IS THE KALITA WAVE THE BEST POUR OVER METHOD FOR BEGINNERS?

The Kalita Wave. Stunning in design and quality, a truly beautiful brewer. Would I recommend this brewer to a beginner Home Barista? Let's take a look!

A very common question I am asked, is "I want to get into coffee at home, what pour over brewer would you recommend for beginners?"

I've seen this question asked and answered, and most of the time, the V60 is recommended. The V60 is the first pour over brewer I got. At that time I had not worked in speciality coffee, so pour over was a new venture for me, having only brewed espresso.

Armed with my V60, found a tonne of recipes online and delved into the brewer. It was easy to use and made a decent coffee.

I was making progress, but I did find it was very hit or miss. My brews were tasting a bit over extracted, so I adjusted my grind and saw a mild improvement, but soon realised it was the flow rate of water and controlling that where I was going wrong.

"Putting the two brews side by side I was quite blown away with the results. The Kalita made a crisp, yet super sweet, heavier bodied coffee. The V60 was a more acidic brew, juicy and bright."

A few months later I got a job in a speciality coffee shop, where we used V60 and Kalitas. I brewed a V60 up, it was nice but there was still something I needed to improve on. I practised my flow rate, the pours, and soon enough, I had a lovely brew! Then I decided to give the Kalita a go. Putting the two brews side by I was quite blown away with the results. The Kalita made a crisp, yet super sweet, heavier bodied coffee. The V60 was a more acidic brew, juicy and bright.

With flat bottomed brewers like the Kalita, there is more contact time with the water and coffee, leading to a fuller bodied coffee, which I really enjoy.

As time went on, I found myself reaching more and more for the Kalita to make a pour over with. I was just in love with it. Through busy rushes it was a lot harder to go wrong and have a bad brew, whereas the V60 needed complete concentration, one wrong pour could make a bad brew.

So what am I getting at here? well, lets look at the design for both the v60 and the Kalita.

The V60 has a cone filter and one larger hole for the end of the filter to sit through. The Kalita is a flat bottomed brewer with 3 small holes that help control the flow rate. The Kalita, therefore creates a more even extraction and reduces any water channelling, so from my experience you get a more consistent cup each time.

"As time went on, I found myself reaching more and more for the Kalita. I was just in love with it. Through busy rushes it was a lot harder to go wrong and have a bad brew."

If you are new to pour over brewing, and are not quite familiar with pouring yet, then the Kalita wave is a lot easier to get a great brew from for these reasons. It's a lot more forgiving than the V60 in my opinion.

For these reasons, I would say to you, if you're new to pour over, I would recommend the Kalita Wave. By no means is the V60 a bad brewer, it creates a different cup of coffee, a bit more acidity, with the Kalita having a fuller body and creating a cleaner cup. In fact, once you learn pouring and what to look for in a pour over, I would highly recommend the V60, I've had some delicious coffees from it! I just strongly believe the Kalita is so much easier to introduce you to pour overs and it's my most used pour over method now.

Ease into it. Enjoy the ride.