UFO Dripper Review - Out Of This World Pour Over Coffee?

[@kaffeKenta]

I agree, when the wet filter clings to the brewer it looks absolutely amazing.

[@brewedbyjay]

I agree hahaha it's quite nuts

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

The most satisfying 🤣👌☕️

[@Howie-bz5pe]

This is my current favorite home dripper. I use this and my sworks primarily. The ability to use almost any filter is amazing. I do use mostly the B3 and not the fast as I feel it gives the right feel for the brew. Great review

[@brewedbyjay]

love to hear this, happy brewing Howie!

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

I haven’t tried the Sworks - how is it?? Thanks for dropping this!

[@Howie-bz5pe]

@@DaddyGotCoffee it’s amazing and what I use on the road. The ability to adjust the flow to adjust for grind size to maximize (or minimize) contact time is great. These two brewers is all I use these days.

[@starskyhutch988]

@Howie-bz5pe I am stuck on these two drippers as well currently. The sworks filters and B3s both seem to be on another tier of quality and consistency, it just bums me out they are roughly 40 cents a brew 🫠

[@Howie-bz5pe]

@@starskyhutch988 yeah that’s not fun but I look at it at the cost of a good cup. They can be washed and reused. Still cheaper and better than going out.

[@BBuchanan3]

Since you asked, it’s not likely I will buy this dripper. The V60 is my go to, and there are so many variables, it almost seems infinite. Adding yet another dripper would almost double that calculus.

[@LucyGranadosCoco]

I'm loving my UFO. Yes, proprietary filters are not all fun, however, I got my UFO before my filters and I teste it with Kalita 155 filters and worked!! I also tried my HarioV60 size 01 and Cafec cup 1 with a fold on the bottom and ripping the top joint and also worked! Regarding the material, I guess it depends on what you want to achieve in your brew; the thermal mass of ceramic vs plastic will have a result in the heat of the slurry.

[@yishunbrew]

I've been using the UFO as a daily driver for the past few weeks. I use the folding technique with Cafec Abaca filters, which still keeps it extremely consistent, and I haven't clogged it so far. I've been holding out against using the Sibarist filters too. Even when using the Abaca filters, I've found that grinding too fine still results in very consistent brews with high clarity. In terms of comparison with other drippers, some have mentioned that it seems similar to the CT62 due to the use of grooves as opposed to fins - I like the UFO better as I find it accentuates more of the clarity and acidity of the coffee.

[@xenodrake4008]

"Its all kind of half science" Jonathan Gagne, writing a book about all that half science: am i a joke to you?

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

Hahahahaha - I have Jonathan’s book and love him AND his work. All I was meaning with this comment is that there are often gaps between our theoretical understanding and predictions of what can happen in a dripper, and what actually happens in a practical sense once all the variables meet together in reality, even from one brew to the next. Jonathan himself makes several comments to this effect throughout his book.

[@BruceWalkerPhotography]

Thanks for reviewing and posting this. It's a cool thing, and fascinating. But honestly, too niche for me. I am not a restless coffee brewer. I experimented with a variety of tools until I found a combination I really like that appears to be at the sweet spot of the diminishing returns curve, then settled down there. (Hario Switch & Vario+ grinder). This would just add pain points (eg the unobtainable and expensive filters) for little return. But I love that folks are advancing the state of the art and always experimenting. It's all good. 🙂

[@BBuchanan3]

@@BruceWalkerPhotography I love that “restless coffee brewer“ description. Ditto for me. Perfection is one step beyond excellence, and it’s usually unachievable. I’ll stop when I reach excellence.

[@Jahloveipraise]

Great video man! Like many other enthusiasts I wish I could have all of the droppers and products to have fun with and I would prob buy it but the three biggest things that frustrate me are the proprietary filter (same reasons you said but also just needing to store them somewhere on the bar), the cost of the dropper is steep (but I do live jay and know he has a ton of passion and love for the industry and not cash grabbing), and lastly I have purchased a ton of droppers and no matter what 90% of the time v60 is my daily driver to this day lol All that being said I might still buy it because who doesn’t want a new thing to play around with and the love the work jay is doing lol thank you for your video and review!

[@brewedbyjay]

man. thank you for all your kind words, I appreciate you. Cheaper filters are in development. We know it's a pain point.

