Pour-Over Coffee Dripper Types and Characteristics: A Guide to Different Pour-Over Coffee Equipment

The Importance of Equipment in Pour-Over Coffee

What's most important in influencing the flavor presentation of a cup of pour-over coffee? The answer is that everything is important. This isn't just my opinion—it's truly the case. Among pour-over coffee equipment, the most significant choice is the filter dripper. After all, with so many types of filter drippers available, each must serve different extraction purposes. When paired with different roast levels of coffee beans, they ultimately produce distinct flavor characteristics.

The History and Evolution of Filter Drippers

Before pour-over filter drippers were invented, coffee was directly boiled in pots. It wasn't until June 20, 1908, that Melitta Bentz, a housewife from Dresden, Germany, invented the world's first coffee filter dripper, ending the bitter predicament of coffee residue from direct pot boiling. Afterward, Mrs. Melitta redesigned the Melitta filter dripper, which gained widespread popularity. With the third wave of coffee, single-origin specialty coffee gradually became popular, and pour-over coffee gained favor and love from coffee enthusiasts. Consequently, filter dripper designs became increasingly diverse.

Filter Dripper Classifications

Let me start by discussing the classification of filter dripper materials (ceramic, copper, and resin) and the number of holes in filter drippers (single-hole, double-hole, three-hole, and multi-hole).

Ceramic Filter Drippers

Ceramic filter drippers need to be preheated in advance because when water touches the ceramic surface, the temperature drops. However, the advantage of ceramic is its excellent heat retention—once heated, the temperature can be maintained for a long time, making it suitable for winter use. Moreover, ceramic filter drippers pair beautifully with ceramic coffee cups.

Copper Filter Drippers

Copper filter drippers excel in both thermal conductivity and heat retention, but their disadvantages are also obvious: they're expensive and not easy to maintain. If not wiped dry, they can easily rust. Therefore, after each use, they must be wiped dry and stored in a cool, dry place. Many pour-over coffee experts collect copper filter drippers, as their charm is evident.

Copper filter drippers have a high-quality appearance, and quite a few people enjoy collecting them. They offer excellent heat retention and thermal conductivity. However, if not properly maintained, residual water droplets can cause the copper to oxidize, forming black spots.

Resin Filter Drippers

Most resin filter drippers are transparent, making it easy to observe the state of coffee liquid dripping during the extraction process through the dripper. They're also lightweight and portable. The advantages are that they're economical, inexpensive, and unbreakable. The disadvantages are poor tactile feel, they get dirty easily, and if not cleaned promptly, coffee residue can remain on the ribbed sections. Resin is also the most common filter dripper material we encounter in daily use.

Classification by Number of Holes

(The more holes, the less likely to clog, the faster the flow rate, and the higher the technical requirements for pour-over coffee)

Single-Hole Drippers

Pioneered by Mrs. Melitta, single-hole filter drippers are mainly used for German-style medium-dark roasts.

Double-Hole Drippers

Double-hole filter drippers function between single-hole and three-hole drippers, mainly suitable for light to medium roast beans.

Three-Hole Drippers

Three-hole filter drippers are less prone to clogging and are virtually universal drippers,堪称 "one cup in hand, travel the world without fear." They are suitable for various roast levels of coffee.

Multi-Hole Drippers

Later developments in filter drippers led to more holes, including four-hole, six-hole, and even eight-hole designs. Generally, the more holes, the higher the technical skill required, as the extraction process introduces more variables.

Hario V60

Hario has won numerous design awards since its establishment, but around the year 2000, it launched the V60. The name V60 comes from its 60-degree angle. Initially launched in ceramic and glass, followed by plastic, and finally the copper version we see today.

Compared to other filter drippers, the characteristics of the Hario V60 are:

1. Dripper Shape: The dripper has a conical 60-degree angle shape, which allows water flow to concentrate at the center of the dripper, extending the contact time between coffee grounds and water.
2. Single Large Hole: Adjust coffee flavor through water flow speed.
3. Spiral Rib Design on Cup Walls: The biggest difference from KONO is that Hario V60's threads extend directly from bottom to top, allowing air to escape from within the dripper, maximizing the expansion of coffee grounds.

