Clever Coffee Dripper - Full Immersion Brewing

[Sweet Maria's]

Have to put a plug here for the new Clever Coffee Dripper because I am so excited we finally have it. This is a direct import deal, because they can't be found easily, but I have been using one for months and months, while we awaited manufacture and shipment of them. Basically, it's like a French Press brew in a cone filter holder - quite a basic thing: it has a stopper that remains closed until you place it on a cup or mug (or a wide-mouth thermos) to drain. It means you can drip brew for a full 4 minutes, and you don't have to make the grind ridiculously fine to slow down the brew time, as you do with a standard dripper. Anyway, I hope this doesn;t seem blatantly commercial to start a thread to plug our product, but I think it's a great, economical, basic way to get better results from pour-over drip brewing.
http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.single_cup.php

[jdavid]

Very interesting. I can see using this at the office a couple of times a day.

Dave

[SheckyW]

Sounds great for "road trip" coffee.

[Sweet Maria's]

I suppose it's rather elementary and not really that "clever" to have some control over the draining of the cone filter. It's one of the main features I liked on the technivorm, but considering the cost of those, and that 95% of that goes into delivering hot water at the right temperature (unfortunately THAT is not user-controllable) to the ground coffee, the CCD seems fairly smart. In a few months we are hoping to go through another round with the manufacturer that will involve a larger coaster that doubles as a lid to avoid heat loss from the top somewhat, during that 4 minutes of infusion. The current "coaster" that comes with it is too small to use as a lid too. I have a small plate I use to try to trap heat. I also realized I didn't give the range of measurements for the rim of the cup or vacuum bottle you can use it with. Will do that. Also have a lot more images to put up and some tests we did (one key result of these tests is that we do NOT like what we get when using the CCD with a Swissgold filter.

[Eldo]

Have to put a plug here for the new Clever Coffee Dripper because I am so excited we finally have it.

Thanks for calling attention to this item! It would probably have been some time before I stumbled across it otherwise. I've been doing mainly FP brewing, but this looks like a very promising alternative. I look forward to checking it out in the not too distant future.

Eldon

[John F]

.. and you don't have to make the grind ridiculously fine to slow down the brew time, as you do with a standard dripper.

I see how the stopper can be used to manipulate brew time and why that would be interesting to experiment with but it isn't exactly correct to say you have to :

"make the grind ridiculously fine to slow down the brew time" with a standard cone.

There is a lot of control you can get with different pour techniques and there is also a lot to be said for experimenting with different extraction rates. Not to take anything way from the full immersion clever brewing cone or to be argumentative but you can get good brew times using a standard cone without resorting to "ridiculously fine grinding".

[Eldo]

one key result of these tests is that we do NOT like what we get when using the CCD with a Swissgold filter.

Wondering if you could elaborate a bit on this. How would you characterise the Swissgold results? What about them you not like? And what filters DID you like? Filtropa? Melita? Other?
Thanks for all your research on this!
Eldon

[Sweet Maria's]

As far as using grind to control brewing in a standard filter cone, I don't know what type of cone you are discussing. But I would love to see a pour technique that makes a good brew out of a plastic cone with 4 drain holes. Even with 1 or 2, depending on the diameter of the hole, what pour technique besides blooming for a really long amount of time can prevent coffee from draining immediately into the cup? How do you maintain a temperature in a filtercone that drains so quick there is no "thermal mass" in the cone of hot water and coffee? There are limits to techniques... Anyway, We use the Filtropa AromaBrown for testing. We have a full page on the site later today about the tests we have done and results regarding the SwissGold. Heres a copy/paste of the comments on that:

"We tried several times to get good results by using the Clever Coffee Dripper with a permanent gold filter. The results were a brew with poor texture (mouthfeel) and muddy flavors as well. The problem isn't specific to the CCD, it's a general Swissgold issue, that many fine particles of insoluble solids pass through the filter into the cup.

Soluble solids in coffee are the oils and other compounds dissolved by the hot water, whereas insoluble solids are small the grounds, comprised of the woody cellulose structure of the bean itself. Fines, small pieces of the insoluble solids, are normally trapped by paper filters, but make it into the cup with the French Press or the SwissGold type filters.

A little theory: There are 2 general ways of thinking about drip brewing: coffee ground particles suspended in liquid, or coffee particles forming a bed in the bottom of the filter, and the water percolating down through though them into the cup.

You can have good results with a Swissgold brew if, after the brew phase is over, you let the coffee sit for about 4 minutes undisturbed, and carefully pour from the top of you cup or carafe. The turbidity settles out in this time, and you can see some layering in the cup of clean, sediment-free brew at the top, muddy and turbid liquid at the bottom. (This is true with French Press too!) I think Swissgold works best in brewers where the grounds are not stirred, where it forms a bed and the water percolates through it. But in our brew method with the CCD, we stir the coffee at 2 minutes, and this makes for an even more gritty brew. So you might say, "just don't stir with the Swissgold!" Well, we found that result cleaner in terms of sediment but lacking in overall cup flavors. "

Here's a link to the page: http://www.sweetmarias.com/clevercoffeedripper_tests_tips.php

[John F]

But I would love to see a pour technique that makes a good brew out of a plastic cone with 4 drain holes. Even with 1 or 2, depending on the diameter of the hole, what pour technique besides blooming for a really long amount of time can prevent coffee from draining immediately into the cup? How do you maintain a temperature in a filtercone that drains so quick there is no "thermal mass" in the cone of hot water and coffee? There are limits to techniques...

Here is a vid using a filter alone in a wire stand...

See what you think of these pouring techniques as a control factor.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzNd3xFlqWY

[tucker85]

If you want to have total control over a manual drip coffee maker, you don't need any fancy equipment. Take a creamer pitcher from a sugar and cream set or a pyrex measuring cup. Put the coffee and the hot water in the pitcher and let it sit for the period you want (I brew for three minutes). Then pour it into the filter holder on top of your favorite mug (It will brew for another minute or so while draining through the filter). I've been doing this for years and I get great coffee every time. My favorite filter holder is the Beehouse but I used a Melitta for many years before getting the Beehouse. I use a cordless electric teapot for the water but the stove works fine. I love my Sweet Maria's coffee.