Advantages of a glass pour over coffee maker

Pour over coffee makers come in various shapes, sizes, and materials. Most commonly, you’ll see pour over drippers made of plastic, glass, ceramic, and steel while a few interesting pour over coffee makers even use wood or cloth. Well, the material of the dripper cone actually makes a difference in the taste of your resulting pour over coffee and offers advantages and disadvantages to users.

We’ve had friends and strangers alike ask us the same question countless times: “Which version of the V60/Kalita/x pour over coffee maker should I get?” So here’s our answer.

A glass pour over coffee maker retains heat.

This is important in pour over coffee because you’re brewing the coffee over a period of time, infusing the grounds with hot water to extract the flavor, so you don’t want the dripper to be lowering the temperature of the water and affecting the taste of the coffee. Metal pour over coffee makers are guilty of this, since metal is naturally a heat-conducting material. Glass will keep your blooming coffee grounds nice and toasty warm, as will ceramic. Plastic is insulating as well, but may impart an unpleasant taste to your hot coffee.

A glass pour over coffee maker is transparent.

What’s the big deal about transparency, you say? Well, being able to see the results of practicing your pour over coffee brewing can be very helpful, not to mention gratifying. A clear plastic dripper gives you this as well, but once again plastic often adds an unpleasant taste when in contact with hot water. This is one reason why the Chemex pour over coffee maker is so popular. You can observe the absorption level of the filter paper, as well as the pattern of our water flow and coffee extraction. Ideal for pour over coffee mastery.

A glass pour over coffee maker is easy to clean.

It’s not just about the hassle of cleaning – glass is non-porous, so it won’t retain stains, smells, or even particulates from your pour over coffee. Considering how we pour over coffee enthusiasts often try different beans to experience a variety of flavors, we wouldn’t want one batch of coffee to be tainted with the taste of another. Steel pour over coffee makers as just as good for this, but then they often lower the temperature of the water too much for our liking.

Finally, a glass pour over coffee maker simply looks timeless and elegant (again, just look at the Chemex!) We wouldn’t have it any other way.