BenKeith wrote:... I don't see any, between me using my Thermal carafe Bunn and a Chemenex or other pour over, other than the Bunn ... dispenses the water for you. ... I'm using a quality, natural, unbleached filters so there's no difference there.

Water dispensing as you acknowledge, but also filter papers. Leaving aside the white vs. brown vs. hemp etc., debate, different papers have different filtration qualities. For example, Hario V60 filter paper does not filter as fine as Chemex filter paper. As a corollary, if you use the Hario V60 paper in a Chemex, you will require a different grind than the Chemex to achieve the same draw down - but it is the difference in filtering that makes the difference in taste.

Finally, there is a difference in water besides dispensing. In a Bunn, the exit orifice regulates flow out. In a V60 or Chemex, the exit orifice does not regulate flow. This makes the Bunn (and all Melitta-style brewers, even the #2 ones that fit over a cup) less sensitive to grind and particle distribution - but the resulting cup is still just as sensitive. Thus, it is easier to get decent results, but people may not be driven to make the additional effort to dial in optimal results. A V60/Chemex must be dialed in to a greater degree before one isn't getting sour or bitter results, and thus one gets closer to optimal. (The optimal is the same.)

There is also the difference of freshly brewing less than a half a pot at a time, but this is a limitation of your particular machine, not the brewing method.

Yes, however as I stated, this is not an off the shelf Bunn. As I mentioned, it has been tuned to almost exactly a 3 1/2 minute brew for two sizes we use it for. The exit orifices are actually fuel jets screwed into the filter basket. The one I use for the 1/2 pot brew is .098". As for the exit orifice controlling it, you can always change grinds for finer or coarser for a Bunn to change brew times, you just have to be careful with the how fast of a diffuser you use, or you will flood the basket. Pour too fast in a chemex and it will flood also. The holes in the diffusers have been sealed and drilled to a size that matches each filter basket. The coffee is ground for the desired flavor. Filter papers, gold metal filters, there are tons of different filter options to chose from, not just those white things, just like for the Chemex, so I don't see the filters being a difference.

Actually, I have a Chemex I bought years ago, and that what led me to doing the mods on the Bunns to match what it does. Since doing that, the Chemex stays stuffed away with the French Presses the AeroPress replaced. Now, I'm not saying the AeroPress will make the same cup of coffee the French Press will, just I've been using the AeroPress almost exclusively for over a year now for single cups of coffee, and prefer the AeroPress over the French Press. However, the Chemex, I can brew side by side with the Bunn and there is no difference in the taste of the cups of coffee, at least to my dumbass coffee pallet anyway.

With all those mods, no doubt you have equivalence!

I use a Chemex with natural square filters and a Kone filter inside. This allows me to dump the grinds from the Kone and rinse the fines and reuse the Chemex filter a few dozen times before finally throwing it out.

BenKeith wrote:Yes, however as I stated, this is not an off the shelf Bunn. As I mentioned, it has been tuned to almost exactly a 3 1/2 minute brew for two sizes we use it for. The exit orifices are actually fuel jets screwed into the filter basket. The one I use for the 1/2 pot brew is .098". As for the exit orifice controlling it, you can always change grinds for finer or coarser for a Bunn to change brew times, you just have to be careful with the how fast of a diffuser you use, or you will flood the basket. Pour too fast in a chemex and it will flood also. The holes in the diffusers have been sealed and drilled to a size that matches each filter basket.

Good grief. Do you work on cars, too? I've got a Hyundai that I'd like to turn into an Aston Martin...

Yes I do, but I can't to what you ask because of one major problem, to make one nice automobile out of another, you need a nice automobile to start with.

I've been using a Phoenix 70 for single cup pourover. I quite like it.