Kalita Wave vs Hario V60: Comparing Pour-Over Coffee Flavor Profiles and Key Differences

Have you noticed that nowadays, apart from some large chain brands, very few coffee shops use trapezoid-shaped drippers for pour-over coffee? Almost all are now conical drippers with large holes. FrontStreet Coffee is here to explore this with everyone.

The Origins and Evolution of Coffee Drippers

The world's first coffee dripper was precisely the trapezoid-shaped dripper from Germany's Melitta, featuring an inverted trapezoid shape with a single hole, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. Because the filter paper used had a fan shape, it was also called a fan-shaped dripper. Due to the popularity of espresso coffee at the time, pour-over coffee remained a very niche household coffee appliance.

Not until 1959, when pour-over coffee became popular in Japan, did Japan's Kalita "borrow" this trapezoid-shaped dripper and make improvements, including changing from a single hole to three holes. Kalita's trapezoid-shaped dripper became a classic among trapezoid drippers.

The earliest conical dripper was invented by Kono in 1968, while the classic V60 conical dripper appeared around 2000.

Comparing Classic Drippers: Kalita vs. V60

Given this, FrontStreet Coffee will use the classic Kalita 101 trapezoid dripper and compare it with the classic V60 conical dripper. Perhaps this will reveal why conical drippers are now widely used while trapezoid drippers have become increasingly rare.

FrontStreet Coffee used FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe and FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee for comparison, keeping brewing parameters constant. The flavor profiles after brewing were as follows:

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe

V60: Delicate white floral notes and citrus fruit aroma, with citrus-like acidity and sweetness along with green tea undertones. Clean mouthfeel with distinct layering.

Kalita: Sweet fruity aroma, citrus-like acidity and sweetness, with prominent tea notes. Full-bodied, relatively rich, and well-balanced.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain

V60: Refreshing mouthfeel, with black chocolate, nuts, and subtle sweet and sour fruit notes.

Kalita: Nutty and black chocolate flavors, with a mellow mouthfeel, balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes, and a smooth finish.

Understanding the Flavor Differences

From the flavor profiles of coffee brewed with these two drippers, we can see that conical drippers represented by V60 excel at expressing coffee bean flavors, while trapezoid drippers represented by Kalita excel at expressing balance and richness in coffee.

The secret to why these two drippers produce different flavor profiles lies in their structure. V60's spiral alternating short and long ribs combined with a large drainage hole allow water that has soaked the coffee grounds to quickly flow down through the guide ribs. The conical structure makes it easier to achieve even water distribution during pouring. This type of dripper relies on water flow to wash coffee grounds and extract coffee substances. Except for the earlier Kono dripper, subsequent conical drippers all belong to this category.

Although trapezoid drippers also have ribs, these vertical ribs primarily serve to release air during coffee blooming. The three small drainage holes result in slower water flow. While the trapezoid structure is not conducive to even water distribution, the slower water flow actually makes pouring technique less critical. This design allows coffee to be extracted mostly through immersion, resulting in a fuller, more balanced overall expression with a rich mouthfeel.

Why Trapezoid Drippers Are Becoming Rare

Returning to the question of why trapezoid drippers are increasingly rare today, the answer is essentially that they have been phased out of the environment. The emergence of V60 around 2000 was also driven by demand. This was precisely during the transition period when dark-roasted coffee was giving way to light-roasted coffee as the mainstream. For light-roasted coffee, greater emphasis is placed on flavor expression. V60 was widely acclaimed and regarded as a classic precisely because it could better express coffee flavors (of course, marketing was also a factor). When community coffee shops offering pour-over coffee blossomed everywhere, the exposure of conical drippers increased dramatically. Relatively, other shapes of drippers, including trapezoid ones, became even rarer.

However, we can still see trapezoid drippers being used in some large chain coffee brands. This brings us to the advantage of trapezoid drippers—stability. Because trapezoid drippers have slower water flow, immersion extraction, and reduced sensitivity to pouring technique, as long as the coffee dose, grind size, water temperature, ratio, and extraction time are well-designed, the barista only needs to pour all the water within a fixed time. Whether you're a novice or an experienced expert, the final coffee expression won't vary too much. Therefore, these stable, easy-to-use, and simple-to-operate coffee drippers are highly favored by coffee chain brands with high staff turnover.

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