Clever Coffee Dripper Cleaning

Cleaning your Clever Coffee Dripper is important, and easy if you follow a few suggestions…

We have been selling the Clever Coffee Dripper for about a decade now and during that time, we have gotten pretty familiar with it. It’s always a great and simple way to brew an excellent cup of coffee. It’s made of BPA-free plastic and it has a little flex to it so it can withstand some drops and rough handling.

Clever Coffee Dripper Cleaning

Give it a good rinse after you are done brewing coffee.  As long as you don’t let coffee dry and turn into residue inside the nooks and crannies, a good hot water rinse will keep your Clever clean.

• You don’t have to wash it every time you use it. The Clever might discolor a bit. A discolored Clever is not dirty and will not impact the function, or quality of your coffee.
• Pour over brewers like the Clever don’t need to be scrubbed down all the time since it takes a lot of brewing for coffee oils to build up. Occasionally wiping between the ridges with a soft sponge and some warm mildly soapy water should keep any coffee build-up from happening.

Don’t put it in the dishwasher. The Clever’s crystal clear appearance will turn hazy from all the heat.

Don’t use strong cleaners … ones intended for espresso machines and such! Best thing is to use no coffee cleaners at all!

• Ideally we would recommend you do not use any coffee cleaners, only mild soap and hot water.
• We have found some coffee cleaning powders damage the surface of the Clever, seeming to make it more porous. Something like Urnex Cafiza is the wrong cleaner: it’s for espressoA small coffee beverage, about 20 ml, prepared on an espresso machine where pressurized hot water extracted through compressed coffee.: In its most stripped-down, basic form, this is... ...more machine metal parts!
• If you feel you must, mild cleaners meant for coffee brewers with food-safe plastic components, like Urnex Cleancaf seems appropriate for the Clever. But I wouldn’t use them all the time, especially when hot water and soap with a brush work fine.
• Natural coffee cleaners are fine: Some people use vinegarA defective flavor taint in coffee, resulting perhaps from poor processing, fermentation, sanitation.: Vinegar-like qualities are a defective flavor taint in coffee, resulting perhaps from poor processing, fermentation,... ...more. Some people use lemonLemon notes, as well as other related citrusy flavors or acidities, are prized in coffee. These usually express themselves as a bright accent in the cup, or aromatic... ...more juice.
• In the video below, Tom explains some Clever cleaning basics. FYI, the opaque, black Clever Dripper was a test model from the manufacturer.
• (In the video I mention using Oxyclean, but I actually don’t recommend that any more. Just mild soar and hot water with a gentle dish brush works great for me.)

Clean the gasket if your Clever is dripping when it’s not supposed to.

The upper gasket, when removed, looks like a tire for a toy car. If you look closely at the upper, inside edge, you will notice a thin, little flange. This flange is the secret to the Clever Dripper’s liquid stopping power.

If your Clever is leaking, remove the gasket and take a good look. There might be a rogue coffee ground or some piece of who-knows-what stuck in there. Rinse it out under warm water. Don’t use anything that would damage the thin silicone. If you end up with a damaged gasket (whether it’s your fault or not, email us at [email protected] and we’ll send you a new set).

The Right Side UP for Center Gasket

If you clean you Clever by popping out the bottom, you might end up separating the center piece of the gasket from the base. It looks like a little earbud headphone cover.

If you separate it, check the image below to see the correct way to put it back on. The more tapered end goes UP, not down. If you re-install it the other way, the dripper can leak.