Another vote for the Sowden Softbrew. I have a couple but mostly use the 1.2L version.

62.5g grinds, coarse (French press/ 2.5 turns out on the Lido).

EDIT: Have been able to bring the grind finer, down to 1.6-1.7 turns out, without increasing silt to an objectionable level.

Add 1130g water just of the boil, stir & steep for forty to forty-five minutes. At the end of steep, gently swirl/rock the pot then pour a little out into a cold cup & swirl to cool & taste, keep swirling & tasting until you hit the sweet spot & pour. There seems to be no reason I can see to remove the grounds from the brewer, I leave mine in for 7 or 8 hours between the first & last cups.

Arctic Mama wrote:Huh. That's a cool brewer! It looks fairly idiot-proof, too, which is exactly what I need. Not a bad price, either. I was looking at an Eve Solo but this is much more reasonable. Anyone know how the Impress and Solo compare?

The Eva Solo is one of the few brew methods I haven't tried, so I can't offer a comparison.

Thank you anyway . I searched around and found some other posts on the brewer here and CG forums, too, and am thinking I will order one and try it out in the next few weeks.

I've recently been using a Bonavita porcelain dripper (their version of the CCD) in combination with their variable temperature electric kettle. It is by far and away the best coffee I've ever made.

I also a big fan of bonavita's porcelain update of the Clever dripper. It holds heat in beautifully and I prefer the little lever release to the clever's bottom-activated valve. Since I tried these devices I rarely find it worth the effort to do a traditional pour over, given that I can get essentially identical results in a cup with far less fuss.

My one gripe about the Bonavita is the needlessly difficult to clean plastic base. There are more slots and tabs in that molded plastic than you can shake a stick at, not even considering that there's an inside to it that you can't normally access. On the plus side, the bottom is held on with screws. I'm assuming a periodically disassembly and cleaning will be in order....

I've recently been brewing by first steeping (a la cupping) in a Pyrex cup without stirring, wait 4 min, break crust, and then decant through a paper filter. The grind I'm using is a med-coarse grind (20 virtuoso).

What I was surprised to find is that if I follow the exact same timing and use a clever dripper, I get a significantly different cup ... more bitter or perhaps over extracted taste.

The greater extraction is probably related to the draw down of water through the coffee bed? So if I really wanted these to approach identical taste, I should probably reduce the steep time with the clever?

Fwiw, the steep and filter method has gotten me better flavor / clarity / sweetness than any other method I've tried, and consistently so.

I've observed the same thing. For me the difference is that when I decant, most of the grinds stay in the pot, so the filter is doing almost no percolation at all, but just clarifying the existing brew. When I use the clever now, I have a Swiss gold mesh filter above the paper filter, so I can lift out the grounds after four minutes and get the same effect.

That being said, I've had just as good brews using conventional percolation or the Clever with a few minutes steep then a few minutes percolation. The problem is that I've never made these good brews myself -- so it appears I'm drip-challenged.

What always surprised me about the Clever was the suggestions to use such a fine grind on it, which for me, seems surprising given it's steep time + percolation time for brewing. I always found it lacking clarity, which most filtered coffees excel in, due to the recommended fine grind. Most of my brews that turn out the best on the Clever use a grind just a tad finer than the Kalita Wave.

If we embrace the Body ------- Clarity continuum, then all of the steeping methods will provide more body and less clarity than the percolation methods which are on the opposing side. French press on the far left, Chemex on the far right. Everything else dotting the other points. All just tradeoffs imho, but I rock the CCD almost exclusively now fwiw.