The Clever Coffee Dripper combines the best features of French press and filter drip brewing, eliminating the drawbacks of each.
With French pressA simple coffee brewer also called a Press Pot: grounds and hot water are added to a carafe, allowed to sit for several minutes, and then a filter... ...more brewing, you can control steeping or infusion time, but heat loss and sediment in the cup can be a problem. Brewing with a paper filter is easy and convenient; the problem is lack of control over steeping time (i.e. the coffee begins to drain immediately). By adding a stopper to a filterconeFiltercones, as the name implies, are simply cones that hold a coffee filter. The cone fits on to the top of a coffee cup, grounds and a filter... ...more, the Clever Coffee Dripper combines control over steeping time with a sediment-free cup.
Start with a fine filter drip grind and add water just off the boil. Cover and with a small plate or saucer, whatever is handy – future models will come with a lid. After 1:30, lift the cover, stir and recover. Let steep for 4 minutes, lift the cover and stir and then place the filter on your cup or carafe; the stopper automatically opens and allows the filtered coffee to flow out. You can balanceSuggests a harmony and proportion of qualities, and implies mildness since no one quality dominates.: Balance is both an obvious and slippery taste term. It implies a harmony... ...more grind, dose and extractionRefers to the process of infusing coffee with hot water. Hot water releases or "extracts" the flavor from the roasted, ground coffee. The term is used mostly with... ...more time to find the right combination that works for you. A finer grind will need less extraction time, a coarser grind, more. The temperature of the water should remain between 195 degrees F – 205 degrees F throughout the brewing process. We recommend covering the brew as it steeps in the filter for this reason.
The dripper will fit on cups and thermoses with tops between 1.5″ and 3.75″ in diameter. Of course, if you put the dripper on a very narrow thermos, you should make sure the dripper is stable. If you want to place something on top as a lid (which we highly recommend!), it needs to be at least 5.5″ in diameter. Clever is Not dishwasher or microwave safe. Wash by hand. The filter takes either a #4 filter, and is recommended since #6 extends above the lip.
Using the Clever for Iced Coffee or Concentrated Coffee
Full Immersion brewing is great for iced coffee, or to create more concentrated coffee! Since all of the coffee and all of the water are in “full contact” for the 4 minute brew time, you get complete extraction. That’s not always true in pour-over brews where much of the coffee-water contact time is minimal, under 30 seconds. It depends on your pour-over technique, and that can be hard to master.
Also the Clever allows you to dose the coffee on the heavy side (in the video, 2x normal brew strength) AND have full contact of all coffee and water. Plus you get the clean taste of filtered coffee, which can be an issue in the french press (as well as the health benefit of filter coffee vs. unfiltered coffee for cholesterol).
For iced coffee that’s not weak and watery, full immersion Clever brewing is a great option. Full immersion means all the coffee grounds are in contact with all the brewing water for the full brewing time. French Press is a type of full immersion brewing. The Clever Coffee is a great option because you get the clean taste of filter coffee, but full extraction too. You can easily make a slight concentrate, like I do in this video, to ensure the iced coffee doesn’t come out thin and watery. There’s many other nice things about the Clever Coffee Brewers too. It’s the truly OG full immersion pour-over brewer.
See the Clever Brewer at Sweet Maria’s dot com
Want to download or print out Clever Coffee dripping tip sheet? Here it is:
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Wholesale case quantities are available through our wholesale site, Coffee Shrub
How to Brew Coffee with the Clever Coffee Dripper:
- Step 1: Put the paper filter into the dripper and rinse to reduce paper taste and warm the dripper.
- Step 2: Grind immediately before you brew. You want to use a fine filter drip grind. Our recommendations are based on using a relatively fine drip grind. If you use a coarser grind, you may need to lengthen extraction time. If the water pools and does not drain effectivelty in Step 5, try a coarser grind.
- Step 3: Add coffee into the filter (See chart below for ratios we found work well.)
- Step 4: Add the water and cover. Wait1.5 minutes, then lift the cover, stirring to fully mix the grounds and water, and re-cover.
