Fireside 2.1 (https://fireside.fm) Coffeehouse Blunders Blog https://www.blunders.fm/articles Tue, 12 Sep 2017 08:00:00 -0700 Coffeehouse Blunders Blog en-us December Coffee Dripper Review https://www.blunders.fm/articles/december-coffee-dripper-review Tue, 12 Sep 2017 08:00:00 -0700 [email protected] f8560be0-02cf-40d6-8890-102689b37f33 Motz reviews the December Coffee Dripper: The first pourover coffee dripper designed completely by specialty coffee experts. Let's see if it is true what they say, that now brewing perfect coffee is easier than ever! I am always on the search for new and innovative ways to brew coffee. That is why when I saw the December Coffee Dripper on Kickstarter a few months back that was designed to have an adjustable brew flow it sparked my interest. I love my Hario v60, but from time to time I keep thinking to myself that the coffee is brewing really fast and that I wish that I could just slow it down.

Flow Control

That is where the December Coffee Dripper comes in. With a quick turn of the top of the dripper it automatically adjusts how much water flow is possible. It is a very clever design from Nicholas Cho, the co-founder of Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters in San Francisco, which is a lovely place to drink coffee.

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Each stage allows a brewer to dial in exactly what they want with Stage 0 enabling the perfect bloom to occur. I often settle between Stage 1 and 2 as I am pouring 1 or 2 cups, but they have a nice guideL

  • Stage 1 is optimized for about a 10-12 ounce (300-360mL) brew.
  • Stage 2 is optimized for about a 14-16 ounce (400-475mL) brew.
  • Stage 3 is optimized for about a 18-24 ounce (500-700mL) brew.

Quality Build

It has been nearly two weeks now since I received my December and it is built solid from 18-10 stainless steel. This thing does get hot when brewing as you would imagine, but they added a nice rubber bumper to the top so you can pick it up when you are done brewing. It turns with ease and looks beautiful on the counter.

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Brewing and Sipping

It can look beautiful, but how does it brew a cup of coffee? My favorite part of the December is that it has Stage 0 to help the grind really take in the water and bloom properly. Not that you can't achieve this with a normal pour over system, but it sure does help to have a dripper that wont let the water escape. One gotcha here is that Stage 0 can cause some leakage out the side if you pour too much water in, but adjusting it to Stage 1 or higher fixes that up. They have some workarounds that they have documented to re-align the metals, but in my opinion it isn't a real issue at all.

The coffee that comes out of the December has been a delight to drink. Since you can control the flow, you can also control how strong of a brew you are looking for, which I really appreciate. I also seem to be getting a more consistent cup as my beans age over the week since I follow my Stage 0 practice over and over.

I have many options to brew from a Chemex, v60, french press, and now the December and it is on the top of the list for sure.

Video Review

  • Written by Motz
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