[@Jahloveipraise]

@@brewedbyjay Good to hear from you Jay. Congrats on your Dripper and look forward to see what you do moving forward 👊🏾

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

If you pick one up you won’t regret it. The flavor separation possible with it is incredible

[@pdxrunner]

Great video explaining flat, v shaped, wide drippers. Also a good talk on bypass, altho6 maybe a bit more on why that can be a negative or part of the recipe. After viewing the video, I am even more enamored with the Orea V4 wide. With the wide design, a choice of bottoms and filters, it really is a great choice for an everyday dripper. Most days, negotiated wave filter classic bottom. An expensive Gesha, Apex bottom with negotiated Sibarist Fast Filters. Another variation is the open bottom and V60 Filter. It really gives variety, well executed at a one dripper price.

[@brewedbyjay]

epic video indeed!!

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

Thanks for the encouragement! I haven’t yet used the V4 but agree, it looks great too

[@EarthRyno]

Thanks for mentioning how nice it would be to have a ceramic or glass version. I’d love to get the UFO, but plastic is a no-go for me.

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

I think it would be really expensive and challenging to produce. But yes, would be awesome.

[@davidlogan2682]

What's wrong with this type of plastic?

[@mjbutterworth]

I would also love to see a porcelain version!

[@gabrielo8922]

Great review. Thanks, I appreciate your comments on the Plastic material. I found a couple studies that show Tritan plastic leaches harmful chemicals into water. They didn’t test specifically with coffee, but hot liquid and acidic liquid are generally more reactive than water at room temperature.

[@Ang_R17]

My order is in! I don't mind the proprietary filters, I brew with Sibarist almost always with the Oreav4 wide. They are pricey though, but once you get accustomed to them, it is hard to put them aside

[@starskyhutch988]

Thank you so much for this review! I only have the OG UFO, and I haven't been able to see the QoL updates to the V1 you discussed in this video (mainly the air channel in the base). I genuinely love brewing with the UFO, and this is my most used dripper by a long shot. I sometimes question the cost/cup for myself as the increased cost of filters and dripper does add up, but the trade off for consistently tasty, less astringent cups is worth it imo. I will say that for me it does pair best with a high clarity grinder like ZP6 and Pietro, but I must admit I only own a ZP6 currently so comparing is tough. Great review, thanks for the content!

[@brewedbyjay]

Absolutely love it, happy brewing! thanks for your feedback

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

I agree - really enjoy brewing with this dripper. I will def be re-upping on filters when I run out!

[@COFFEEWITHDANIELF]

13:29 you found me 🤣

[@brewedbyjay]

Love it hahahahaha

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

Hahahahahahaha - got ya! 🤣👌☕️

[@mjbutterworth]

Great, thorough review. For what it's worth I can promise no one is getting rich off of pour-over drippers!

[@bolerkai]

This is a very good review, you covered it brilliantly. I have many drippers, my current go-to is the Orea MK 3 with Type G papers (and you know the V60 is always in the mix too). I was thinking my next dripper would be the Varia FLO dripper, because of the double wall SS, but this review has got me thinking. Maybe I will do the smart thing, and just stick with the 8 or so drippers I have, but probably not. :)

[@coffeeengineerkenzie]

I think I have 10 and counting haha! I think Justin put it well when he described a dripper collection as an arsenal. Ultimately it’s about having tools in your toolbox, options to play with.

[@DanFlynn]

This does look interesting, though I'm perfectly content with my v60. If I'm drawn to a new dripper now, it's mainly for aesthetics such as the Oragami dripper

[@joelcleare]

Really digging the content and quality of your videos. 😊. I have a Hario Switch when I want a pour over because I need all the forgiveness I can get. What i did pick up from your video is I ‘ need ‘ to try Sibarist filters. Never heard of them before today.

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

Awesome! Let me know your thoughts when you do!

[@coffeeengineerkenzie]

Sibarist is the best in the game, there’s a reason they’re so popular WBrC competitors! We’re proud to partner with them for the UFO. They do make Fast filters for 60° conicals, including the Switch!

[@elNan140]

Great video, as always! May I ask, where did you buy that bean dosing tray? It's beautiful!

