Just received mine and only done a couple of brews on it so far.

Its been fun playing around with the possibilities of brewing, e.g I tried a pourover with the ABLE kone, and subsequently filtered through a paper aeropress filter.

It's an interesting conversation piece, but I don't see it as much more than that. I used an Able fine disk yesterday and felt the flow was too fast using the weighted cylinder. I'll try with a paper filter some time this week and see if it's more controlled. I prefer my Phoenix 70 for pourover so I don't see much utility in that for me.

I'm concerned with the lifespan potential for the brew chamber. Hopefully he will offer this as a replacement part, as it doesn't have a solid feel to it. The unit as a whole looks amazing from 5 feet or so. Once you get closer the plastic parts stand out quite a bit.

I've spoken to Mark, and I understand that the the brew chamber and all the seals will be made available at a low price. I'm not sure of the exact price, but he says that the bulk of the cost comes from the timber and metal components. The brew chamber is a Tritan, and I reckon it'll sooner discolour than fail. Nevertheless, its nice to know that a replacement will be made available.

I've found with a paper filter you have to be pretty careful with not agitating or pouring too aggressively when you're close to the bottom, as the filter is easily displaced and thus all your coffee grounds will flow into your cup. I reckon the metal filter is heavy enough to not suffer from this.

G'day guys

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Regarding brew chamber, yes, spare parts are in stock along with all wearing seals.

There is some variation with the filter papers becoming loose as housing clearance is designed to hold the stainless disk - hence it is possible that paper can be dislodged. A fix for this is to pour water on the conical part of chamber so flow is less likely to agitate the bottom. Definitely do not stir too heavily either, as this also results in over extraction in my opinion. Alternatively, you can use 2 papers, or stainless disk with paper to clean up the fines.

Have a good day all.

Cheers
Mark

Thank you for the reply, Mark. I've been hesitant to use mine. I'm eager to find time to experiment with it.