After examining these three design features, let's return to brewing variables. The two most important variables that brewers can control are grind size and water flow. If you slow down the pouring speed, you might brew coffee with rich body. If you pour faster, the resulting coffee might be lighter with a thinner body.

Additionally, several points to note when using the Hario V60 filter dripper:

• Stable water flow + fine grind = medium body
• Slow water flow + fine grind = full body
• Stable water flow + medium grind = light body
• Slow water flow + medium grind = light body

In summary, the quality of coffee brewed with Hario V60 is relatively stable, with flavors that can be balanced or layered. The V60 dripper's ribs are distributed in curved patterns from top to bottom, of varying lengths. During brewing, air exhaust is relatively smooth and flow rate is quite fast. Therefore, this dripper is generally used with segmented extraction methods: first, to slow water flow, and second, to improve extraction, which can reduce under-extraction caused by fast flow rates to some extent.

Hario V60 Brewing Practice

For general single-origin coffee bean brewing: First bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, then pour in a circular motion to 130g and segment. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, increase water flow and slowly pour to 230g, then stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the filter dripper. (Timing starts from bloom) Extraction time is 1'52".

The V60 (invented by Japanese HARIO company, currently the most popular coffee filter dripper)

Dripper design: Perfect conical shape, spiral pattern, large central round hole.

Extraction characteristics: The dripper's pattern design allows for more uniform flow, with coffee grounds relatively concentrated in the center, facilitating full extraction. The spiral ribs allow air to escape upward from all sides, maximizing coffee ground expansion and guiding water flow direction, increasing flow rate. However, water tends to accumulate in the dripper's grooves, causing some coffee grounds to be over-extracted while others are under-extracted. The large central round hole design increases flow rate, compensating for extraction unevenness to some extent. Due to its large spout, the operator's pouring speed and volume are key factors determining drip speed and coffee concentration. Therefore, the V60 requires relatively high technical skill and is suitable for operators with some pour-over experience.

Now let's look at KONO, which also features a perfect conical shape with a central round hole.

KONO Filter Dripper

KONO is a renowned Japanese company that manufactures coffee equipment. The original creator of the KONO filter dripper was a Japanese man named Toshio Kawano, and the dripper was named after him.

KONO is the professional coffee equipment most loved by various coffee specialty shops and coffee professionals in Japan, and it's also a product sought after by many pour-over coffee enthusiasts.

What is a Kono Filter Dripper?

KONO is a renowned Japanese company that manufactures coffee equipment. The creator was a Japanese man named Toshio Kawano, and the dripper was named after him.

KONO's coffee filter drippers and natural wood-handle coffee pots have always enjoyed high reputation among pour-over coffee fans. Company President Kawano, who designs coffee filter drippers and pots, has studied delicious coffee for many years and designed a series of pastoral-style Kono coffee filter drippers and wood-handle coffee pots.

KONO is the professional coffee equipment most loved by various coffee specialty shops and coffee professionals in Japan, and it's also a product sought after by many pour-over coffee enthusiasts.

KONO Filter Dripper Characteristics

The special feature of the KONO filter dripper is that its "rib" guide channels extend to the bottom of the coffee liquid outlet hole. Because the ribs are at the bottom and quite short, creating high adhesion with filter paper, the flow rate is slower than V60. The ribs create small gaps between the conical wall and filter paper, allowing coffee liquid to seep through the filter paper, while the parts adhering to the wall won't have coffee seepage.

Careful observation of the KONO filter dripper ribs reveals that KONO has 12 ribs, which are much lower than Hario V60's, stopping at less than half the dripper's height.

If the ribs are too short or too shallow, the range where coffee can seep becomes too small, extending extraction time. Conversely, when ribs are too long, the contact time between hot water and coffee grounds is too brief, and it seeps out quickly, with impurities floating on the surface easily mixing into the coffee.

