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A Comparative Study of Conical Drippers on Coffee Brewing Effects

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, (Top left: KONO, top right: UN caf, bottom left: harioV60-01, bottom right: Keycoffee diamond pattern dripper) I've always wanted to carefully compare the differences between various drippers. Originally, we planned to compare all drippers, but considering the significant differences, placing them under the same brewing conditions would be somewhat forced. Therefore, we finally decided to compare drippers with the same conical shape. The operation procedure for this experiment

(Top left: KONO, top right: UN café, bottom left: hario V60-01, bottom right: Key Coffee diamond pattern dripper)

I've always wanted to carefully compare the differences between various drippers. Originally, we planned to compare all drippers, but considering the significant differences, it seemed forced to place them in the same brewing environment. Therefore, we decided to compare only cone-shaped drippers. The operator for this experiment was Xiao Hei from our shop. For all four drippers, we used the same brewing method, same time and water volume for blooming, and completed brewing with the same water volume. As always, we did our best to ensure consistency in each experimental group, and to obtain accurate results, we repeated each dripper experiment three times to maximize stable data for analysis, as everyone knows that pour-over coffee has many variables.

Experimental Equipment and Materials

Coffee Beans: Nicaragua Tianyi Estate Washed Process, Medium Roast

Grinder: Baratza Forte-BG, Grind size 4T

Cone-shaped Drippers: Hario V60-01, Kono, Key Coffee Diamond Pattern Dripper, UN Café Cone Dripper (one each)

Filter Paper: Kono MD-25 (for 1-2 servings)

Experimental Procedure:

• Prepare pour-over equipment, heat water, weigh 12g (W1) coffee beans and grind for later use

• Rinse filter paper, add ground coffee to dripper, gently shake dripper to level coffee bed surface. When water temperature drops to 90°C, pour 50g water for 30s bloom

• After 30s bloom, pour 50g water in circular motion, pause until water level in dripper drops. At 1min brewing time, pour remaining 100g water in circular motion again. Record water pouring completion time as T1, and dripper removal time as T2. Weigh resulting coffee liquid weight as W2

• Brew one serving with each dripper for comparative tasting

• After coffee liquid naturally cools to room temperature, measure TDS value. Repeat operation three times and calculate average, then calculate extraction yield (Ext.)

• Repeat above steps to collect three sets of data

(50g water for 30s bloom)

(Total water volume 200g)

(Net weight of coffee liquid)

Data Recording and Results Analysis:

Ext(%) = W2 * TDS(%) / W1

In terms of concentration and extraction yield, the differences between different cone-shaped dripper models are actually quite small. Concentration differences of 0.01% magnitude are almost indistinguishable in blind tasting.

In terms of sensory perception, each dripper's brewing effect shows significant differences. Kono exhibits the most prominent acidity among the four, while UN Café's cone dripper has the weakest acidity. UN Café has the strongest sweetness, while V60 has the weakest. For the most prominent sensory characteristics of each dripper, see the rightmost column of the table.

The final results were actually quite surprising to everyone. If you're considering extraction yield, you can now pick any of these four drippers to use, as they don't differ much in extraction yield. But the amazing thing is precisely here—despite similar extraction yields, each dripper produces very different sensory results. Everyone can carefully examine the experiment table above. Additionally, because sensory perception is difficult to define, we decided to first remove flavor descriptions of the beans and provide simpler descriptions for comparison. Finally, we approached from three points—acidity, sweetness, and body—with three people writing their sensory perceptions, ranking and filtering to arrive at the final sensory evaluation. If possible, we still recommend interested friends to try it themselves and use their own senses to experience the differences between these four drippers.

Finally, we must thank operator Xiao Hei for brewing 12 groups of coffee, and data recorder Old Lin for staying after work to continue testing concentration and extraction yield. Thank you all for drinking until evening—you're the best! Mwah~