The Bodum 11571-01 Pour Over Coffee Maker, with permanent filter

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I have a love-hate-love relationship with coffee. I enjoy it. In the winter time, when sunlight is a premium in Toronto, I have a lot of trouble getting through a day without it. In the summer, I often find myself weaning off of coffee entirely, because I don’t enjoy having a dependence on things, and caffeine is definitely something upon which I can rely too much, to the point where I have trouble staying awake during long drives.

In any case, the lack of a desire to be addicted to caffeine hasn’t interfered with my contrasting desire to drink amazing coffee, and after years of using a drip filter, I finally switched to a pour-over in mid December.

First, a note on my old drip filter coffee maker - for about six years, I used the Zojirushi Zutto EC-DAC50 Coffee Maker. It’s a primarily plastic coffee maker that makes six cups, which is how much I prefer to drink in a day under normal circumstances. I noticed a couple of years ago - yeah, a couple of years ago, and like a big dummy I didn’t do anything about it - that I frequently had an upset stomach after drinking coffee. I passed it off on the plastic cup used to hold the paper filter in the Zojirushi, but even with regular, persistent cleanings, my stomach would get pretty wrecked more often than not. I finally noticed that there’s a small grey nozzle that filters the water from the machine into the paper filter where the coffee is stored, and when I unscrewed it and examined it, I realized that it was pretty wrecked, probably caked in mould, and certainly the cause of my stomach distress.

A cursory search uncovered my current coffee maker, the Bodum 11571-01. Let’s take a look.

The look

The Bodum 11571-01 is a well-crafted coffee maker. It occupies less space on the counter than my old Zojirushi, and comes with a permanent, stainless steel mesh filter, as well as a plastic and silicon holder that makes it safe to hold after pouring hot water into the filter.

It also comes with a plastic insert to help contain the flow of coffee after a pot is brewed. I bought the 34 ounce coffee maker, which is honestly more than I need based on my preferred amount of consumption.

The plastic holder ring is affixed with a silicon strap. It took me several uses to realize that if I removed the ring while brewing the coffee, and then re-affixed it, then I wouldn’t feel the slightest amount of heat from the pot itself, making it more comfortable to pour the coffee into my cup.

My one big regret of this purchase is that I didn’t buy the “double wall cork” version. The silicon strap tends to get grimy, and you can see in the pictures that there’s a bit of staining or discolouration around the Bodum logo that I can’t really clean off, even when having scrubbed it with a sponge.

My friend who recommended a pour-over to me also recommends the use of a paper filter. He argues that it might be possible to detect an effect on the coffee’s flavor from running it through a stainless steel mesh filter, but I haven’t noticed anything in that regard. The filter is easy to use. After each use I rinse it in the sink, although it wouldn’t be too difficult to simply allow the coffee grounds to dry and purpose repurpose as garden compost.

How it works

My preferred choice is to buy coffee from a local shop, rather than grocery-chain store bought. These days, I am drinking Guatemala Hue Hue Tenango coffee, bought from a local place here in Toronto called Beanwise. The Guatemala Hue Hue Tenango is described as being comprised of “syrupy body with note of maple, orange, and milk chocolate with juicy acidity that’s sweet and complex.” Previously, and most often, I’ve been consuming a lot of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, but it’s around $40 for 8 ounces, whereas the Guatemala Hue Hue Tenango smells and tastes similar to me, but for literally a quarter of the cost.

I simply put in two heaping scoops for my six cups of consumption, and boil a pot of water.

With my Zojirushi, I would simply fill the water compartment up to the full amount, and brew six cups of coffee. Since that’s less than 34 ounces, it’s a bit trickier to know exactly how much water I need for my regular coffee routine, so I instead retained the Zojirushi water compartment and use that still anytime I make a pot. I simply fill it up, dump it into the electric kettle, and then top it off with a small amount more.

Once the water has boiled, I wait about a minute before beginning the pour-over. While using a pour-over coffee maker requires more attention, it takes less time overall in my estimation to brew a pot.

The one negative - if you could call it that - about using a pour-over is that there is nothing keeping the coffee hot. If you are the kind of person who likes to make a pot of coffee and let it sit for an hour, revisiting it for top-ups as needed, then you’ll need to get used to making less coffee, but several times a day, with a pour-over, or else you’ll be drinking cold coffee by the end.

I tend to drink my coffee quite quickly, so that’s not an issue for me.

Overall

I bought the Bodum out of necessity, because the coffee maker I was using was making me sick. Not only is Bodum-made coffee tasty, but it doesn’t wreck havoc on my gut. Even more impressive is the price - normally retailing for $30 on Amazon, it often goes on sale and can be bought as I write this for $19.99.

Pour-over coffee is flavorful and, to me, worth the inconvenience of having to be more active in its creation. I will use this Bodum hopefully forever, moving forward, although if something ever happens to it, without a doubt my next coffee maker will also be a pour-over.