V60 Drip-Assist, Size 02, Clear

It does exactly what it is supposed to do: provide repeatable and consistent low agitation for pour overs. Will this always provide the best coffee possible: no. With a good grinder, an investment in a nice gooseneck kettle, a lot of reading up, watching videos and quite some practice you could make better coffee. The difference isn’t that big though. This can make an excellent and consistent cup when you dial in the grind size well. It only really touches almost boiling hot water, so required cleaning is very minimal. Every once in a while I was it with some soap only because it gives me peace of mind. It doesn’t ever look dirty. Things that this product offers: -The option to use a normal kettle that you probably already own with a very consistent and repeatable process. Pouring the exact same every time with a normal kettle can be a challenge. Even with a gooseneck it takes some practice. -Strongly reduced agitation of the coffee grounds and thereby reduced extraction. You know you are over-extracting when you get strong bitter flavors that take away from the experience. If it becomes too under-extracted and sour or lackluster you can either grind finer, use a higher water temperature or do both. I happily used this product before I bought a gooseneck. I have no regrets about this purchase. I knew it wasn’t worth trying to master a good technique with a normal kettle and found this product easy to use and cost effective. I liked the results too, I almost never had bad coffee. If I didn’t come across a very well priced fellow stagg I would still be using it a lot. Instead I kind of enjoy the challenge of getting every last bit out of a pour over with a gooseneck now. I can pull it out again for travel without a gooseneck when I want to go for a very low agitation for some coffees.

I use a Goose-Neck kettle for my V60 pour overs at home every day but when I'm on vacation at a hotel, I bring a small electric kettle with a standard V-spout that is not nearly as accurate to pour into a V60 as a goose-neck kettle is. Same thing when I go camping and only have an open spout water kettle. So now, I take this Drip-Assist with me and make near perfect pour-overs when using a larger, v-spout water kettle (that normally is not very accurate to pour and sloshes out to much water). But if you already have a goose-neck pouring kettle, then I don't see how this Drip-Assist will help. You already have the accuracy of hand pouring in gentle circles without this. But if you use a wider V-spout kettle, then this will make your pour-overs really come out much better. This fits all 3 of my V60's: the plastic one, a glass one, and a thicker ceramic V60 and it works with all since it sits just inside the V60's cone. I tried my first Drip-Assist pour using the 40%-60% method (40% of the water in 2 pours, then 60% divided into 4 pours) and my dark roast turned out as good as my usual great coffee using just the V60 and a goose-neck kettle. I poured equally filling the inner and outer reservoir rings in the Drip-Assist. So its 5-stars, works as intended: to evenly distribute the water onto the grounds gently, but as I said, if you already have a goose-neck and a steady hand, you probably don't need this.

Watch a couple of video on YouTube for getting the technique down. It will help you make great cup after cup after cup. This is my preferred way to make pour over coffee.

I drink pour over coffee exclusively, usually sticking with single origin light roasts. I was looking for a travel brew setup that would not upset me if I had to replace it if something was lost along the way. I had been enjoying using the Gabi Dripmaster B with a 4-pour recipe but it is no longer available for purchase and I did not want to risk losing it. I had watched The Coffee Chronicler's video on the Hario Drip Assist in the past (which includes two brew recipes he created). I decided to pick it up and see how it would work. I already had an opaque plastic Hario V60-02, so I just bought the Drip Assist without the V60. I used the The Coffee Chronicler Hario Drip Assist 'light roast recipe' from his video and that gave an even extraction and appears to solve many of the issues people report using the original recipe that comes with the Drip Assist. I have not tried the Osmotic flow recipe from the Coffee Chronicler's video video yet, but if you are using a dark roasted coffee, that may be up your alley. Combining the Drip Assist with a V60 and the Orphan Espresso Pico Travel Pouring Pitcher (silicone pouring pitcher that allows for slow, controlled pouring) makes for a nice travel (or home) brewing setup. The Hario Drip Assist fits my opaque plastic Hario V60-02, Hario Switch (02 size) and my glass April Brewer. The only negative I have experienced so far with this purchase was with the packaging. The box arrived with some oily, waxy coating covering it that would transfer to your hands on touch. No idea what it was. The box also must have been under a lot of pressure as the four prongs punctured the box. Fortunately, the Drip Assist was not damaged. It is really a shame because I like to keep the boxes so if I later decided to pass the unit on to someone else, they have the original packaging. As it is, I will be throwing away the box so that oily, waxy stuff doesn't get on anything else.

This product helped and is a work around having to invest in a goose neck kettle for a pour over. It fits my Stanley pour over that was gifted to me by my daughter. This type of device has inner “tines” or “teeth” on the inside of the base of the ring that help to keep it perfectly stable and resting on the rim of my Stanley. It was not designed for my Stanley but to fit a specific circumference. The circumference measures 4 inches and 1/4 (one fourth) or 4 1/4”. This device evenly distributes the hot water between two “pour circles” or an inner and outer ring. Each ring serves a purpose and allows for the flow of water to be different because of how pour overs need the flow of the pour to be consistent at each point of the brewing process . I hope my review helps you decide on getting this product. I really enjoyed the original design of my Stanley but with this product it’s made making my cup of coffee just the way I like it. 😊

Love it! Helps make a perfect Pour Over

Okay, I'm the outlier here, so take this review as such. The dripper is WELL MADE and functionally does as it is supposed to do. In that regard, I highly recommend it. I use the V60 for travel and have a small travel kettle. It's not a gooseneck, so pour-over is challenging if you're looking for a proper laminar flow. Just happens, I am. For some reason, I was expecting this to generate a center laminar flow. It clearly describes what it does, so that's on me. What you do get is an even distribution of water across the entire surface of the coffee grounds. Not bad, but I didn't imagine a V60 apparatus actually converting a V60 to your basic drip coffee system. The results are still good with fresh ground coffee, but I personally find it of little use, so I haven't felt compelled to reach for it since the initial trial.

After some of my first cups with the hario drip assist, I knew it would become a permanent fixture for my pourover brews! I honestly don't know if I'll ever go back. I tend to like a cup with a "low agitation brew," because I feel it gives high clarity and vibrant acidity. Low agitation brewing is basically impossible to do with any kettle, gooseneck or otherwise, because the flow of the kettle "stirs" up the coffee constantly. The Hario drip assist makes this task dead simple. The drip assist features 2 sections. A higher flow, center pour; and a lower flow, outer drip. You can achieve different results based on how you use these, but pretty much everything I do results in a great cup. Brews are so consistently delicious with this little guy. It's maybe the best coffee gadget I've ever bought!