The rib design creates high adhesion between the dripper and filter paper, ensuring that during the dripping process, the exhaust space is restricted. Air flow naturally becomes limited, slowing flow rate, making coffee grounds soak for most of the time. This increases the water absorption time of coffee ground particles, resulting in more balanced extracted coffee that's less likely to be under-extracted.

KEY Diamond Filter Dripper

The diamond filter dripper has diamond-cut patterns around its sides with a relatively large water outlet in the center.

The diamond pattern design allows for more uniform flow;

The large central round hole design increases flow rate, compensating for extraction unevenness to some extent.

The filtering speed changes based on the area of holes in the dripper. The holes are smaller than V60's, making the filtering speed relatively slower than V60.

Bonmac Dripper

Dripper design: Wedge-shaped design, vertical ribs, central small round hole, bottom observation window.

Extraction characteristics: In a sense, Bonmac Dripper is a perfect filter dripper. The perfect coordination between dripper size and central small round hole makes extraction speed neither too fast nor too slow. Flow rate is very stable, and coffee consistency is quite perfect. You only need to adjust grind size and coffee-to-water ratio.

Bee House

Dripper design: Wedge-shaped design, vertical ribs, double holes, bottom observation window.

Extraction characteristics: Andy Sprenger won consecutive World Brewers Championships in 2011 and 2012 using this dripper. "I've brewed many cups of coffee with Hario V60 and Kalita Wave with good results. But I got my most satisfying cup of coffee with the Beehouse dripper—the most flavorful, cleanest, and most evenly extracted."

Kalita Wave

Kalita Wave Dripper is a flat-bottom pour-over filter dripper from Japan, also known as a cake cup. Kalita company has been producing coffee equipment since 1950, and the streamlined style of Kalita Wave is a typical characteristic of their company's products.

Dripper design: Flat bottom, three holes.

Extraction characteristics: The cake cup's flat bottom allows poured water to infiltrate evenly during the pouring process, enabling good control of extraction flow rate. The combination of the cup wall's ripples with the flat bottom and small holes achieves ideal contact time between water and coffee grounds.

Although pour-over with cake cups may not be as intense in aroma or flavor variation as conical drippers, the overall flavor, solid body, and sweetness of beans always perform well.

Kalita Wave filter dripper is suitable for medium grinding—slightly coarser than what you'd use with V60. This dripper drains relatively slowly. Although it has three drip holes, they're all very small. If coffee grounds are ground too fine, extraction rate increases but won't enhance flavor; instead, it easily leads to over-extraction, making the finish taste astringent.

Bonavita Next Wave

Dripper design: Conical flat bottom, ring-shaped ribs, four holes

Extraction characteristics: Ring-shaped flow guides combined with Next Wave filter paper make heat discharge and the entire hot water-coffee fusion extraction process more reasonable. Four holes control extraction flow rate at optimal state, achieving higher extraction rates suitable for light-roast beans, richer flavor layers, and thicker cup walls help maintain constant temperature during brewing, presenting better flavor layers.

Kalita Three-Hole Trapezoidal Filter Dripper

Kalita trapezoidal filter dripper, also known as "fan-shaped dripper" or "trapezoidal dripper." In 1959, Kalita imitated and improved the fan-shaped dripper, changing the small-hole, easily-clogged single-hole design to three holes. Later, designs evolved from single-hole to multi-hole (six or eight holes), but the most common are single-hole and three-hole fan-shaped drippers.

Dripper design: Upper-wide, lower-narrow shape, circular top, small holes with three holes (less prone to clogging)

Extraction characteristics: Kalita trapezoidal filter dripper design presents an upper-wide, lower-narrow shape from the side, with a circular top. This design helps concentrate water volume and allows coffee particles to distribute evenly, reducing stacking conditions. The cup wall has many ribs arranged in straight lines with consistent spacing between them, aimed at increasing exhaust and water flow speed. At the same time, its flow rate is relatively slow, mainly using immersion extraction, which can present better body.

Origami Coffee Filter Dripper

"Origami" means "paper folding" in Japanese, so it's also called "paper folding dripper." It's made in Japan and designed by Mr. Yasuo Suzuki, co-founder of Nagoya's Trunk Coffee. Each dripper has "20 folds" and is handcrafted.

