What are the benefits of a pour over coffee maker?

Well, the answer is clear, according to the blurb in the link:

“Pour over Coffee maker unlocks your Coffee potential with simple, easy to use design that delivers the perfect cup of Coffee every time.”

I think people just get very fetishistic about how they make their coffee and this is just one way that manufacturers have come up with.

It isn’t a hassle to deal with if you have something nearby to dump the filter and grounds. And the cup it makes is delicious, especially if one uses high quality beans (Graffeo Roasting Company).

@janbb -lol! Have you ever tried one?

Nope, never tried one. I’m not a coffee fanatic, more of a tea person. But my son buys every new coffee maker available.

When I do make coffee at home, I still use a Mr Coffee which I’m sure is very declasse!

@zenvelo – My brother says the same thing and says it’s the best cup he’s ever had.He uses a commercially made one.
The single cup one makes sense for me as I need to cut back to one cup as I am ready to rocket to the moon every morning. :D

@janbb -I like coffee but can do without all the caffeine.
I will probably try to make a ceramic version of the one-cupper at some point.
I have also seen handmade teapots with a infuser that I like as well.

I remember making coffee in a Chemex pour over like this, sixty years ago. And before that my mom would use a Vacuum Coffee Maker to make my dad a cup to take in the car to go to work.

“Pour-over”: Pour hot water over grounds in a cone filter
Coffee maker: Pour hot water over grounds in a cone filter

The benefit is that impressionable people will pay for it.

The term grates on me like “Spinning”. Somebody trademarked “Spin” and “Spinning” and “Spinner” and sells equipment and the right to use the name for classes. I’ve had people adamantly insist to me that Spinning® is different from riding a stationary bicycle.

It’s got nothing on an Aeropress. I bought mine for less than $20 nearly a decade ago and it’s still making great coffee.

@Call_Me_Jay -Lol! True dat.
At least they didn’t come up with a special name for a simple action. :)
My brother says he can taste the plastic from the commercial one he has at home (Kuerig)
I have to test this.
Spinning sounds more expensive than “Pay to pedal a bike fast” XD

@gorillapaws – I had a French press but it was a cheapo and I ended up eating grounds. The one you linked looks nice.

@lucillelucillelucille I can’t recommend it it enough. It’s affordable, cleans up really quickly and makes great coffee.

So is a Keurig just a mechanized version of pour-over?

@gorillapaws -Thanks for the link :)
@elbanditoroso -Yes but with plastic components.

@elbanditoroso A Keurig also can only be used with special pods that you buy to insert in it. I think there are some reusable pods but most people buy pre-packaged flavored pods so a Keurig generate a lot of unnecessary waste.

A basic drip (like Mr Coffee) is essentially a “pour over” with a slightly different format. I used to do the Chemex thing, in my coffee snob days, then I needed to not be spending the extra time or energy in the morning so I switched to Mr Coffee. I found that the difference in taste was more about the quality of the beans and the cleanliness of the equipment than the method of hot water application.

@canidmajor I have had a few Mr Coffees over the years and had no real problem with them.My brother says he gets decent beans and the water he pours over is boiling hot.
I have no idea if this would make a difference to me.
As for cleanliness, the best cup I’ve ever had was on a fishing pier in NC.
I asked the waitress what kind of coffee it was as it tasted great. She replied that it was because the pot was “seasoned”.
I looked over at the pot which was a Bunn and is what I use now.
It was brown. Brown as in never,ever washed.Lol
I have yet to try this at home but it really was the best, grossest cup of coffee I have ever had.

@lucillelucillelucille I occasionally grind beans myself on the rare instances I make coffee at home but I finally realized, when I’ve had a “great” cup of coffee somewhere it’s been because I’ve had half and half and lots of sugar in it!

@janbb -Lol! :)
I’ve been using stevia to sweeten black coffee for a long time but recently discovered something called Nut Pods that I like.
I need to cut back on the caffeine so my plan is to get the best cup possible and be happy with one great cup as opposed to 4 cups of rocket fuel.

@lucillelucillelucille, chacun à son gout! :-) I no longer really care, I just want my joe hot and ready when I get up in the morning, now. A machine with a timer wins the day in my house.

