The CAFEC Flower Dripper is designed to maximize coffee flavours through its petal-shaped ribs. Daiki Hatakeyama, who placed second in the 2021 World Brewers Cup competition using this dripper, has since brought a lot of attention to the Flower Dripper.
In this article, we will explore deeper into the Flower Dripper and help you brew like a pro with Osmotic Flow. To learn more, read on.
The Flower Dripper
CAFEC is a highly respected Japanese company, known for its paper filters and coffee brewing equipment. The Flower Dripper was developed out of the founder’s passion for enabling coffee enthusiasts to easily brew a delicious cup at home.
To brew effectively with the Flower Dripper, certain key factors should be considered. Firstly, it is available in both Arita-ware (porcelain) and AS resin (plastic) versions. Secondly, it is recommended to use a paper filter such as the T-90 Medium Dark Roast for a consistent flow rate. Lastly, a basic understanding of osmotic flow is beneficial.
What is Osmotic Flow?
Understanding the principles of osmotic flow can help a person to brew coffee with a consistent flavour profile and a proper extraction yield. Osmotic flow is a brewing method that creates a flow of pressure from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration, in order to achieve equilibrium.
Osmotic Flow Brewing Method
Firstly, the coffee bed should be pre-wet for the bloom. Secondly, the coffee bed should not be completely saturated with water, but rather a gentle pour should be maintained in the center of the bed, keeping the “bubble” dome intact.
Continue with a slow and gentle pouring method, using small pulses, until you reach 1/3 of the total brew volume. Maintain a consistent flow rate as much as possible.
The next step is to pour surrounding the bubble dome. Continue pouring until a large dome forms, then swirl the coffee back into the center to finish the brew. This process sets the overall body of the coffee.
The Osmotic Flow method can be seen as a slow degassing process, as compared to the full immersion method. The design of the flower dripper allows for the proper pressure and flow rate to enhance this brewing method. For more, check out their video
Flower Dripper Recipe
Brewing Method
1. Pre-wet the paper filter and bloom our coffee at 3x it’s weight. If we use 12g of coffee, that will be 36g bloom. Bloom for 30 secs.
2. Gently pour in the center till you see a bubble dome forming. The coffee releases the C02 gasses and we gently swirl around it, but keeping it in the center. This pour will be up to half of the total brew volume (100ml for 200ml coffee).
3. For the 3rd pour, do a swirl around the outer dome, drawing a larger circle. This pour dials in at 1/4 of the total brew volume (50ml for 200ml coffee)
4. The 4th pour, swirl from the corners and back to the center. This pour aims to bring out even extraction from the coffee around the edges. The coffee grounds will form an even bed similar to immersion brewing.
5. The final drawdown duration would be around 30 secs, ending at a total brew time of 2:15 – 2:30.
This recipe was used in a competition and did fairly well, placing it in the semifinals of the CAFEC Brewer’s Cup. We worked hard to achieve this after many tests, and hope you enjoy it.
CAFEC Flower Dripper vs Hario V60
In terms of popularity, the Hario V60 is widely recognised and used across the world. There are many pour over methods and recipes since the V60 was released and made popular. Till today, cafes around the world is use the V60 as the main pour over brewing method for filter coffee.
However, after tasting the coffee brews from both dripper, I have realised that the Flower Dripper does a more balanced brew. It has a flavourful taste compared to the V60 which has a slightly heavier body.
I compared both plastic versions and found the extraction from the Flower dripper to be much better.
Conclusion
Would I recommend the CAFEC Flower Dripper? The answer is a definite yes. You can buy the plastic 1-2 cup version cheaply and get good results from it. I believe that this dripper is underrated and could deserve more attention.
To make it work you’ve got to have good technique and use their filter paper. Follow our future videos as we will teach you how to brew good coffee with the Flower dripper!
If you enjoyed this post and look forward to more from Art Of Brew, do follow our Instagram and share your thoughts at the comments below!
Join our Newsletter
Subscribe to The Dose and receive a tl;dr of coffee news delivered to your inbox: