which is why FrontStreet Coffee has frequently shared this unique device over the years. So next, FrontStreet Coffee will take you to learn about three! different Clever Dripper extraction modes~

1. Immersion Extraction

Immersion extraction is the most commonly used extraction mode for the Clever Dripper! The so-called immersion extraction is a method of extracting coffee flavor substances by immersing coffee grounds in water for an extended time and mixing them thoroughly with water.

Immersion extraction has many advantages, with its biggest advantage being simple operation while reducing the impact of human factors, allowing it to better showcase the original taste of coffee. Secondly, it has more fault tolerance because it's a long-time static extraction, so the coffee won't be easily over-extracted. Additionally, the coffee's performance will be more balanced because all coffee grounds receive even extraction, so the coffee's aroma and flavor can be fully extracted~

Regarding the usage method of Clever Dripper's immersion extraction, FrontStreet Coffee previously mentioned it in detail in this article. Interested friends can click the title for direct transmission~ "How to Use the Clever Dripper?"

2. Drip Extraction

Since the Clever Dripper itself is designed as a large filter cup, we can also use it as a pure filter cup to make coffee using drip extraction.

The so-called drip extraction is when hot water flows through the coffee grounds layer, directly bringing out the coffee's flavor substances. Drip extraction also has many characteristics, but it's very different from immersion extraction! The biggest difference between drip and immersion extraction lies in the coffee's extraction time. Because drip extraction is more efficient, it only requires a very short time to complete making a cup of coffee. Secondly, it's about flavor complexity. Because drip extraction doesn't evenly extract all coffee grounds in most cases, the coffee's layers will be very rich. Finally, it offers extremely high playability because drip extraction is affected by many factors, so we can have various different combinations to brew a cup of coffee.

If we plan to use the Clever Dripper as a pure filter cup, we only need to keep the valve open throughout the process. Other steps are consistent with regular pour-over brewing, so FrontStreet Coffee won't elaborate further here. (Just being lazy~)

3. Mixed Use of Drip and Immersion Extraction

This has been the most popular way to use the Clever Dripper in the past two years, and it's also the design inspiration behind the Clever Dripper. FrontStreet Coffee believes that many friends already know from the introduction above that the Clever Dripper's design aims to combine drip and immersion extraction in one coffee device, which is why a controllable water flow valve was added below the filter cup.

The so-called mixed use means using both immersion extraction and drip extraction during the coffee extraction process. This approach combines the advantages of both methods, allowing coffee to be completed faster while being more evenly and comprehensively extracted, so various coffee masters have developed brewing methods for mixed extraction.

Like the "Devil's Brewing Method" invented by Sekitani Tetsu that FrontStreet Coffee shared last year, it's an excellent mixed extraction method. If you want to try it, you can click the blue title for direct transmission to learn more. But note that mixed extraction methods are more suitable for newer Clever Drippers because older versions don't have manual valve control, so operation will be somewhat cumbersome, but they can still be used~

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