Dripper design: Bowl-shaped flat bottom, vertical ribs, single hole

Extraction characteristics: The extraction method feels between V60 and Wave cups with just the right flow rate. The dripper bottom is relatively flat and smooth, with water guide channels extending from top to bottom. The paper folding dripper design concept allows water to accumulate at the bottom and flow down slowly. Flow is smooth, making coffee extraction less prone to over-extraction. High heat retention maintains overall coffee temperature, making coffee extraction relatively stable.

Blue Bottle Filter Dripper

Dripper design: Trapezoidal flat bottom, vertical ribs, single hole

Extraction characteristics: This fan-shaped dripper seems to drain very slowly, and water flow exits along the dripper bottom, which is quite unsmooth, but coffee extraction is very even.

American Filter Pot Chemex

The American filter pot was invented in 1941 by Dr. Peter J. Schlumbohm, who was born in Germany but invented it in America. Its design and uniqueness have been recognized—not only selected as one of the "Illinois Institute of Technology's" top 100 modern products, but also displayed as a permanent collection in New York's MoMa and the "Smithsonian and Philadelphia Museum of Art."

The uniqueness of the American filter pot lies in that the coffee pot and filter dripper are integrated, not separate. The slender waist wrapped in wood and leather rope creates a quite elegant and classic appearance. However, the secret to extracting pure yet flavorful coffee lies elsewhere.

The upper part of the American filter pot has an air channel shaped like a funnel. During coffee extraction, it can smoothly supply air, and after use, filter paper can be easily removed.

The filter paper used in American filter pots isn't funnel-shaped but rather flat four-cornered or circular filter paper. Perhaps this is because the inventor was once a chemistry doctor. The filter paper used in American filter pots is about twice as heavy as regular filter paper, but its advantage is that it can drip coffee that's rich but not bitter.

Flannel Coffee Filter Cloth

Flannel is highly regarded by Japanese experts, who call it "meeting professional needs." Compared to filter paper, filter cloth excels in "breathability, heat retention, and moisture retention." Flannel is breathable throughout, allowing heat to escape from anywhere, never creating "volcano bubbles." It has good heat retention and moderate drip speed, making it very easy for even beginners to use. However, brewing coffee with flannel filter cloth bags is time-consuming, so the resulting coffee temperature is lower. Preheating coffee cups can slightly increase coffee temperature. But never reheat coffee in any form.

But the biggest disadvantage is troublesome cleaning. After each use, it must be cleaned very carefully and boiled in boiling water. No coffee residue must remain on the flannel cloth. To prevent coffee traces on the cloth from oxidizing and producing odors, it's best to soak the cleaned cloth in a container full of clean water and store it in the refrigerator.

Moreover, generally after 30-40 brews, the filter cloth needs to be replaced. Japanese experts recommend replacing the flannel cloth after every 20 brews, and this type of cloth is sometimes hard to find, which is also quite troublesome.

Perhaps these factors are why flannel filter cups have never been very popular in China.

Since we're discussing flannel coffee filter cloth, let's also talk about pour-over filter paper.

Filter paper is mainly divided into bleached and unbleached types. The difference lies in the weight of paper flavor—heavy or light. Unbleached filter paper often has a relatively heavy paper taste. Common types of filter paper include conical filter paper (for V60 drippers), fan-shaped filter paper (for Kalita trapezoidal drippers), and cake filter paper (for cake cups).

Metal filter screens are very convenient, eliminating the trouble of using filter paper each time and saving the expense of buying filter paper. However, no matter how fine the mesh, some fine powder always drips down with the coffee liquid. But coffee brewed with metal filter screens retains more coffee oils, so it can maximally approach coffee's original flavor, with relatively richer and fuller body compared to filter paper.

Now that you understand these pour-over filter drippers, are you still afraid of not knowing how to choose a filter cup? Hehe~ you can start learning pour-over coffee. Trust me~ you'll fall in love with the taste of single-origin pour-over coffee.

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