Clever Dripper Recipe: The iCoffee House Brew

What is a Clever Dripper?

A Clever Dripper looks like an ordinary plastic cone until you notice the valve in its base. It stays shut until you set the dripper down on a cup. The coffee steeps in a pool of water the way it would in a French press. When you're ready, it drains through a paper filter, which catches the sediment, so the cup comes out clean.

You'd choose it for French press weight without the grit in the last mouthful, or because you'd rather not learn to pour. You don't need any kettle technique. Bloom the grounds, top up to 480 ml, lid on for three and a half minutes, then a stir before it drains. You do need a timer, though. The coffee keeps steeping until you set the dripper on a cup, and if you leave it much longer than three and a half minutes it turns bitter.

What you need

Equipment

• Clever Dripper (large, the standard size)
• #4 Melitta-style paper filter
• Kitchen scale with 0.1g precision
• Kettle (gooseneck not required)
• Cup or carafe to drain onto

Ingredients

• 30g (1.06oz) freshly ground coffee (medium grind, ideally 1 to 3 weeks after roasting)
• 480ml (16.2 fl oz) filtered water (brought to 95°C)

How to make coffee in a Clever Dripper

Why this recipe works

In the Clever Dripper, the coffee steeps with the valve shut, then drains through paper when you place the dripper on a cup. Extraction is even because all the grounds sit in the same water for the same time. The paper catches sediment on the way out, so you get the body of a full steep without the grit.

Ratio. 1:16, the standard pour over ratio, works here too because the paper filter catches sediment the same way it does in a V60. Use more coffee and the cup turns muddy. Use more water and the coffee comes out thinner, with less body.

Temperature. Start with water at 95°C (203°F). Keep the lid on during the 3 minutes 30 seconds of steeping to limit heat loss.

Grind. Medium. Coarser than V60, finer than French press. The closed steep means contact time is long, so with a finer grind the coffee would over-extract. A coarser grind would leave the coffee weak and flat, even after the full steep.

The wait. Steep for the full three and a half minutes. Put the dripper on the cup earlier and the brew comes out thin and sour. Leave it much longer and it turns bitter.

What to adjust

If your cup tastes too bitter: your steep ran longer than 3 minutes 30 seconds or the grind is too fine. Cut the steep back to 3 minutes first; if that doesn't fix it, go one click coarser.

If your cup tastes too sour: your water cooled too fast or your steep was too short. Start hotter at 98°C (208°F) and let the steep run to 4 minutes.

If your cup tastes weak: bump the coffee to 32g (1.13oz) and stir harder during the bloom. Grind matters less in immersion than getting every ground wet.