My Japanese Brewer Makes Café-Style Coffee at My Desk

I love coffee in the morning, but the Green Mountain brewed in bulk at my office broke my spirit. After trying a French press at work (too much to clean) and an AeroPress (too complicated), I went on the prowl for convenient, tastier options. After doing my research, I decided to go with a pour-over coffee maker, which connoisseurs swear yields a more delicate and flavorful brew. I didn’t want to spend money on paper filters, which, thankfully, led me to the Osaka Pour Over Coffee Brewer. It’s perfect.

It all works pretty simply. You put your favorite coffee into the mesh cone and pour boiling water over it. That’s all. The result is a full, rich-tasting cup of coffee that’s ready in about as much time as it takes for the water to start rocking. I’ve been using La Colombe coffee grounds, and my deskside coffee tastes identical to what I buy when I stop at the café on the way to work — smooth and rich, without any bitterness. The key is the insanely fine-meshed (it’s laser-cut), stainless-steel filter that doesn’t absorb any of the oils the way a paper filter does. It also has a smart cork lid to keep the whole thing piping hot.

Where the Flavia machine at work tasted of hours-old airport joe, and the French press and AeroPress consumed too much of my time and effort, the Osaka creates the perfect balance of labor and flavor. Even better, once you’re finished with your coffee, you simply dump the grounds directly into the trash. The steel mesh cleans in a jiff, and I can make up to four cups of coffee at a time. The entire setup even looks handsome enough for me to set it on a bookshelf while not in use; it’s like a little sculpture.