- Step 5: At 4:00, stir one last time and place dripper on top of a mug or other vessel to start coffee draining. To stop the flow, simply lift the dripper off the mug.
| Amount of Ground Coffee | 22g | 33g | 66g* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water used*** | 12 oz/360 mL | 18 oz/530 mL | 36 oz/1 L |
| Infusion time | 3 – 4:00 min | 3 – 4:00 min | 3 – 4:00 min |
| Amount of Filtered Coffee Made | 10 oz/300 mL | 15 oz/450 mL | 30 oz/900 mL |
*requires refilling the filtercone
** These recommendations are based on using a relatively fine drip grind. If you use a coarser grind, you may need to lengthen extraction time.
*** We have found that for the most accurate brewing, it is best to measure your water by weight. This is easily done by preparing your coffee on a scale. For 22 grams of coffee, you want to use 360 grams of hot water.
Tips
- Adjust the ratio of water and coffee, as well as the grind of the coffee, to suit your own preferences. Too fine a grind will filter too slowly and may be bitterBitterness is one of 5 basic tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter and Umami (savory flavors). There are many types of bitterness, hence not one avenue to tracking down... ...more. Too coarse a grind will filter too quickly.
- Check out the Brewing Fundamentals page for more about brewing in general.
Cleaning
Cleaning the Clever Coffee Dripper is very easy: just dispose of the used grounds and filter and rinse. Do not allow residue to build up in the filter; lightly scrub the cone with very hot water and a sponge or brush, taking care to clean shut-off mechanism lightly from the top. Here’s more about Cleaning the Clever Dripper.
Experiments and More Tips
We have a separate page featuring some tests we have done with the CCD, trying different pour techniques, timing, filters and such. Tom also posted a video on the Sweet Maria’s blog about using the Clever Coffee Dripper and hand-held refractometer to measure the relative strength of the coffee. And, here are two newer videos about the Clever Coffee Dripper showing proper technique: Clever Coffee Dripper Experiments and More Tips
11 Responses
Do you have the small Clever Coffee Dripper in stock? Thanks
We stopped carrying the small size simply due to lack of demand. Most people were okay with using the larger size and a reduced batch. Sorry about that!
Have used the my trusty plastic Dripper for abt 15 years….has had microcracks in the plastic cone for many years, but only drools a drop or two on to the bottom plate. Does a fantastic job! Wonder how long it can possibly last.
Am now retired, but have an extra, previously used at office, and a spare, still in box.
The new “glass” model sounds interesting………
The variety of coffees available from Sweet Maria’s is a magical mystery tour! Keep it up!!
Thanks george! My Clever is really old too and doesnt look great. But its a point of pride for me to use something as long as possible … dont know where that came from, but more and more, NOT buying something new feels like a virtue.
Ive used the Clever on and off for about ten years as a travel coffee maker along with a hand grinder. Recently used it for a month on the road and the brewing tip of adding the water first and the coffee after really transformed this brewing method into something special. The drawdown is fast and uniform through the bed.
Is there a glass version available? Plastic is super for throwing in a suitcase or in the trunk, but the heat retention of glass would make it worth the upgrade.
I gotta admit I haven’t tried this method. I’ll do it tomorrow morning! Yes, there is a glass version. In fact we just received the shipment yesterday. It’s on the site and I’ll add a link later, but I’m on my phone now so can’t do it.
Hello Tom…
I’m wondering if you were able to make time to try the ‘water first, then grinds’ method?
I did play around with this, but found that saturating the grinds (already added) was really better for me! I had to stir a lot to soak the grinds added to the water and felt like that lost a lot of heat as well…
Thank you, Tom…
Push comes to shove, my tongue is so old, finding a true difference isn’t likely… would have mostly been a ‘head’ thing… =]
Mike
Haha. I think taste can improve with age. Maybe not in ability but in focus. When younger I just consumed things with out tasting. Slowing down and thinking about it is really a key in tasting… imo.
I take your point, Tom. Now that you have caused me to think more about it. When younger, I had very set coffee requirements for my tongue and I know I am a lot more open to things now… on a relative basis, you know? I like sweet. If coffee runs sweet anything else goes well with it… =] ‘More open’ is the definitive… not to say ‘open’.
And as long as I’m at it… thank you for the coffee ‘rose diagram’… and thank you for the clear and consistent coffee-words descriptions… dry aroma… wet aroma… taste… flavors relativity… overall neutrality of a coffee’s characteristics. The consistency in the word description is SO helpful.