The chemex paper filter is very strong and leaves a paper/cardboard taste in coffee unless it is washed well first. I'm guessing at this point, the filter should be washed in the sink or something, before putting into the carafe.

Pushed back again, new estimate for September / October. At this point I'd not be surprised if they get pushed back into the new year.

As for filters, they indicated working with Able Brewing on a dedicated Chemex filter, along the lines of http://ablebrewing.com/products/kone-coffee-filter.

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the late reply to this - we've been heads-down on production preparation. A few quick thoughts/updates:
@Col_Potter - you're correct that our carafe looks like a Chemex, which has been a hot topic internally. I've discussed this matter with the owners of Chemex, in fact. We know a lot of people who really like the Chemex filters so we decided to go forward with this as our default filter option. We're working on other filter options with our thermal carafe that will be announced as soon as engineering is complete. There are only so many ways to make a round glass carafe with a 60 degree filter holder that will properly hold a Chemex. We pushed the geometry as far away from the more bulbous Chemex and made the handle as different as we could without compromising function. @jbviau is correct - the Eight uses a hall sensor to detect the presence of the carafe (to eliminate moving parts) so that's why we had to develop our own carafe.

Regarding ship dates - we're now within days, not months of shipping our first units. We are waiting on final UL approval (which includes a tour of our Portland HQ) which is one final gating factor. I would expect to start seeing reviews from first preorders by mid October. Why the delay? We did endless amounts of testing once our die cast tooling was completed, and decided to make these changes:
1. Redo the showerhead (videos coming out soon, but it's a basic "rain" showerhead with about a 2.5" radius)
2. Add a one-way check valve made of swiss-machined steel and a glass ball. This evened out the brewing profiles at lower volumes.
3. Revised and refined the software even further.
4. Changed the finish on the die cast parts, which will be announced shortly. It's bomber and I'm really excited about it.

So, I had to decide between meeting an estimated ship date or holding "V 1.0" for further refinement, rather then keeping the improvements for 1.1.

Any questions please reach out to me - I'm thrilled to see the H-B community interested in the Ratio Eight

Best,
Mark
mark@ratiocoffee.com

Just got an update that these have started shipping. Can't wait to see the first reviews / videos.

We had the opportunity to play with the Ratio at the HB PDX get-together on Saturday. The machine was a prototype, but the glass parts were correct, and the custom Kone was in near final form. The machine is solidly built, and works as described. It makes good coffee, though we ground the batch we made too coarsely, and the coffee was weak. It lacks the adjustability of the Brazen, but its default temperature and prebrew settings seem appropriate. The build quality is excellent. It is quite a large device, though. Measure your intended location.

After seeing and trying the prototype, I felt no desire to cancel my preorder.

Mark states that there will eventually be other wood choices, and that these will be user-replaceable. Also, a thermal carafe is planned, along with baskets for Kone and Melita type filters.

Any recent feedback about the Ratio? By this point, I thought there would be way more user experience with this machine.

Hi Matt,
I'm unaware of any H-B users that have received a Ratio Eight yet, but some reviews have been posted here, unedited: http://www.clivecoffee.com/product/rati ... chine.html

Because machines are so scarce (www.ratiocoffee.com/updates) we haven't yet started loaning out machines for extended reviews/testing by influencers, but it's our plan to do so...

Best
Mark

Thanks, Mark. Looking forward to eventually trying some Ratio coffee. Not sure when that'll happen, so please don't hesitate to send me one of those "loaner" machines you mentioned.

@matt44 - Noted

Matt44 wrote:Any recent feedback about the Ratio? By this point, I thought there would be way more user experience with this machine.

I got my shipping estimate on Friday. My Ratio8 should ship the week of May 10-16 or sooner. At least that is what my email said. We will see.