@canidmajor -I understand that :)

Coffee tastes better if the water only goes through the grounds once. Like in a French press. I think it would be hard to really appreciate modern coffee makers until one has had “cowboy coffee.”
( Cowboy coffee: Fill the coffee pot with the desired amount of water. Pour the required amount of coffee into the pot, then bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add a bit more cold water to settle the grounds. Pour and enjoy.)

I will add that the biggest way to improve your coffee is to use good water. We have an under-sink water filter with it’s own faucet that filters out all of the crap, but leaves in some of the beneficial minerals that give the water a good flavor.

@kritiper I would go over one of my neighbors on Saturday mornings, his mom made a variation “cowboy.” She would grind the 8 O’Clock coffee at the A&P, bring it home and make coffee with a beaten egg mixed in the coffee ground, pour in the water and put it on the burner. When it started to boil she would take it off the burner. The coffee made the best ice coffee because the was no small particles that would cloud the iced coffee.

I’ve read of a Navy tradition to put some salt in coffee to enhance the taste. I’ve never tried it, though.

@kritiper -Doesn’t sound half bad:)

@elbanditoroso -I have heard that about hot chocolate.

I’m just chiming in late to say pour over coffee is great, with good beans, ground a moment before. It’s become my main coffee type. It’s only slightly more effort than using a percolator, and there’s even less to maintain. I certainly would not call it a PITA.

Two differences between pour over and a coffee maker:

1. The water temperature. Pour over is done with water that was at a rolling boil just prior to being lifted off the heat source. A coffee maker’s Water is about ten degrees F cooler by the time it hits the grounds

2. The process is different because when doing pour over, you wet the grounds, and allow the grounds to soak for a brief period, then soak the grounds slowly as you pour water over concentically. In a coffee maker, the water pours into the middle and one ends up with uneven extraction from the grounds.

Clean up is no easier or more difficult with either method.

@elbanditoroso The salt helps to neutralize the acid in the coffee, which makes it taste better. Works for tea and grapefruit.

I see the pour over in the Amazon link posted by the OP is similar to a French Press in that both don’t use a paper filter. Paper filters filter out the oil, which is what gives good coffee its bold flavor. I’ve never used a pour over, only a French Press. I really like that the water is very close to boiling when you pour it, and then you can cool it off with milk if you want to.

For my every day coffee at home, I use a Keurig but it’s not that hot, temperature wise. If I had time on a work morning, I’d boil water and use the French Press.

@Zaku -You sound like my brother.:) He says it’s worth it.

@zenvelo -You spoke with my brother, didn’t you? :)
The more I think about this, the more I should do it. I am going to cut back on coffee so why not make the one cup I have real good?

@jca2 – My brother is using a metal filter. I called him back a second time and he says he will send me the kind he uses.:) it’s a glass one and under $20.
I think I might like to do it this way :)
The French press I had was not very good.

Ok, I am not a coffee snob, and I also despise kitchen gadgets and extra ITEMS in general, and i recently started using pourover. The one I have has a mesh filter so I don’t have to ever buy anything for it again, which is great. It was 10 dollars. It isn’t glass like some french presses, it’s not snooty like the aero-press (no offense anyone, I just don’t care enough to learn a new coffee trick) and I can take it camping and there’s no danger of anything breaking. It’s fast, makes good coffee, and because I am one single person I don’t need a whole pot or french press or whatever, i only drink one cup a day. many reasons.

I think one benefit is it brings in a better and tastier cup of coffee.

This is a humorous version of cowboy coffee.

Take a boot sock (use a new boot sock!) and fill it with coffee grounds. Put it in a pot and fill it with water. Boil it up until the sock disappears altogether, and you’ve got yer selves some coffee!

@snowberry lol I love cowboy coffee mostly for its simplicity and lack of equipment required. I used to always make it on outdoor trips. My friends would give me a lot of shit.

@snowberry -Sounds like camping to me. XD

@deni -Did you use @snowberry ‘s method?

@lucillelucillelucille Always a boot sock! What other way is there! Haha

@deni -It might go well with scrambled eggs and dirt. XD