Reddit reviews Melitta #2 Porcelain Single-Cup Pour Over Coffee Brewer, White

I have a pour over coffee maker. French press ant others are fine, but I prefer the pour over style. I don't know what your situation for hot water is, We have a microwave and I just use a 2C measuring cup to heat the water.

Melitta has their own pour over brewers

https://www.amazon.com/Melitta-64101-Porcelain-Cone-Brewer/dp/B00BYF99CA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1494195684&sr=8-5&keywords=melitta&th=1

I almost missed it! I've got a few upgrade from my last post! Here is my gear.

From left to right:

• Bodum Bistro - Got this guy at the famous JCP Bodum Sale. For the price, I've been very happy. I'd like to upgrade but can't justify the purchase at the moment.
  
• Hario Skerton
  
• Aeropress
  
• Bialetti Moka Pot - 3 cup
  
• Melitta pour over
  
• Grosche York 350 ml french press
  
• 2 Oxo pop airtight containers - I love these and recommend them highly
  
  What's next you ask? Well with my neck paycheck, I'm buying the following:
  
  
• Bonavita Variable Temp Gooseneck
  
• Chemex
  
• This Digital Scale
  
• Clever Dripper (maybe)
  
  Any recommendations for other gear? Specifically, scale recs?
  
  Edit: Added Amazon links for anyone interested.

Get one of these bad boys:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003LJX0O0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Its made of ceramic.

You can also get a ceramic pour over for $20:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BYF99CA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Well this is gonna get kinda long and will only scratch the surface but I'll break down the pros and cons of some of the most popular entry-level gear in as un-confusing of a way as I can. First up, let's look at grinders.

First off, you want a burr grinder, particularly a conical burr grinder because those blender-y blade grinders they sell at wal-mart for $5 don't get any kind of a consistent grind. Varying sizes in a grind means varying levels of extraction in the cup and that means off flavors. Because burr grinders are more expensive, hand crank conical burr grinders are commonly recommended to beginners because of their lower price point compared to similar quality electrics. They're cheap and work well but do have some drawbacks beyond the extra effort involved in grinding. First, most of them don't have actual grind settings and you adjust the grind size by twisting a wheel until it looks as fine/coarse as you want it to. If you use different brew methods and switch grind size a lot, this can be a bit of a pain. Second, most hand grinders aren't ideal for french press because of the way the burrs are stabilized; they'll give fantastic fine/medium grinds but the coarse grind is a tad inconsistent. That said, I use a hand grinder for french press all the time and am relatively happy with the results. A few common ones are:

The Hario Skerton. I personally have one and love it. As I said, not perfect for french press but it's a durable daily driver that never lets me down and can do an espresso grind damn near as well as a $300 baratza

The hario mini is essentially the same grinder in a different, smaller package. Perfect for travel

The porlex JP-30 is a tad more expensive but has grind settings that, while unmarked, do "click" into place making adjusting grind coarseness a bit easier


If you wanted to go the electric route, I've seen refurbished Baratza encore grinders for around $100. This will give you a mediocre espresso grind but a perfect and much easier drip and french press grind


Next up: preparation methods

French presses use a metal mesh filter, which gives you all of the oils in the cup and lets a tiny bit of really fine coffee solids through, which gives the cup a rich, full-bodied, velvety character They're also very easy to use as there's pretty much one accepted way to brew in them. And here's Philly's own Todd Carmichael demonstrating it. As far as which one to buy, they're all pretty much the same: a glass tube with a stick in it and some mesh on the end of the stick. I like my sterlingpro a lot but the bodum chambord is hugely popular and looks just as nice. Even a cheapo will do the job just as well, though, even if it doesn't look as nice.

pourovers do essentially the same thing as a drip coffee machine just with a lot more input from you, which is good because all but the most ludicrously expensive drip machines are very inconsistent and don't work as well as just doing it your own damn self. With a pourover, you're going to use a kettle or measuring cup with a spout to pour the water over the grounds in a set amount of time (3-4 minutes depending on the grind size) and usually in a very specific manner. Because these use a paper filter, there are no oils or insoluble solids in the cup so the coffee is clearer, tastes cleaner and usually a bit brighter than french press coffee. Popular models include the Hario v60 which is one of the more finicky models. If you decide on one of these, be sure to use a gooseneck kettle like Mr. Carmichael was using in the french press video above. Slightly more forgiving are the kalita wave and the melitta both of which would work fine with a normal kettle so long as it has some type of pour spout. If you want something with very thick filters, so as to produce a very clear cup, and also looks very nice, the chemex is a beautiful thing that produces great coffee, has a built-in carafe, and can make more than one cup at a time. Really more of a replacement for a large-volume drip machine than most pourovers.

The Aeropress is an absurdly popular, extremely versatile, and very well priced coffee brewer which is essentially a huge syringe with a paper filter instead of a needle. There's a thousand recipes online with different ways to use it, all of which produce a different cup.



Also worth noting is that you may want a kettle with temperature control, coffee should be brewed at 195-205F, so knowing what temp your water is helps reduce a lot of the headaches of cooling off boiled water for a vague amount of time. This bonavita is a little on the pricey side but has temp control and a gooseneck, which is always useful

http://www.amazon.com/Cilio-Porcelain-No-Filter-Holder/dp/B002CX2UCO/ref=pd_sbs_k_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JE045D93K068F8WC9DW

Or

http://www.amazon.com/Porcelain-Cone-Brewer-Coffee-Maker/dp/B00BYF99CA/ref=pd_sbs_k_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=04QBND5NF6QFTC0BDR3P

https://www.amazon.com/Melitta-64101-Porcelain-Cone-Brewer/dp/B00BYF99CA/ref=pd_sim_79_19?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Qz9JF2c2L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=RZTX28RV1CK01EEEJW55

By "they all work the same" I was talking about the various pourover cones that take Melitta filters, which is what the OP was asking about. E.g. the Melitta plastic cone, the Melitta porcelain cone, the Bee House Ceramic cone, or many others of that style. I agree that V60 and Chemex are different.