Budget drip brewer versus an aspiring coffee nerd: a case report

So, a little background info. I got into coffee really only this year when I moved on from my Wilfa Precision drip brewer (no, this is not the budget brewer we’re talking about) and pre-ground coffee to a Timemore C2, a V60, and a Stagg. Next thing you know, there was a Comandante MK4 on the table and coffee orders around Europe.

A few years ago, before falling into the rabbit hole of coffee, I managed to break my previous brewer after a night out (don’t ask). So, the next morning, to get my cup of coffee, I went to the nearest supermarket and bought the cheapest drip brewer they had, which cost me about 20 €. I don’t think it even has any branding, it just is a thing that makes liquid that you could somewhat defensibly call coffee.

Fast forward to now when I found this brewer in my storage during cleaning. I am probably going to try to give it to someone for free, or if that doesn’t work, recycle it. But I wanted to clean it before trying to hand it over.

Light-bulb moment.

What if I cleaned the brewer to my best ability and then tried to make one more cup using my acquired kit and whatever knowledge of coffee brewing that I’ve soaked so far?

Upon cleaning, I was a bit amused at the functionality of the brewer. First, it has this weird setting that apparently might have something to do with the water flow (picture; yes I know it needs to be cleaned a bit more), with a microscopic cup on the left and another microscopic cup on the right. Who knows. Second, for rinsing out the cleaning liquid I had to brew a few full containers of water, and I noticed that the coffee maker was making like these aggressive churns, as if angry from having been woken from its peaceful slumber. From this video you can see the water level literally shaking when the brewer goes for these aggressive pours. That’s probably a good sign, right?

So, the setup:

Weird water-flow turbo boost setting set to the left (so maybe slower flow speed since it’s a small amount of coffee?). I would honestly be surprised if this thing makes any difference in a brewer so cheap.

20 g of coffee, ground 25 clicks so medium’ish? The coffee I’ve used is a washed, light roast Ethiopian coffee, which I’ve really enjoyed in the V60 (review here) so it shouldn’t come down to the coffee.

330g of bottled water that I’ve liked with other brewers and with this coffee in particular

Moccamaster bleached filter papers

Hario V60 scale for measuring time and weight

The process:

1. I rinsed the filter paper and pre-heated the filter and jug with hot water
2. I poured my coffee in and made a small divot in the coffee bed before brewing. Added 330g of water in the container.
3. I turned that bad boy on. It took over 30 seconds for the water to be heated and start to drip. After seeing the coffee bed sufficiently saturated, I paused the brewer and stirred the coffee bed with a spoon and let it bloom for about 45 s. I weighed the jug by then and it seems the bloom phase was done with about 80 g of water (+ some in the grounds so I didn’t get an exact figure). Then, I turned on the coffee maker again.
4. I let it drip, and was actually a bit surprised at how slow the drip rate was. Yet, this allowed all of the grounds to be fully covered. It took 4:50 to finish the brew from pushing the button through all of the water having passed through.

The results?

Surprisingly flat bed in the filter.

The coffee was a bit harsh when hot, but when I let it cool, I could find the lemon that I got in the V60 brews as well. Even closer to room temperature there was a hint of florality, too. I couldn't really detect too much sweetness in the cup.

Is it as good as I got in the V60? No.

Would I be upset if I got offered this in a cafe or if I wouldn’t have the time to hassle with a V60 every morning? Also no.

I might have gotten even better coffee by changing the grind setting since I really don’t know how hot this thing even brews. If I was really geeking out, I could have tested whether the pouring rate button thingy makes any difference. In any case, this one attempt was sufficient for me to appreciate the fact that good coffee, grinder and water go pretty far, even if your brewer is suboptimal.