By last count, I had eight different coffee makers in my kitchen, ranging from a reliable Nespresso to a fancy pour-over setup from Blue Bottle Coffee for meditative weekends. But even though I have my home-brew routine down to a science, it’s taken me a while to find a coffee maker for the office (because of course I think the coffee in the shared kitchen tastes like sludge). I’ve tested my fair share of portable coffee makers, and though they make good-enough coffee on-the-go, I don’t love scooping out wet, used grounds. I also much prefer the taste of pour-over coffee to that of French press or drip, but I find this all-in-one brewer tricky, since pour-overs require a specific, steady pour, and I don’t keep a gooseneck kettle next to my computer.
So when I was gifted this single-serve pour-over coffee dripper from the PR team at OXO, I was skeptical that I would actually use it, let alone like it, given my track record of unsuccessful office coffee experiments. But here we are, countless cups of office coffee later, and I’ve been converted.
The main appeal of this clever coffee maker is that it’s so simple to use. There are two main parts: a cone-shaped pour-over coffee dripper that looks like a Hario (and actually takes the same-sized filter) and a clear, plastic water reservoir with a lid. You set up the dripper with a coffee filter and grounds over a mug, just like any other pour-over setup. But then, instead of pouring hot water directly over the grounds, you balance the water tank on top of the dripper and fill that up with water. There are guidelines that’ll show you how much water you should add for the amount of coffee you want to drink. At the bottom of this clear plastic reservoir are four holes that regulate the speed and flow of the water, ensuring an even extraction, just like a practiced barista’s hand with a gooseneck kettle would — except it requires no skill.
The result is a good cup of pour-over coffee in just a few minutes with minimal effort. And because it uses a paper filter, all I have to do to clean up is dump out the grounds into a trash can, no finessing of metal filters under a sink. When I’m done with it for the day, I stack up all the pieces and pop it into my desk drawer, where it takes up minimal space and is ready to go the next time I need a caffeine fix.
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