[@philipdeppen3189]

45 bucks for 100 filters makes no sense and screams greed 🤷🏼‍♂️. I’ll stick with my hario switch where I can use a medium course grind and do a pour over immersion combo get the best of both worlds and fold a melitta filter to a cone for it. Getting great tasting cups with great sweetness and balance with the switch for sure

[@Java_CM]

Nice review, very fair! I might pick one of these up if it becomes big enough to come out in ceramic. I do wish it had a handle though, having a handle just makes workflow a little smoother but maybe that's just me.

[@LightZone9]

Sometimes I think most new dripper designs are really just trying to reinvent the wheel. I do like the inverted channels as opposed to the traditional ribs. But, I will say, once I experienced the Ceado Hoop, my V60 and Clever Dripper have been relegated to the back of the shelf. I will pull out the Clever when I need to brew 500ml but otherwise, I'm happy with the Hoop.

[@Karrrrrrrl]

I like the idea, but once I heard proprietary filters, I was out. I have way too many filters sitting around because everyone has their own filter. I can't imagine the coffee is so vastly different that it warrants taking up more real estate in my cupboard. If I didn't have too much already I'd consider it though.

[@BenjiManTV]

Pour over! Love it.

[@speakeasy_hann985]

Thankyou for sharing 😁

[@knumph]

Question: is bypass actually even a thing? There’s that new Hario dripper that just uses fins to support the filter, with the majority of the filter surface area not backed by anything. I haven’t seen it in action, but wouldn’t that entire project be scrapped if the bypass volume was any measurable amount of the total brew?

[@brewedbyjay]

Yes, it's a matter of water moving around those ribs or contact points and not fully moving "through" the coffee bed itself. Most diagrams that show the concept of bypass show it as if water just falls straight down, but that's not how bypass occurs in coffee brewing. You won't see water just dripping through the sides when using a traditional paper filter due to surface tension. Try this with a non-woven filter, you will visually see "bypass" in droplets.

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

Yes @brewedbyjay left a great response here. There is a lot of misconceptions about bypass floating around and as he noted, its highly related to surface tension and something called “adhesive force”. Just because a filter is suspended does not necessarily mean water will pass through it aggressively, however, where there is a contact point to break surface tension, combined with area for water to pass through, water will “suck” itself through a filter using adhesive force. For this reason the amount and rate of bypass is not just determined by contact/no contact, but is highly dependent upon the geometry of the dripper and it’s contact points with the filter. Also, another misnomer is that all bypass is bad. I wouldn’t agree with that. The design of the UFO controls the bypass, keeping it consistent and predictable. Also, I didn’t really get into this because it’s a little techy but the % area of full contact/channel ratio increases toward the bottom of the UFO in favor of channels, increasing the flow rate via adhesive force toward the bottom of the cone and drawing water through the deepest part of the bed more quickly - a good thing! (At least theoretically that is what will be happening, practically it’s gets a little more organic 🤣)

[@MadScientist7]

I think it’s a cool dripper for sure but the proprietary filters are just a no go for me. What I really got out of this video though is how awkward that Pietro grinder is to use. I am in debate on a travel hand grinder for hotel use and I can clearly rule out the Pietro….too big anyways…

[@BenjaminSweetnam]

already added one

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

🛸🛸🛸

[@blutcherama]

i'm going to get roasted for this, but I'mma say it anyway. I like bigger cups of coffee than many of these drippers can give me. I have swerks, which is TINY, the Orea (not much bigger) and several others that you can't put much more than 15g in them or they don't work well. I want to be able to use 23-24 grams of coffee in these things, but they just can't handle that much. Orea made a bigger version. It's great, but seems not much different than a Kalita wave.. I need the origami for the bigger Orea, but they are out of them. Why don't they make these things bigger so that those who want smaller brews can still do that, but those of us who like more coffee can still use them? Heck I can do 27 grams in a V60.. wish that were the case with all the other fancy drippers.

[@DaddyGotCoffee]

No judgment here! The bigger cups are not for me but this is totally valid. In fact, probably something I should cover explicitly in these reviews! Orea does have a totally separate large format dripper (different than the wave style V4 you mentioned) - it’s called the big boy. It might be a little too big though

[@blutcherama]

I have the big boy. It just doesn’t seem much different than the Kalita wave.

[@blutcherama]

I was able to order the device that goes with it last night that flattens the filters. Glad to see they were back in stock. I wish Swerks and others would make a big one.

[@kevinfurniss1462]

Is it available in Canada?

[@brewedbyjay]

Hi, Slow Pour Supply ships to Canada.