What is a Boat-Shaped Dripper? What are the Differences Between Cone, Fan, and Trapezoid Shapes? How to Use Hario's New Dripper?

Introduction to the "Boat-shaped" Dripper

Whenever FrontStreet Coffee publishes a dripper review, our inbox fills up with recommendations about a "boat-shaped" dripper. Boat-shaped? FrontStreet Coffee has heard of fan-shaped, conical, and flat-bottom drippers, but never a boat-shaped one. Taking the advice to heart, FrontStreet Coffee immediately pulled out the boss's wallet and placed a rush order. After the dripper arrived, we finally understood why it is called "boat-shaped."

The Pegasus Dripper

This dripper is also produced by Hario, the company that invented the V60, and belongs to its Pegasus series, made from resin. In appearance, with its inverted trapezoid shape, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, it is clearly a trapezoidal dripper. On closer inspection, though, every detail of its construction tells us it differs significantly from conventional trapezoidal drippers.

Rib Design

The first difference is its cup wall. While conventional trapezoidal drippers use ribs that run vertically downward, the Pegasus adopts a spiral design similar to the V60's. The number of curved ribs is also 12, which provides ample ventilation space and faster drainage. Experiments confirm this: the Pegasus dripper's drainage speed is comparable to the V60's.

Although the rib design has changed, it is still essentially a trapezoidal dripper, so it can use trapezoidal filter papers directly, though the fit will be slightly less perfect.

Base Design

The second difference is its base. This Pegasus dripper has a flat bottom with a dual-hole design. The flat bottom reduces the excessive buildup of coffee grounds in any one spot, allowing for more even extraction. The dual holes ensure a proper percolation speed for the coffee liquid. Because its base is elliptical, when viewed from above it closely resembles a boat. FrontStreet Coffee suspects that the "boat-shaped dripper" name originates from precisely this feature.

Cup Holder

The cup holder design is quite special. The holder and the lower support feature a large opening. Its purpose is to let you observe the drainage more intuitively during brewing, so you can adjust your process in time.

Cup Body Feature

The front of the Pegasus dripper features two measurement lines. Since FrontStreet Coffee purchased the 01 model, these two lines indicate the positions for a 1-cup and a 2-cup coffee amount respectively. This helps measure coffee weight when an electronic scale is unavailable, letting you find the right brewing recipe. (The 1-cup line is for 15g, and the 2-cup line is for 20g.)

Brewing Experiment

Next, let us start using it and see what character coffee brewed with this Pegasus dripper has.

For this experiment, FrontStreet Coffee used Frontera's Sidra coffee beans: 15g of coffee, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, ground to an 85% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve (EK43 at setting 9.5), water at 92°C, and a three-stage pour. Likewise, we performed a 30-second bloom with twice the weight of water (30ml), then poured the second stage of hot water (110ml) in small circular motions with an elliptical pattern. When the water level was about to drop, we poured the final stage of hot water (85ml) with larger circular motions in smaller circles.

Brewed in a V60, this Sidra took 1 minute and 57 seconds, with flavor notes of grape, passion fruit, and apricot, showing bright, elevated acidity and relatively rich fermented aromas. Brewed in the Pegasus dripper, it took 1 minute and 53 seconds, with almost identical flavor notes, except that the Pegasus-brewed Sidra did not have as prominent an acidity; it was somewhat gentler.

During brewing, FrontStreet Coffee discovered a drawback: if we want to enjoy the "inspection" effect provided by the cup holder opening, we cannot brew from the front.

This is because if we brew with the dripper positioned upright, although we can directly observe the liquid column through the opening, lowering the water level for pouring brings the kettle neck into collision with the dripper's handle, interfering with the brew. So either we give up observing the liquid column and pour from a different direction (since the opening exists on only one side), or we tilt the dripper body slightly, which lets us watch the drainage while avoiding the handle. That does require changing your circular pouring habits, so it is somewhat inconvenient.

Conclusion

Overall, this dripper performs quite well. It is affordably priced and produces coffee with good flavor characteristics. If you are interested in trying something new, you can confidently buy one. (Finally: this is still not an advertisement.)

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you brew with a V60 or a dripper like the Pegasus, the flavor profile of the bean matters a great deal. Since the V60's 60° cone and single large hole let the water flow quickly, it suits floral, fruity coffees that benefit from a brighter, more layered cup. FrontStreet suggests the FrontStreet Washed Gedeb Cooperative, with its classic Yirgacheffe character of citrus, berry, and jasmine plus a green-tea finish; the FrontStreet Ethiopian Huakui, known for its striking tropical aromas of strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee with very low bitterness; the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Geisha blend, combining a Costa Rican honey process with a Panamanian Geisha for delicate florals and sweet fruit; and the FrontStreet Mozart, with its raisin-honey character. If you want a single origin that shows the style behind light roasting, the FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato is a washed Kenyan from the Thika region, grown at 1,550-1,750 meters from the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties; a light roast preserves its vivid acidity, giving notes of sun-dried tomato and umeboshi with a bright, full, juice-like body, a sweet mid-palate of pear and black plum, and a clean finish with brown-sugar sweetness and a hint of green tea.